Sonia Gainza Bernal

Holding a degree in Business Administration alongside advanced music studies, and with a multifaceted career spanning distribution, the third sector, education, and culture, Sonia Gainza has always seen these four pillars as an integral part of her DNA. Driven by this passionate commitment to people and social innovation, in 2006 she founded the Apropa Cultura programme at L’Auditori with a clear mission: bringing the arts to those who need them most.

Twenty years on, that initial seed has blossomed into an indispensable network bridging cultural venues and social organisations, expanding beyond Catalonia into the Basque Country, Madrid, and the Balearic Islands. Today, the project celebrates two decades of history by posting record figures: more than 2,400 cultural offerings per season, nearly 2,800 affiliated social care centres, and over 200 cultural amenities and festivals actively committed to inclusion.

To mark the milestone, the initiative will bring together the community that makes it possible during a special gala held on Friday 30 October at L’Auditori de Barcelona. It is a well-earned tribute to two decades of social transformation driven by culture, championing the conviction that access to the arts is not merely a right, but a genuine catalyst for personal growth and collective well-being.