"The Montreal Protocol agreed in the late eighties to reduce and eliminate gases that destroyed the ozone layer. All UN member states approved it, and agreed to end the use of these substances, which implied the change or elimination of products such as some aerosols or air conditioners. The result has been very satisfactory: the hole in the ozone layer is closing, and between the years 2040 and 2066 it will close completely. This can reduce global warming by up to 0.5 °C", remarked Xavi Segura, head of Meteorology at ARA, in the talk he gave in the majestic auditorium of the Reial Acadèmia de Ciències i Arts de Barcelona, an activity of Club Prèmium open to all subscribers.

It's cold in the storage room of the Historical Archive of the Hospital of the Holy Cross and Saint Paul, located in the same modernist complex, below the lobby, the old hub of the hospital center, where admission records were once kept and where carts carrying patients passed on their way to their respective wards: women with infectious diseases, women with non-infectious diseases... (and the same for men). The temperature inside is always low to properly preserve the invaluable documents it houses (on a series of compact discs).

"You have to imagine everything around you without any buildings," says the guide. We're at Casa Vicens, on an exclusive tour for the ARA Premium ClubIt's a jewel of Modernism that attracts visitors from all over the world every day. For many tourists, it's common to visit the Sagrada Família and then this treasure nestled among other buildings. Gaudí had a wonderful time, and he had a large team of artisan collaborators (and workers who probably labored in appalling conditions). When this house was built—in just two years, between 1883 and 1885—Gràcia was still an independent town, not yet annexed to Barcelona. It was built as a summer home for Manel Vicens, a stockbroker, and his wife. When Vicens died, it became their residence. Currently, Casa Vicens is owned by the Andorran bank MoraBanc and is open to the public.

About fifteen subscribers to ARA newspaper's Premium Club They enjoyed a guided tour of Casa Navàs in Reus. Located in the heart of the Baix Camp capital, on Plaça Mercadal, this house designed by Domènech i Montaner is one of Catalonia's modernist gems. Many elements are reminiscent of the Palau de la Música Catalana, also by the same architect.

«How are you? I'm Natàlia Vila, a journalist in charge of the infrastructure and mobility section at ARA. My job mainly consists of explaining and monitoring the management and operation of the commuter rail system in Catalonia." This is how she addressed the Telegram group of ARA Award subscribers“Trains take up about 75% of my time under normal circumstances… but in the last three weeks, the situation has consumed all my hours, as well as those of many colleagues who have joined this team as reinforcements to be able to report everything as accurately as possible,” she added. It was the day of the Renfe and Adif staff strike, which further aggravated the crisis. Natàlia Vila highlighted the main factors: “Many decades of political decisions that have prioritized high-speed rail over commuter rail, a lack of maintenance—experts and train drivers say the methods used are questionable—and, of course, a failure to implement the budgeted investments.” She added that it is an additional difficulty “to make decisions 600 kilometers away.”

The gravestones, mausoleums, sculptures... of Poblenou Cemetery "tell" many stories of Barcelona over the last two centuries. Adrià Terol, a historian of Barcelona's cemeteries, has guided a large group of visitors through the cemetery. Premium Club (The places were sold out) and he revealed a lot of stories related to this necropolis which, when it opened, was not well received by many Barcelonans, because it meant burying their relatives outside the city walls and very far away.

"I'm Carme Colomina, a journalist, columnist for ARA, and researcher at CIDOB, and for the next hour I'm here to answer your questions." With these words, she began her participation in the active Telegram group of ARA Premium ClubNumerous subscribers bombarded her with questions. It was an activity non-stopColomina took it with professionalism and humor – "I've had time to have a drink of water," she said between answers – which highlighted, once again, our concern about the decisions she is making the insurgent who is dismantling the democratic system of the United States. ""Denialism is an important part of Trump's ideological agenda," Colomina pointed out, and reminded everyone that "he still hasn't accepted that he lost the 2020 election."

Anna Ortiz is passionate about Mercè Rodoreda's novels. She's read quite a few. Not all of them, though. "After seeing the Mercè Rodoreda exhibition at the CCCB, I'm really looking forward to reading the ones I haven't read yet," she says. Anna attended the exhibition with about twenty subscribers. ARA Award, on the guided tour of this exhibition, which delves into the creative universe ofauthor of The Diamond Square, Prize of Honor for Catalan Letters in 1980. Rodoreda, a forestCurated by Neus Penalba, the exhibition brings into dialogue the work of the great novelist with plastic and audiovisual works by artists from different eras, and also incorporates original documents from the Mercè Rodoreda Foundation collection and numerous photographs.

One of the main proposals on the cultural agenda of the Catalonia La Pedrera Foundation These are the art exhibitions. Visiting them, in addition to being able to enter this building on Barcelona's Passeig de Gràcia, designed by Gaudí at the height of his career, allows you to get to know great contemporary artists. ARA Premium Club has visited numerous exhibitions of the Catalonia La Pedrera Foundation, such as those dedicated to Miquel Barceló, Antonio López, Jaume Plensa, Stone art (of various artists)... The most recent visit was to the exhibition of Basque sculptor Cristina Iglesias, which sold out. Some of the club's most active members, as well as new members, enjoyed the visit. It was a great discovery for all of them.

"Despite having come in previous years, being able to enjoy it alone and with the pleasant and interesting explanations of Sílvia Omedes, director of the Photographic Social Vision Foundation, has made this visit a very good experience, even exciting at times," commented one of the members of the ARA Premium Club After the massive guided tour of the World Press Photo exhibition, which was hosted by the Centre for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona until Sunday, December 14th. It is abouta splendid display of the best of photojournalism, which collects "unofficial" stories and images from around the world, such as the one published by Washington Post, after the attack (or alleged attack) on Donald Trump, in which he appears not with his fist raised –it is the photo that most media showed– but with a worried face.

