The living statue 'The Man on the Motorcycle', performing on La Rambla in Barcelona, has won the audience's top prize at the largest festival of its kind in Europe, held in Belgium. The company Alucinarte, based in Sabadell, adds another international award to its collection.
A human statue that sets up every morning on La Rambla in Barcelona has been recognised as the best in Europe. 'The Man on the Motorcycle', one of the productions by the company Alucinarte Animación Teatral, has won the first prize in the popular vote at the International Living Statues Festival 2026, held last weekend in the Belgian town of Marche-en-Famenne.
The competition, now in its ninth edition, attracted nearly 60,000 visitors and around a hundred artists from countries such as Ukraine, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain. The Alucinarte delegation presented six productions, but it was the motorcyclist figure that took home the popular award.
“This recognition reinforces the idea that the statues on La Rambla are part of Barcelona's living cultural heritage and demonstrates that street art is a universal language, capable of crossing borders and connecting with audiences around the world,” say representatives from the company, which has its workshop in Sabadell. In addition to the first prize, a second production inspired by writer Virginia Woolf received a Special Mention.
At the helm of Alucinarte are Argentine Jorge Balmaseda, the current performer of 'The Man on the Motorcycle', and Catalan Marta Llopart. According to Llopart, the award-winning character debuted on La Rambla last March and combines the collective imagery of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle with the humour of the film 'Predator'. The idea of the biker, she asserts, was already in their minds before the Barcelona City Council required them to renew their creative proposal, a mandatory process each year.
Balmaseda wakes up at a quarter past seven in the morning to be at La Rambla by ten o'clock. His workday ends at four in the afternoon, a routine that Llopart describes as “gratifying but sacrificial.” The multiple layers of clothing, paint, and makeup make the job difficult, especially on hot days. Before portraying the biker, Balmaseda was known for embodying an angel on the same promenade.
The company has over 15 years of experience and has taken its shows to more than 100 cities in 37 countries, including China, Dubai, and Egypt. With this latest award, Alucinarte now has four prizes and a Special Mention in the nine editions of the Belgian festival, in addition to over 34 recognitions in competitions worldwide.
Llopart champions the Argentine-Catalan mix as the company's identity: Jorge brings creativity and “Argentine passion,” while she defines herself as “the discipline and perseverance of Catalonia.” He is nearly 60 years old and lives in the Sants neighbourhood, after two decades of theatre across Europe and television productions in South America. She, 40 years old, hails from Cerdanya and studied Fine Arts. “The statues are the most artistic aspect of street theatre,” she maintains. Performing on La Rambla, she concludes, brings the audience so close to the work that “it is both magical and uncertain at the same time.”
Looking to the future, the company plans to participate in festivals in Valladolid, the Canary Islands, and Greece. Moreover, they would like Catalonia to one day have its own festival of human statues. In the meantime, 'The Man on the Motorcycle' continues daily on La Rambla, from ten in the morning to four in the afternoon, attracting tourists and locals strolling along the iconic Barcelona boulevard.
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