The transformation of the border between Barcelona, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, and Esplugues de Llobregat in the upper part of Diagonal, which will involve the relocation of the Hospital Clínic, continues to take shape. This Wednesday, the general council of the Porta Diagonal – Campus Clínic consortium has given the green light to the progress of the urban development plan (PDU), the document that will guide the entire metamorphosis of the area. This plan, for the first time, puts forward a figure for how much housing will be built around the campus. Specifically, it plans to build 1,125 apartments. Of these, at least half will have to be protected housing.

The Poblenou main festival, celebrated from September 10 to 20 in Barcelona, could this year be without one of its most characteristic events. A disagreement between the City Council and the Gremi de Firaires de Barcelona could leave the neighborhood without attractions. The reason behind the dispute is the location of the fair, conditioned by the works being carried out near the site where the fairgoers usually set up, on Passeig de Calvell, at the end of Rambla del Poblenou.

A forest fire declared this Tuesday is burning in Collserola, north of Barcelona. The fire has generated special concern due to its proximity to several homes and has forced the precautionary evacuation of 35 residents from a frontline of houses in Torre Baró. None of those affected needed to stay overnight in a municipal facility.

One of the most important transformation projects in 22@ nord has shed a little more light on its future this Tuesday. In a press conference, the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, explained that the complete renovation of L'Escocesa – which had been one of the oldest textile factories in Poblenou – to turn it into a "pole of economic, cultural, social and residential innovation" should be ready during 2029. "It finally sees the horizon," celebrated the mayor.

A large red sign announces that the premises on the corner of Travessera de Gràcia and Sant Gabriel street, next to Plaça Gal·la Placídia in Barcelona, are for rent. Until three weeks ago, there was a jewelry and accessories store in those ground-floor premises that had been in the neighborhood for years. Until July 31, when it closed definitively, the shop had a letter hanging on its door saying goodbye to the neighbors and explaining the reasons for the move to a new location in Sant Gervasi: the impact of the works on line L8 of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (FGC).

Lina López (Caracas, 1977) is the president of the Festa Major de Gràcia Foundation. She arrived in Barcelona twenty years ago and explains that getting involved in the festival – she is part of the Lluís Vives street commission – helped her overcome her most difficult moment. This year she is leaving the position, after a term that began in 2022.

Only Antònia Font's Batiscafo Katiuscas could find the way through the unfathomable waters that the decorated streets competition of the Gràcia festival often turns into. Plaça Rovira has this time won first prize in the competition with its precious tribute to one of the emblematic songs of the Mallorcan band. The jury has recognized the work of this square in Gràcia, which, beyond the underwater tribute to Antònia Font, had one of the best details of this edition of the competition: an exhibition that allowed to see sketches of the decorations from other years. Brillen ses estrelles, therefore, in Plaça Rovira, which has beaten other streets that were ahead in the predictions in a very disputed edition.

Above the noise, the main festival. La Vila de Gràcia this Friday unveiled this year's festival with an opening speech by journalist and historian Vicenç Sanclemente, who highlighted the event's ability to create networks among neighbors despite the crowds. "It's not just a week of music or a competition for decorated streets," stressed Sanclemente, who in an extensive speech argued that this break from the daily frenzy that the main festival represents is a perfect opportunity to create "bond," to build "fabric."

"No more than work," replies Josep Bou when asked what he has done since leaving Barcelona City Council four years ago. After a term at the head of the PP municipal group, Bou returned to his company. At 71 years old, he is not thinking of retirement by a long shot. "I have given up retiring and collecting any pension. My life is work," he assures.

When she learned she was on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, Clarisney Camacaro's joy at the news was mixed with worry about what she would do with her daughter Valeria while she had to be hospitalized. As a single mother with no nearby relatives to help her, her options were limited. Until someone at work told her about the Barcelona City Council's Collaborating Families Service, a municipal program with over four decades of history in which volunteer families offer to lend a hand with the logistics of people in the same situation as Clarisney and Valeria. The network for those who have no network.

A step forward by the Government to accelerate the conversion of the Three Chimneys of Sant Adrià de Besòs into an audiovisual hub. The Catalan executive has approved declaring the Catalunya Media City a strategic project for the country. A measure that will eliminate bureaucratic hurdles and speed up key actions for the project, such as everything related to energy infrastructure. With this declaration, the Government aims for the Three Chimneys to access priority processing regarding connection permits and capacity to the electricity grid.

