Overview
- President Gustavo Petro presented the portrait Friday at the Biblioteca Gabriel García Márquez in Sant Martí, handing it to Mayor Jaume Collboni during a public ceremony that drew a surprise appearance by Joan Manuel Serrat.
- The work, by photographer Mauricio Vélez, was donated with support from Colombia’s Presidency and Fundación Bravo, and is described as the last artistic portrait made during García Márquez’s life.
- The black-and-white image places the author beside bright yellow flowers, a detail tied to his habit of keeping yellow blooms for good luck and creative focus.
- Petro framed the gift as a pledge to the power of language over violence and wrote in the city guestbook that Barcelona is magical like Colombia.
- Collboni said the donation strengthens ties with Latin America and highlighted the library’s role in open access to culture, a venue that IFLA named the world’s best new public library in 2023.