The ARA's cunning fox

GironaAt the ARA newspaper, we have a new emblem: "The Clever Fox." This animal, screen-printed on a tile, is the prize that will be awarded this Tuesday night. Twenty-five Girona residents received awards in 2025In a society and a communications environment marked by the herd mentality of social media, a fox escapes the flock with the ARA (Argentine Navy) in its mouth. She wants to be well-informed. It is these kinds of discerning readers who make the newspaper possible and who filled the old [newsstand/newsroom] this Tuesday. Odeon Theatre of Girona, brilliantly restored to house a bicycle shop. Yes, Girona is the cycling capitalFor one afternoon, cycling rhymed with journalism, and for one afternoon, the love-hate relationship of Girona residents with bicycles softened. The city's mayor, Lluc Salellas, set foot in the renovated Odeon for the first time. And like him, many other Girona residents. Journalism broke down barriers.

The occasion warranted it. It was, as the newspaper's director, Esther Vera, said, an awards ceremony "with meaning." What meaning? Well, for example, to showcase the diversity and vitality of the Girona region through people who have worked without seeking the limelight: "We didn't want to award celebrities to give visibility to the awards, but the other way around," said Mariona Ferrer Fornells, ARA's Girona correspondent. She, too, ceded the spotlight to her entire team: Aniol Costa-Pau, Gerard Bagué, Marta Costa-Pau, and Jordi Carreras.

There were indeed some "patums" in the audience, like the theater Salvador Sunyer, the architect Maria Sisternasthe former mayor and former many things Joaquim Nadalthe businesswoman Maria Trias (Coletas Trias), also a businessman Xavier Alberti (The Jungle) or the editor Àngel MadriàAmong the authorities present were the president of the Provincial Council, Miquel Noguer; the Minister of Territory, Silvia Paneque; the first deputy mayor, Gemma Geis; and the sub-delegate of the Spanish government. Pere Parramon.

They all caught the fox's mischievous smile, conceived by Josep Motas and Irina Grosu, founders of the Bussoga design studio from Sant Jordi Desvalls. The enthusiastic acclaim of Pere Manzanares, the northern Catalan soul of this first evening with fox, will remain in the memory of Radio Raíces...to the "great professionalism of the ARA: for many years to come!"; hopefully we'll reach 44 years for Arrels. Also, the genuine emotion of the most veteran of the award recipients, Josefina Espinosa —"You remembered me!"—, still committed to the search for the body of her father-in-law, the Marxist Andreu Nin, murdered by Stalinist communism during the Civil War. Other women, those of the network Brave Women, from La Garrotxa, spread their euphoric joy.

The rhythm of the gala, which began and ended with live music by the ArannáIt never faltered. The actor and perfumer Ernesto Collado He dedicated the award – “I don’t think I’ll ever receive another one” – to the woman who instilled in him a special sensitivity: his mother. Three brothers of Moroccan origin, Amin, Anuar, and Yaser Boudhen, accepted the award for the luminous tea shop. Moul'Dhen which they run, located on the border between Girona and Salt, where both women and men go. And Pere Calderón, the man who has transformed Can Panxut, the Salt Theatre barIn much more than a bar, he asserted that "cool things happen in Salt, too."

Well, at the Odeon, for one night, many cool things and people happened. Many. All of them the fruit of the stories we have told and continue to tell every day in the newspaper, stories of overcoming adversity, of struggle, of optimism, of denunciation, of commitment. The Girona party of the ARA, from which everyone left with their own clever little fox, will continue on November 27th with the celebration of the fifteen years of the diarywhich will be held at the Palau de la Música. Let the party... for journalism! continue!