Twenty-five members of the ARA Premium Club They participated in the guided tour of the Urgell Canal last Saturday, a particularly cold and clear day. The tour included a visit to the museum, which explains the history of this canal in a very educational way. essential hydraulic infrastructure in the countryLocated in Mollerussa, the tour included two key points along the canal: the extraordinary iron bridge of Agramunt and the source of the Urgell Canal in Ponts, where the weir with a fishpond facilitates the intake of water from the Segre River into the canal. "This weir, which is over a hundred years old, is a very well-designed structure," remarked Eloi Tarrés, one of the oldest members of the Premium Club—he has been a member since its inception—who thoroughly enjoyed the activity. Participants were able to see all the now-obsolete machinery: large iron wheels that were manually turned to open and close the sluice gates and regulate the flow of water. Now everything works automatically.

Just over a century ago, the Catalans –a large part of the Catalans– We didn't know how to read. "In the 18th and 19th centuries, 70% of the population of Catalonia was illiterate, so for most citizens, information was transmitted orally or through images," explained historian Borja de Riquer at the Palau Requesens in Barcelona, headquarters of the Royal Academy of Belles Lettres, an institution he presides over. He added: "Let's not be nostalgic. People lived worse; living conditions were much worse." De Riquer's voice carries weight. He is a scholar who has deeply studied the history of Catalonia over the last few centuries. He coordinated the voluminous book (weighing in at one and a half kilos!). The memory of the Catalans, the reason for the passionate conversation he had with the deputy director of the ARA, Ignasi Aragay, at an event of Premium Club from the newspaper.

HeARA Premium ClubIt's growing in membership and activities (some proposed by the members themselves). Josep Terrés is one of the first members, along with his wife, Anna Maria Duran. "We've been ARA subscribers since its inception, and at the end of 2021 we joined the Premium Club," he explains. Josep had recently retired. He dedicated himself to the research and design of electronic equipment for aesthetic medicine, and his last years of work were especially difficult—as they were for most workers—since they coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. He and his wife wanted to dedicate some of their free time to enrich yourself with new knowledge now continue current events are being reported more intensely on the ARA.

"Junts is a movement created under the leadership of Carles Puigdemont, in which, broadly speaking, there are two main groups: those who come from the former CiU and the people of October 1st, to put it simply. To regain the central political space in Catalonia, it will have to make a few decisions, such as whether or not to form a coalition with Aliança Catalana if necessary to govern the institutions, and, when Puigdemont returns, whether it has broad support to continue being a leader with great influence in society," reflected David Miró, deputy director of ARA, in an online meeting with the Spanish subscriber.

Writing about Caldes de Malavella is a bit intimidating because great writers such as Joaquim Carbó, Josep Pla, Josep Maria de Sagarra, and a few years ago Rafael Nadal (have already written texts about this municipality)The Italian's son), among many others. In Caldes itself, on the street, you can read some fragments of texts by these authors. I'm including this one, from Palau i Fabre: "Before marrying my father, my mother already went to Caldes to take the waters, because she had a bad liver. Later, the whole family went. We stayed at the Prats Spa. A party in the Vichy building. It was a kind of costume ball in which some very daring situations occurred, considering the time.

"They took us for fools when we opened the studio in the Rec neighborhood," says Lluís Jubert, a graphic designer from Igualada who, in the late 1990s, with the painter Ramon Enrich, acquired and renovated the old Cal Segall tannery, one of the oldest in Igualada, to set up the office. Now it's a coworking space (as they call it). coworking), Rec. Spaces. "Many of the tanneries and industrial buildings had been empty for years. There were, for example, some operating tanneries," Lluís tells me. We are in the basement of Cal Segall, where the hides were treated. The space retains its original vaulted structure. We are at a lower level than the irrigation ditch: this is how the water from this open-air canal that runs right next to it could reach.

Romanesque art, nature, and hot springs make an unbeatable combination in Caldes de Boí. Of these three elements, the first thing that attracted visitors to the valley was the waters. Families of Barcelona's bourgeoisie began frequenting Caldes de Boí when the valley's Romanesque churches were not yet World Heritage Sites—nor were they of much interest—and there were no jeeps to take tourists from all over the world up the mountains. This was back in the days when there were no cars, or very few of them. Wealthy Barcelona residents would travel to Pont de Suert by bus and then, along a dirt road, with a donkey and a pile of packages., They would go up to Caldes, where they would stay for many days—sometimes even with a maid—to "take the waters" and to receive care and rest. They would stay for a fortnight, a novena (nine days), or more.

There are days when I wake up very early to work, and I wonder who's working when it's still dark. Today I met some who "get going" at 5:30. At that time, they leave their tent and go to the hot spring in front of the church in Caldes de Montbui, with a wheelbarrow and three special (thicker) hot water jugs. When they get back to the tent, with the jugs full, they change the water for the chickpeas that had been soaking overnight—they pour in the hot spring water they brought—and put the pot on the fire. They do the same with the beans.

There are numerous vestiges of ancient irrigation ditches throughout the country. Xavier Cervera, from Vic, has dedicated himself to finding traces of the so-called Marquès irrigation ditch, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Aigües Vic. Now you can draw your route on the map with extreme precision, and you can recognize it from a distance, especially since the rows of trees and reeds are the best indicator.

The Ter is one of the hardest-working rivers in the country. In the Ter Mitjà alone (from Ripoll to the Sau reservoir), there are 35 factories. Have they all stopped operating? Seeing them without anyone else, it might seem so, but the answer is no. They no longer transform cotton into thread—as almost all of them did—with the power of the water, but with the same turbines, they generate electricity.