Francesc Fàbregas
The Rolling Stones, Barcelona 1976
Fábrica Cal Garbat
On 11 June 1976, Gay Mercader organised the Rolling Stones’ first concert in Spain at the Monumental bullring in Barcelona – a collective escape through music at the very end of the Franco era.
The author, then a photographer for Vibraciones magazine, covered the band’s visit and captured Mick Jagger dressed in white at El Prat Airport, in an image that would become one of the most memorable of the event.
In the days leading up to the concert, alarmist rumours about drugs and disorder had been circulating, creating a tense atmosphere ahead of the event. The resulting photographs capture the clash between a youth that was beginning to breathe freely and a country still gripped by the repressive legacy of the Franco regime.
Francesc Fàbregas (Sant Just Desvern, Barcelona, 1950) began his career in the 1970s as a photographer for publications such as Vibracions, Rock de Lux, Fotogramas, Interviú and El País.
His work is documented in Música pels ulls, which brings together portraits taken between 1970 and 1990.
He has exhibited in Barcelona, Madrid, Chicago and Kyoto, and has taken part in Fotòpsia, Getxophoto and Porta Ferrada.
For over a decade, he directed Formentera Fotogràfica. On TV3, he created programmes such as Sputnik and Jazz & Co. He has been awarded the Ciutat de Barcelona Prize and the “Toni Catany” Prize for Culture.
