Letters to the Editor

Renfe: cross-cutting ineptitude

I take the train to class every day. To get to the station parking lot, I have to drive across a level crossing. Knowing I might find the barrier down, I left well in advance. However, the barrier—operated by Renfe—was closed for 15 minutes without a single train passing until mine came right through, in front of me. I missed it. To make matters worse, the next train arrived 20 minutes late. It was also a short train, perfect for a late train during rush hour. Thanks, Renfe, for making me lose class time and time from my life. If commuting for almost three hours every day is already a nightmare, doing it on such a poor service is pure hell.

Yuná Tato

Saint Anthony of Vilamajor

Who's watching the machines?

Every morning I receive three emails written by an AI that works while I sleep. I wonder when we allowed machines to acquire more work discipline than we do, and, above all, who decided to let them do so without supervision. We're fascinated by instant responses, flawless texts, and diagnoses faster than a doctor's visit. But let's forget that unchecked efficiency isn't progress, but a blind experiment. We delegate tasks, criteria, and, little by little, decisions. And we do it with the same ease with which we accept terms of service we never read. Perhaps it's time to admit it: the problem isn't that AI thinks too much, but that we think too little about those who oversee it.

Janna Felip Blanquer

Mollerussa

"Protected" spaces?

SOS Costa Brava recently presented in Girona a study on the true state of the supposedly protected Natura 2000 areas of the Costa Brava. It is shameful how those in government have so thoroughly deceived us into believing that we are a model of environmental protection for our country: nothing could be further from the truth. The diagnosis is damning and exposes the political hypocrisy and dangerous denialism of those who supposedly—unlike the declared and recognized deniers—pose as progressives and constantly talk about sustainability, the blue or green economy, when they neither believe in it nor even know what it means. In the midst of the worst environmental crisis, having exceeded 7 of the 9 limits that sustain life on the planet, it still falls to social movements to uncover the shameful failings of a political and economic system incapable of facing this historic challenge, which, if we continue down the same path, will only lead us to systemic collapse.

Jordi Cruz Plaja

Palafrugell

Analog photography

This week, unveiling a camera trolley has made me reflect on the fact that, in the midst of the digital age, analog photography is making a comeback, especially among younger generations. Instead of accumulating thousands of photos, most of which will end up deleted, each shot counts and is part of a unique process: loading the trolley, framing with precision and awareness, and patiently waiting for the film to develop. This resurgence goes beyond photography itself. It's almost an act of rebellion against the immediacy, the rush, and the digital saturation, a way to learn to live in the moment more fully and seek more authentic experiences.

Alejandra Ibáñez

Barcelona

The 15th anniversary of the ARA

As Esther Vera herself pointed out in an article this week, it's been 15 years doing the work – and I think doing it well. Many congratulations.

Martí Mancilla Montada

Granollers