Congress pushes for Rumba Catalana to be UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

The culture committee in Spain's Congress has approved a motion to back the bid of the Rumba Catalana music genre to be named UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

"We are talking about one of the most popular and important music genres born in Europe in the 20th century, precisely in Barcelona in the Romani community," Francesc-Marc Álvaro, an MP for pro-independence Esquerra Republicana, said.

The genre is sung "in Catalan, Spanish, Romani language (caló), and French: for the Romani community living in Perpignan and the Northern Catalonia counties," he added.

The initiative has been passed with the support of all the groups except for far-right Vox, which abstained. 

Esquerra considers that naming Rumba Catalana a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage would help to preserve, promote, and share it around Catalonia, Spain, and abroad.

The text urges the Spanish government to promote the bid for the music genre and to work with the Catalan culture ministry and many associations, including a group defending the genre and many musicians.

This group is led by the daughter of musician Peret (Pere Pubill Calaf), Rosa Pubill, and the son of Chacho (Josep Maria Valentí), Amadeu Valentí, two of the main performers of the Rumba Catalana music genre.

Listen to some Rumba Catalana (or Catalan Rumba) in our Filling the Sink podcast episode.

Back in 2023, the Spanish culture ministry recommended not presenting the bid with the 'Catalana' part as they claimed it would make it more difficult for other regions in Spain to support the bid.

The approved text pushes the Spanish government to make sure that the Rumba Catalana is recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in six months.