Sorina and her three colleagues arrived yesterday from Romania for the Coldplay concert. And in Barcelona, ​​to spend a few days, because they already saw the band last year in London, they say they are about to enter the Olympic Stadium, with the sun on their skin. They have flown, of course, there was no other way. “The train takes hours, it is not cheap and you have to go back to work…”, these medical professionals say that no, they have not calculated the carbon footprint of their flight. Because although Chris Martin’s band settles in the city for several days to minimize the environmental impact of their tour, the public continues to come from everywhere… Above all, from the rest of the Peninsula, which could have a better rail network now that it is being reminded at all times that it is the best eco-transport and even France prohibits short regional flights with an alternative by train.
Two young people from San Sebastián indicate that they would have liked to take it, but “there is no connection with Barcelona,” says Telmo, looking at his younger brother Mikel, who is going to play hooky at school. “There are three of us and my father pays, so I couldn’t tell you if it would be cheaper to come by trainâ€. And a road to Santiago in the north of the peninsula? “Well, we should study it,” says the minor, convinced.
Coldplay is the classic intergenerational date for teenagers with parents who in their youth moved their skeletons to the sound of Viva la vida. “My daughter is not going to like my answer, but I don’t believe anything: the Coldplay are paid to have the speech of environmental fear,” says a Salvadoran resident in Barcelona. She and the young Nicole are fans of the band. “His music speaks to me; For me who suffers from anxiety, it makes me feel relaxed…â€. Who tells it is the daughter.
An hour and a half before the concert begins, the kinetic carpet that has been arranged on the Estadi track is activated. A group of attendees jumps over it, and the volume of energy they generate can be appreciated on the large circular screens. It is part of the plan to self-supply electricity for the concert. Next door, about twenty exercise bikes are for the public to also hit the energetic pedal.
The Coldplay, who arrived on Monday night and stayed at Soho House, come in peace, in good spirits, ready to listen to what the local teams have to say. Solar panels? None seen. It will have been the complicated one made in Spain. Of course, everyone is wearing the recyclable Xyloband bracelet made of compostable material (to be returned upon departure) that will reflect colored infrared and will decorate the show for free and with extraordinary effects when the mass is directed in choreography by Martin himself.
“I don’t know what environmental impact my flight from Gran Canaria has left, but my daughter and I were very excited about this concert,” says Analaya. “Exactly, enough of criminalizing us and letting the responsibility fall on the population,” defends a local, Oriol, in the front row. “That they stop packaging food with plastic instead of asking us to recycle. Here people have flown out of necessity…, should they feel bad while pleasure boats circulate on the Costa Brava?
Unlike Bruce Springsteen, who had a luxurious entourage with the Obamas and the Spielbergs, the Coldplay have been discreet these days in the city. Not even Dakota Johnson has joined them. Although last night they coincided under the same Olympic sky with Elton John, they tested sound and, next to it, the other gave his last call.
Yes, Coldplay’s environmental performance is more possible than radical, but it doesn’t fall on deaf ears. “There is a certain ecological stress: either you do it very well, or you don’t do anything, but it’s about optimizing what each one can do. And Coldplay is trying to optimize its value chain to offer the most sustainable alternative possibleâ€, points out B Corp multiplier Gemma Mestre, sustainability mentor at IESE. “I bet on the settlement she -concludes-. Barcelona has a mass of Coldplay fans above other cities due to the Guardiola phenomenon, and these concerts have not generated more flightsâ€.
