Pregonero Choice Sparks Major Lleida Controversy

Lleida’s city festival usually starts with a ceremonial speech and a lot of civic self-congratulation. This year it started with a culture-war argument. Saúl Craviotto — Olympic canoe champion, police officer, and one of the city’s best-known public figures — gave the pregó that opens the Festa Major on May 8, even after more than 20 local organizations urged city hall to reverse the choice. ### What is the pregó, exactly? The pregó is the official opening speech for the Festa Major, one of the most symbolic acts in Lleida’s civic calendar. It is not just entertainment. It is the moment when city hall picks someone to represent the city’s image of itself — which is why the choice can land as a political statement even when the person is not an active politician. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) ### Why did Craviotto become controversial? The objection was not about his sporting record. On that front, he is huge — six Olympic medals, including two golds, and long-standing visibility in Lleida. The problem for critics was everything around that public image: Craviotto is also a member of Spain’s National Police, and he had publicly opposed Catalonia’s October 1, 2017 independence referendum while supporting Article 155, the constitutional mechanism Madrid used to suspend Catalan self-government that year. (segre.com) ### Who pushed back? The protest came from more than 20 groups in Lleida — 23 in some reports — several linked to Taula per la Democràcia Lleida. Their joint statement argued that the pregó should reflect shared civic values and social cohesion, and that Craviotto did not fit that role for a meaningful part of the city. Basically, they were saying: you can admire the athlete and still reject him as the symbolic voice of the festival. (segre.com) ### What did city hall do? Nothing dramatic. Mayor Fèlix Larrosa defended the choice and did not back down. He framed Craviotto as a model of values and a reference point for many people in Lleida, and the official Festa Major program kept him in place as pregoner. That matters because it turned the dispute from a nomination fight into a test of whether the city government would treat the backlash as politically decisive. It didn’t. (segre.com) ### What happened on the night? Craviotto gave the speech anyway on May 8 as the festival opened. City hall’s own recap stressed his message of local pride — “orgull de ciutat” — and folded the event into the broader launch of the 2026 festivities, alongside the naming of Lleida’s “joves referents” and the debut of the official festival song. In other words, the institution tried to normalize the choice by moving the focus back to celebration. (segre.com) ### Why does this hit such a nerve? Because the fight is really about what counts as neutral in Catalonia anymore. A festival speaker can look like a harmless civic honor — but in a city where memories of 2017 still divide people, a decorated Olympian who is also a National Police officer is not a blank symbol. The same biography reads as unity to some residents and as exclusion to others. That is the whole dispute. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) ### Is this just a local spat? Yes and no. It is local in the sense that it is about Lleida’s Festa Major and one ceremonial role. But it also shows how Catalonia’s post-2017 tensions still surface through cultural institutions, not just party politics. A city festival is supposed to gather everyone. Turns out that is exactly why the choice of who opens it can become the argument. (segre.com) ### Bottom line Craviotto’s speech went ahead, so the immediate fight is over. But the backlash made something clear — in Lleida, even a festive opening ceremony can still become a referendum on belonging. (festeslleida.paeria.cat) (segre.com)