The Offspring, Rubén Blades and Moderat blast the stage at the most sustainable edition of the Cruïlla Festival

76,000 people enjoyed four days of music at Parc del Forum (Barcelona) from 5 to 8 July, which were sponsored for the first time by Endesa as a Sustainable Partner, covering the electricity needs with renewable energy and doing without diesel oil power generator sets. The result? The use of solid fuel was cut down by 13,600 litres, also leading to a reduction of 36 tons of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. An important step forward for Cruïlla, which becomes the first large-scale festival in Spain to take this step. Some of the actions aimed at making the festival a more sustainable one included the use of reusable cups, free water fountains, free parking for zero-emission cars and helmet-style hearing protectors for children. Endesa also participated in the Endesa Music Lover area, with recreational and face painting activities.

So let's get back to the music. The festival started on a Thursday, with a line-up led by Nicki Nicole and Sen Senra, performing in a true urban style. The Galician artist gave a flawless performance, at the perfect time, presenting the songs of his latest album "PO2954AZ". His music is a mix of avant-garde and traditional styles blended with much talent, in which the artist draws a constantly changing and original landscape of sounds, which we hope transforms into a long career in the music industry. Moreover, the Argentinean artist gave an amazing performance, focusing on her last album "Alma", the third and most personal of her short career. A dedicated audience sang along to each song and vibrated with Nicole's concert, which confirms she is one of the most outstanding examples of urban music artists right now.

Urban music on Wednesday was followed by Latin rhythms on Thursday's line-up. Quite a few music lovers wore out their soles dancing salsa thanks to the legendary Cuban artists Los Van Van, who gave the opening performances with Judit Neddermann during the second day of the Cruïlla Festival. Special mention should be given to the performance of Australian multi-instrumentalist Tash Sultana, whose performance in front of her unconditional fans blended soul, folk, funk and hip hop, with hints of rock, also one her influences, with a solo in the style of none other than the late great Eddie Van Halen during her performance. On the main stage, Iseo & Dodosound gave an amazing performance, followed by the much acclaimed headliner, Rubén Blades, playing at the Cruïlla Festival for the second year on a row, who gave a truly elegant show, something only an artist that has played on so many stages could do. He played some of the songs that are now part of the history of music, such as "El cantante" or "La vida te da sorpresas" in a truly impressive show before a huge party and the celebration of life in the performance of Bomba Estéreo, who closed the shows of the second day of the festival.

Friday was Cruïlla's big day, not only because 25,000 people attended the shows, but because of the amazing line-up. Not only were we surprised by the Argentinean band Peces Raros, who played the opening show at perhaps a very early our for this type of show, but by Calavento and Carolina Durante, who also shone with their own light in performances filled with energy. In a no-frills style, with no huge audiovisuals, simply great songs, making these bands a must to understand contemporary Spanish music. The Guapos were also fun to watch, the classic rock and roll band made up by Leiva, Adán Jodorowsky, Jay de la Cueva and El David Aguilar, the perfect show for a Friday evening. On the main stage, the sound atmospheres of Sigur Rós were followed by Franz Ferdinand, a band that is always in top shape and which gave one of the festival's most intense performances, in addition to that of The Offspring, who gave quite an aggressive performance while the place was absolutely packed. They started the show with "Come out and play" and ended it with "Self Esteem", covering everything a true fan would expect to listen from them, with the drive of new member Brandon Pertzborn on the drums.

Placebo, Moderat and Leiva were the main attractions during the Saturday shows, and all three gave solid performances, as expected. Three very different yet cross-cutting proposals aimed at ensuring that anyone would enjoy all three of them could well sum up the spirit of the Cruïlla Festival. Highlights included the very young but also veteran group, Mourn, who performed quite an intense gig as the day's opening performance, playing on the same stage on which Shego would play a few hours later, who also gave an amazing show in front of a good number of fans. Cruïlla ended with the performance of one of the line-up's top bands, Carlangas. Cumbia, rock and hip-hop, all blended expertly and ready for everyone to enjoy it during Barcelona's warm early morning hours.