She has been waiting too long for this day. She’s not sure if she’ll enjoy the performance or even understand it, but she had to do it. She has precisely timed her arrival to be neither too early nor too late. First, she went for a drink at Boadas and didn’t like seeing everything written in English. She was very concerned about what to wear until someone told her that things aren’t like they used to be. In other words, formal but not overdone. She takes out her ticket, queues up for the restroom, and enters the main floor. She almost knows her row and seat number by heart. Next to her, a well-dressed man sits, whom she knows will either cough throughout or fall asleep very soon. After checking a thousand and one times that her phone is on silent, finally, the lights go out.

Written by Cristina Martín, journalist at ‘The New Barcelona Post’, a digital newspaper focused on current events in Barcelona.