Casa de México in Madrid unveils 2026 Day of the Dead altar inspired by Michoacán and Agustín Lara

Casa de México in Madrid unveils "Viva la vida!", its 2026 Day of the Dead altar honouring Agustín Lara, inspired by Michoacán and the monarch butterfly, with a musical tour. Free entry from 2 October to 8 November.

The Casa de México in Spain Foundation is unveiling the ninth edition of its Day of the Dead altar, the institution's most visited exhibition of the year. Under the title "Viva la vida!", the 2026 installation has been designed by Mexican artist Beatriz Redo and pays homage to composer Agustín Lara, with a set design inspired by the cemeteries and mountains of Michoacán.

The set recreates a mountain cemetery in Michoacán on the night of Day of the Dead , when, according to tradition, families gather to symbolically reunite with their deceased loved ones .

Beatriz Redo, the designer of this year's installation, explains that she wanted to pay tribute to the monarch butterfly , one of the region's great symbols: "Michoacán is an area of Mexico that receives the migration of the monarch butterfly, a massive migration that comes from Canada and coincides with the days at the end of October and the beginning of November. Tradition also links it to Day of the Dead," she notes.

Among the Purépecha and Mazahua communities of Michoacán , the arrival of these insects in the region's forests is interpreted as the return of the souls of the departed.

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