Spanish
Barcelona.- A graffiti by artist Alberto León in the center of Barcelona, in northeastern Spain, calls for peace against US President Donald Trump, with an image of Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny in his Super Bowl show, holding hands with a child detained by the immigration police.
In the graffiti, Bad Bunny is seen holding hands with Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old child detained in Minneapolis by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), both in white, while next to them a suited Trump observes them contrarily with open hands. In addition, the singer holds an American football with "Together we are America" written on it, and two white doves appear above him and Liam; in contrast, Trump, dressed in a black suit that contrasts with the white of peace, has two gray doves perched on his head and shoulder. The piece of urban art can be seen on Sotstinent Navarro street, next to the central Via Laietana in Barcelona, and has spread like wildfire on social media since Saturday, when its creator, Alberto León from Tenerife, uploaded a video showing it on his Instagram account (albertoleon_art).In statements to EFE, the urban artist explained that he wanted to vindicate Bad Bunny's message at last Sunday's Super Bowl, where he projected the motto "the only thing more powerful than fear is love", as a symbol representing peace in the face of Trump's immigration policies.
"It was a necessary message that I wanted to be on the street, and what better way to express myself than the center of Barcelona, where there is a lot of tourism, many Latin communities," explained León. The graffiti artist also wanted to highlight the Puerto Rican's message that America is not synonymous with the United States, but that "Together we're America", a motto that was displayed on the ball that Bad Bunny brandished at the Super Bowl, accompanied by a parade with the flags and names of each country on the continent.You may be interested in: Barack Obama praises message of unity in Bad Bunny's Super Bowl show
For the artist, who has been doing urban art for eight years, this is also a message that challenges him on a personal level: "I am from Tenerife (in the Canary Islands), my whole family has emigrated and in that sense I have a good connection with the Latin community... so in the end one connects with all this rejection towards these countries that we are seeing in the United States," he stated. The image of the child, who looks at Bad Bunny with admiration while holding his hand and with the other holds the Grammy award that he symbolically gave him, will seek to inspire the children who attend a school near the graffiti and who will meet him tomorrow, León explained. The graffiti video has generated a wave of positive reactions on social media, although it has also sparked some negative comments. However, the graffiti artist's goal is to "provoke conversation in the street and for it to converse with the city", especially in Barcelona, which serves as a "global and universal showcase".
