What do localities like Tossa de Mar, Cardona, Bielsa, or Ayna have in common? Well, among other things, their undeniable tourist appeal, but also the fact that they have been the setting for landmark films such as Pandora y el holandés errante, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Palm Trees in the Snow, or Amanece, que no es poco. They are four examples of localities that fit perfectly into what is called screen tourism, a modality of cultural tourism that drives visits to destinations, landscapes, or cities that have appeared in or are related to films, television series, or audiovisual productions of all kinds, such as documentaries, video games, or commercials, as well as events linked to the audiovisual world, such as festivals or thematic gatherings. It is an upward trend that is experiencing significant growth since the birth of streaming platforms and leads viewers to visit those settings where their favorite stories were filmed.

Three-year-old children plugged into a mobile phone screen to distract them (and not bother anyone), eight-year-old children who already carry a smart device in their pocket to which they dedicate hours, teenagers who have made the smartphone another appendage of their body, adults abducted by an infinite scroll watching short videos for hours that, to put it elegantly, offer content of dubious intellectualism. Most of us can identify with some of these profiles, images that have contributed to demonizing smartphones. But, are they really as harmful as they say? Is the problem the screens or the content? Is our brain prepared to respond to all the stimuli that come from the screen? Aarón Fernández del Olmo, a clinical neuropsychologist, doctor of psychology, and philosophy graduate, has thoroughly studied this issue. In his book "El cerebro hackeado" (Editorial Kailas), he proposes to break some myths about the consequences of using smartphones and to offer some tools for healthier use.

Perhaps without realizing it, we spend half our lives surrounded by people with narcissistic behavior, people who are always able to get what they want thanks to their mastery of the art of persuasion, a skill that often makes them irresistible but especially manipulative. This is the profile discussed in his latest book, written in his characteristic irreverent yet precise and reflective style, by psychologist Víctor Amat, who, in The 10 laws to be fucking irresistible (Vergara) aims to give readers the tools to combat narcissists with their own weapons. Amat explains that the book stems from his professional experience as a professor of persuasion techniques for healthcare professionals and from the demands of patients who come to his practice complaining that they have encountered a narcissist at work or in their personal lives. His goal, he states, is for them to understand and apply persuasion in everyday life, but above all, "how to use it for good." And here he wants to differentiate "the narcissist from what would be a malicious narcissist": "I think we all have a touch of narcissism; therefore, the important thing is to distinguish the person's intention," he says. He asserts that the key is to learn from these people to protect ourselves and improve, and he sees persuasion as both a shield and a weapon. Because we have all been deceived by charming people at some point in our lives.

A claw, a chair, a laundry paddle, a plume, a printing press, a dress, an urn, or a corset. These are some of the 25 objects that journalist Sílvia Marimon Molas, Culture Editor at ARA, has featured in the book Inventory of silenced stories (Eumo Editorial), an essential and highly educational journey through everyday objects that have been crucial in shaping our society today. Objects that Marimon links to both renowned and anonymous women who have too often been forgotten in history books.

Influenced by his extensive studies of classical and medieval architecture, as well as his passion for heraldry, the work of architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner is distinguished by its use of ornamentation, often exuberant, especially during his Floral period, where ceramics, glass, iron, and wood become works of art. This ornamental richness features elements from real and fantastical bestiaries, which the architect imbued with specific symbolism in each of his projects, allowing for different interpretations depending on the context. To explore this aspect of his work in depth, the Lluís Domènech i Montaner Studies Center (CEDIM) has recently published the book The bestiary of Domènech i MontanerFiguration and Symbolism, by Gemma Martí, is a comprehensive and detailed study that identifies zoomorphic representations in the architect's work and offers a symbolic interpretation.

The result of an equation involving snow and mountains doesn't always have to be skiing. We can also enjoy it on snowshoes, a system that, although its origins are difficult to pinpoint, historians believe was invented in Central Asia more than 5,000 years ago. The oldest known snowshoe was made from a birch branch shaped into a circle and straps to secure it to the foot. Since then, the device has evolved radically, and after many years when the usual materials were wood and rope, today we find lightweight and resistant technical materials that make them more efficient and safer.

Naturalistic, community, wild, urban, botanical, minimalist, edible, floral gardens... The range of gardens found around the world seems almost infinite and is constantly evolving, always responding to the needs of each era. And this isn't a contemporary phenomenon, because throughout the history of gardening, each period has had its own style, reflecting the aesthetic preferences of each time and culture, as well as the climatic conditions, the terrain, and the materials available. From the hydraulic efficiency and symmetry of Egyptian gardens, through the multifunctionality and emphasis on landscaping in ancient Greece, to the spatial control of medieval gardens, the minimalism of Japanese gardens, or the geometric rigor of French gardens.

