More updates on the Andic case. One of the elements under investigation by the Mossos d'Esquadra is the lightning trip to Ecuador made by Jonathan Andic, who is under investigation for the death of his father and founder of Mango, Isak Andic. In this South American country, Jonathan Andic claims that his mobile phone was stolen, the same device he was carrying the day his progenitor died. The Catalan police, however, suspected that the firstborn of the Andics got rid of the phone during this trip. Now, a witness has supported the version put forward by the defense: that his mobile phone was stolen in Quito. As reported by El Nacional and confirmed by ARA, it is a man who acted as his driver and who explained to the Mossos investigators that Andic told him that his mobile had been stolen and that he even accompanied him to buy a new one.

The defense for Jonathan Andic, son of the founder of Mango, denied this Friday that he was interested in therapies that simulated falling on a mountain or into a ravine. This Friday, La Vanguardia published that the eldest son of the Andics, under investigation for the death of his father, founder of Mango, had been interested in a method used by the therapist treating him, J.L., which consisted of simulating a family member's fall into a ravine as a way to establish trust between the two conflicted people.

An inmate at Quatre Camins killed his cellmate tonight in the disciplinary module. At around 11:30 p.m., an inmate in the neighboring cell used the intercom in the room to warn the officers that he heard the noise of a fight, as ARA has learned. The workers knocked on the cell door and the aggressor told them to enter. When they entered, they found him sitting with the other inmate on the floor covered in blood. The victim reportedly died of asphyxiation after being beaten.

Continuist, but with changes. That would be the summary of how the new phase begins for the Mossos d'Esquadra following the resignation of the police director, Josep Lluís Trapero, and the retirement of the chief commissioner, Miquel Esquius. Continuist because the minister will continue to be Núria Parlon, because she herself has said that she will be, and because from the Interior Department and from the Mossos they define the change of Esquius for commissioner Sílvia Catà as a "natural, organic" relief, the first one to be like this in a decade. However, there will be changes that have already been announced by the minister, commissioner Catà and the new director, Ferran López, in an appearance this Wednesday at the Interior commission of the Parliament.

It was a luxury villa in Sant Just Desvern with a pool, a game room, and all kinds of amenities. Inside, however, it was practically empty: without sofas, chairs, tables, or beds. Who lived there? Nobody. It had been rented for a couple of days by a man of Albanian origin—in reality, they had used his details as a front. When the National Police agents entered, they went through room by room, surprised not to find even a single piece of furniture, but finally, in the garage, they located what they were looking for: 1,351 kilograms of pure cocaine.

The Spanish legislature is in stoppage time. The general elections will be in 2027 –more and more voices are pointing to the first quarter–, so now conversations are intensifying regarding projects that are in the pipeline and will have only one opportunity in these coming months to move forward. One of them, as indicated by various sources consulted by ARA, is a proposal from the Catalan government to toughen the Penal Code for crimes involving the possession of weapons, which is already on the table at Moncloa. Specifically, it is proposed to double prison sentences in the case of carrying prohibited weapons –currently they are 1 to 3 years of deprivation of liberty– and to create a new crime for the exhibition of weapons in public.

The screen is shattered and the bottom part of the ATM, where receipts are usually collected, is completely destroyed. In fact, you can see the entrails of wires and metal, all covered by police tape from the Mossos d'Esquadra warning that it cannot be touched. Everything is visible except for the banknotes: the thieves who placed an explosive device in this ATM in the Sants neighborhood early this morning did not manage to take a single euro.

Barcelona is strengthening its fight against bladed weapons. After another dark weekend with five people injured by this type of weapon, the mayor, Jaume Collboni, announced that last Thursday the city council's government commission approved that all Guàrdia Urbana vehicles will be equipped with metal detector wands.

Both of them work in the same business, live in the same town and are no more than ten years apart in age. The first one says it is evident, undeniable, that the city's landscape has changed. Like practically that of all cities. But she does not believe that there is more insecurity. "I live peacefully. But perhaps my colleague will not tell you the same," she comments as she leaves the establishment. Her colleague, of foreign origin, assures that there is a lot of insecurity, that her mother was mugged recently. "And have you seen what is happening in Ceuta?", she says indignantly while pointing at the television, which at that precise moment shows a close-up of the mayor of Manresa, Marc Aloy.

The year 2017 changed many things, including the Mossos d'Esquadra police force. From the beginning of the deployment throughout Catalonia in the 90s until the October 1st referendum, the Catalan police only had four heads of the force, the last one being Josep Lluís Trapero. The prosecution of the major of the Mossos for the events of the autumn of 2017 opened a period of instability that has not yet closed – although now it is strictly due to the internal tensions of Catalan politics and the force itself –. Since 2017 there have been nine appointments for head of the Mossos, one per year. "Can you imagine a company with more than 20,000 employees that changes its CEO every year? It wouldn't be sustainable," comments a police source.

