It's not just that 2026 began with a bang, condensing into a few weeks all the informational intensity that used to be generated more gradually over an entire year. It's not just the frenetic pressure to which we are subjected by the second, and perhaps not final, term of the orange-clad man in the United States. Nor is it just the chaos of mobility in Catalonia, which will be studied in psychology departments as a case ofburnoutcollective, at the very least, and if they don't remedy the situation, it will end up pushing some commuter rail user to throw themselves down an embankment with the understandable and desperate objective of setting everything in motion—himself, the landslide, the retaining wall, and collective dignity forming a single, united protest.

ARA's director, Esther Vera, had promised a "fiery" conversation, and it delivered. The quintessentially Barcelona-centric clash of titans between former mayor Ada Colau and economist Miquel Puig on the housing crisis did not disappoint. Let's start with the end: when, at the last minute, journalist Eva Arderius asked them for a reason for optimism, Puig mentioned the promise to eliminate tourist licenses and Colau the initiative for a law prohibiting speculative purchases. But this was in the pre-farewell relaxation. Behind them lay a battlefield of dialectical clashes, passionate arguments, and, in short, pure enjoyment for an audience that didn't lose focus for a moment.

After a Friday packed with audience, speakers, and ideas, Enfoquem opened on Saturday morning with a carlinada Of intelligence and hope. Armed with his characteristic humor and lucidity, writer John Carlin, in conversation with journalist Laura Rosel, elevated the Focus to the level of an insurrectionary uprising against fatalism with a reflection on the role of luck in life. A narrative peppered with unmissable anecdotes from his own life distilled a simple yet profound reflection on the contribution each of us can make to building a kinder future.