The return home of the neighbors of the Sant Gervasi - la Bonanova neighborhood affected by the sinkhole from the L9 works will begin gradually on Monday, but will still last a few weeks. This Friday was the scheduled date for the first residents to be able to return to their apartments after ten days. In statements to journalists, the director general of Infrastructures of the Generalitat, Ramon Ramírez, explained that the inhabitants of two blocks on Sant Gervasi de Cassoles street – numbers 56 and 58 – will be able to start returning home on Monday, and that for the remaining six blocks, it is expected that they will be able to do so during the "coming weeks".

With less than a year to go until the municipal elections, the Barcelona City Council's barometer has provided an approximate snapshot this Friday of where the electoral race stands right now. According to the survey, the elections in the Catalan capital would be a duel between the current mayor, Jaume Collboni, and the leader of Esquerra Republicana in the council, Elisenda Alamany. Although the socialists appear as the preferred option of those surveyed with 13% – almost a point more than six months ago –, the republicans are soaring compared to the last wave of the barometer and stand at 11.1%.

48 hours after the sinkhole that the L9 works opened in the Sant Gervasi - la Bonanova neighborhood, it remains an unknown what exactly happened for the ground to suddenly open up. While fire department teams inspect one by one the 93 affected apartments to check for new movements, the causes of the incident that has forced at least eight blocks to be evacuated until Saturday are also being investigated. Among experts, there is also debate about how it could have happened. And they point to a main hypothesis: that, due to some incident, the tunnel boring machine has generated what is known as a chimney.

The residents of the 93 apartments in the Sant Gervasi - la Bonanova neighborhood, evacuated this Tuesday due to the sinkhole caused by the works on line 9 of the metro, will have to remain away from home for a few more days. In statements to journalists, the director general of Mobility Infrastructure of the Department of Territory, Ramon Ramírez, explained that the stability of the buildings must be assessed for three more days. This means that it will not be until Saturday morning that it can be determined whether residents will begin to return to the eight blocks.

It took six years to negotiate the agreement that made it possible, and, if all goes well, it will have taken almost six more to have the new Barcelona Emergency Operations Coordination Centre (Cecor) ready. The mayor, Jaume Collboni, announced this Monday that the City Council's government commission will approve the executive project this Thursday for the Three Chimneys of Paral·lel to host the city's new emergency center, with the aim that the works can begin in the first quarter of 2027 and the building will be completed by the end of 2028. To carry out the transfer and get everything operational, a few more months will be needed.

A major scare this morning in the Putxet neighborhood of Barcelona. A sinkhole eight meters in diameter and four meters deep, caused by the works on Line 9 of the metro, has forced the evacuation of eight buildings on Rubinstein, Teodora Lamadrid, and Sant Gervasi de Cassoles streets – initially four, but four more blocks were added during the morning–. The incident caused no injuries, but it did force the evacuation of dozens of residents who were at the time in the apartments around the interior courtyard where the sinkhole occurred. According to the latest data, up to 93 apartments in the area have been evacuated, but the exact number of affected residents is unknown. Be that as it may, these citizens will not be able to return home tonight, as the authorities have informed them.

The countdown to save the Ágora Juan Andrés Benítez in Raval continues. On May 14, the eviction of this self-managed space, which is key in the neighborhood's social network, was suspended. The Barcelona City Council and Sareb – owner of the land – were given 60 days to try to find a solution. An interval that, combined with the August holidays, allowed for a way out to be sought in three months. But the weeks are passing without, for now, the Government and the so-called "}bad bank of the State have reached an agreement.

He passes a few meters from the construction of the new Sants station, but the scene seems more like something from another time. From another city. Sitting in the electric wheelchair he uses to get around, Ramon Bruño is easy to see on many mornings. He might seem like just an elderly man enjoying the fresh air on Riego street, but Ramon is waiting for clients. At 89 years old, he is still at the helm of his small barbershop in Sants. And he is, for sure, the oldest barber in Barcelona.

There is now a popular verdict. The Barcelona City Council made public this Wednesday at noon the results of the citizen votes to choose the future ombudsman of the Catalan capital, in which 2,707 people participated. David Bondia won with 2,064 votes (76%), ahead of Gemma Calvet, who obtained 643 (24%). Regarding entity adhesions, Bondia had the endorsement of 25 (81%) and Calvet that of six (19%).