"She will do well", "She is a good professional and a very good person", "She is good", "Good choice". It was already past ten o'clock on Tuesday night and it was not yet known that Commissioner Sílvia Catà would be the new head of the Mossos d'Esquadra. Even so, several Mossos commanders were already endorsing her choice in these messages. All the polls were betting on her, the until now head of the Mossos in Girona, or Commissioner Montserrat Estruch, the head of Barcelona. In fact, Estruch even started as the favorite.

A police earthquake within the Mossos d'Esquadra and a political tremor in the Department of the Interior and the Government. The Director General of Police, Josep Lluís Trapero, is resigning. He will be replaced by Commissioner Ferran López, the Mossos' envoy in Madrid. The Major of the force, who until now was the political leader of the police, is leaving the post two years after President Salvador Illa presented him as one of his major campaign announcements to tackle insecurity.Although the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, did not want to enter into controversies at the press conference, several sources admit that the relationship between her and Trapero had become complicated over the months due to various internal conflicts. One of them—the last one and, most likely, the final straw—was the selection of the new head of the Mossos after the current one, Commissioner Miquel Esquius, decided to retire in October. Parlon announced this Wednesday that his successor will be Commissioner Sílvia Catà, the first woman to assume the top operational leadership of the force, a personal bet by the minister. Until now, Catà led the Mossos in the Girona region.

The Mossos d'Esquadra have arrested two more minors, 16 years old, allegedly linked to the death of a man in Manresa on September 1st. These two arrests are in addition to the two arrests the police already made on the same day of the incident, two minors aged 15 and 16 with criminal records, one of whom was on supervised release after having spent time in a juvenile detention center for attempted homicide.

The Mossos d'Esquadra are investigating a new shooting with a subsequent illegal detention –for it to be a kidnapping there would have to be a ransom demand– in the metropolitan area. The incident took place this Monday around seven in the evening, when the Catalan police received notice of shots in the Ca n'Espinós housing development, one of the most troubled neighborhoods in the municipality, especially regarding drug-related issues. A witness said that a motorcyclist had been shot at from a vehicle and the attackers had loaded him, wounded, into the trunk of the same vehicle.

Absence of paternal figures, lack of supervision during childhood, school absenteeism, difficulty in emotional management, impulsivity, low commitment to society. These were some of the conclusions of the psychologists who had treated the two minors, aged 15 and 16, arrested last week in Manresa for the fatal stabbing of a 45-year-old man. Both had criminal records and both, as ARA has been able to reconstruct from various sources, have had a troubled childhood and have caused constant conflicts in the centers where they were educated, from which this complex situation had been repeatedly warned about.

The unions were clear that this Tuesday's strike call was a “difficult” one. Difficult because they did not want to lower the tone or the demands, but, at the same time, the first day of school "is a very important day," the sector's union leaders admitted to ARA just a few days ago. Thus, the turnout for this new day of protests –the sixth this year– has been much lower than in previous calls. Education assures that 12.6% of teachers have joined the strike, while the unions raise this figure to 30%.

They are often stretched out on a towel, pretending, and even sometimes go into the water for a while to cool off. They are looking for their next victim. When they find one, they wait. They only spring into action if one of these two conditions is met: if the target goes for a swim and no one is watching their belongings, or if the victim falls into a deep sleep. If this happens, the thief walks up to the towel, grabs everything the person has, and leaves the beach. When the victim returns from the water or wakes up, they realize they have been robbed of everything. Their wallet, their phone, and also their clothes and shoes.

"When I leave there, my political career has been scorched," comments Manel Prat about his time as director general of the police. From 2011 to 2014, he held this position, at a time he admits was "socially turbulent," but "not as much" as that of his successors with the arrival of the Catalan independence process (Procés). Prat arrived young at the Generalitat, as head of institutional relations for the Department of Health in 2002 and later as chief of staff for Felip Puig, who, when he was Minister of the Interior, trusted him with one of the Government's most delicate portfolios, that of directing the Mossos (Catalan police). "You know where you're putting yourself and you do it with the utmost dignity," he explains.

The trigger was a trivial matter. The argument started with a comment like "are you looking at me funny" and one of the involved parties left. But he returned with an electric scooter and shot at the group he had argued with. This happened a week ago in the Raval district of Barcelona. Two people ended up arrested and no one was injured. This is one of the cases that shows, according to police sources, that it is being detected how firearms are appearing more and more often in new contexts, situations that are not linked to organized crime or large drug mafias.

Summarizing more than 1,200 pages divided into three books and more than nine hours of film divided into three films –and, therefore, apologies to the fans–, The Lord of the Rings tells the story of how the hobbits, elves, men, and dwarves of Middle-earth – J.R.R. Tolkien's alternative and fantastic world – united to fight evil and to try to destroy the one ring, an evil jewel with which the world could be dominated. Just when a new season of the series "The Rings of Power" is about to premiere, and a new film in this universe is being filmed, the Gràcia neighborhood is proposing itself as a luxury setting for new productions. Right now in the center of Barcelona there are several Gollums – the owner of the ring for many years, a creature that inspires both fear and pity – dragons, a magical forest, and a wizard Gandalf. But Gràcia does not only remember The Lord of the Rings for this.