Being in London and strolling through Hyde Park, spending a weekend in Paris and visiting the Luxembourg Gardens, or going to Madrid and crossing El Retiro Park are common practices for residents and tourists visiting these major capital cities. For city dwellers, urban parks and gardens are places to reconnect with nature, relax, and engage in various recreational activities. They are also spaces that promote health. A Greenpeace report maintains that, when it comes to green spaces in urban areas, all cities should follow the 3-30-300 rule, ensuring that each person can see at least three trees from their home, has 30% vegetation cover in their neighborhood, and is within 300 meters of a decent park. According to the organization, being in contact with green spaces offers benefits such as mitigating high temperatures and flooding; improving mental health and contributing to better brain development and cognitive function; and helping to reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases and premature mortality. In the main Catalan cities, we also find green spaces that provide oxygen to the urban environment, with some notable examples such as the Devesa Park in Girona, the largest urban park in the country with more than 2,500 centuries-old trees; the Ciutadella Park in Barcelona, ​​built at the end of the 19th century and the first park specifically designed as a public park; the Parc del Milagro in Tarragona; and the Parc dels Camps Elisis in Lleida, with its various landscaped areas. However, these parks and gardens are far from the size of some of the most important and well-known urban parks found around the world.

We Catalans love to observe the sky, consult thermometers and rain gauges. We enjoy meteorology and we love looking up. Seeing a clear blue sky, or one dotted with clouds of different shapes, helps us predict the weather. And Catalan proverbs are a good example of this. Clouds are hydrometeors formed by tiny particles of liquid water or ice, or both, suspended in the atmosphere and which, generally, do not touch the ground. They can also contain larger particles of liquid water or gel, as well as non-aqueous liquid particles or solid particles from sources such as industrial gases, smoke, or dust. If you would like to learn more, the illustrated book recently published by Cinco Tintas, which covers everything related to clouds, is worth checking out. Observe the cloudsIts authors, Gavin Pretor-Pinney – co-founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society – and William Grill – illustrator – have created an illustrated guide for all audiences that reveals the facts, secrets, and stories of the main cloud types and explains how they shape the weather around them.

Jordi and Albert Santjoan are the authors of the illustrated album 'Catalonia park by park(Cosetània Edicions), where they offer a tour to discover the treasures hidden in 16 natural spaces spread across the country. A graphic proposal, as Jordi Santjoan explains, "designed for families and for those interested in nature and getting to know our territory better." Santjoan defines himself as a lover of maps "where things happen, which is why I wanted to create maps that are alive, where we see landscapes, animals, and people, not just reliefs and names." In addition to highlighting the emblematic elements and places that define each of these spaces and some reference data, they offer an excursion to discover them on the go, with a second map showing the route of these routes "suitable for everyone and where we also indicate how to get there and practical information such as the elevation gain or the duration of the excursion."

For those of you who aren't on vacation yet and are counting down the days until you leave, summer can be a great time to take short getaways near Barcelona and discover charming spots you might not yet know about. Here are our suggestions:

As mammals, we're not surprised that parallels are often drawn between humans and certain species, or that we often draw on the similarities between some of primate behavior and our own. But perhaps we're more surprised to consider that we are much more like birds than we think, and how the behavior of some specimens can be a reflection of our attitudes. This is the thesis supported by ornithologist Noah Strycker, one of the world's leading experts on birds who, in addition to showing us their daily lives in a fascinating and captivating way, has used his years of study to focus on everything birds tell us about humans.

You will find a good number of plant manuals published, but probably none like Things that grow (Ara Llibres), a "treatise on plants, trees and everything in between" signed by Godai Garcia (l'alter ego by Galdric Plana), a screenwriter, comic book writer, and, as he defines himself, a passionate nature lover. Plana proposes a peculiar approach to the plant world of our environment, vindicating those plants that we won't find in any florist or garden center, but that are part of our daily lives and make up the natural landscape of our lives.

For Carnival, in many Catalan towns it is time to take the pots out into the square to fill them with soups, stews and bowls. A popular activity that involves many of the inhabitants of the towns where they are made and that has long been demanding more public recognition. Popular soups, stews and bowls are documented since the 15th century. Some historical research relates their origin to a caloric meal that was prepared before the obligatory fasting that would be carried out during Lent and that was made from the ingredients that were collected from all the houses. However, other sources indicate that it was a meal that the feudal lords and the convents offered to the neediest people in the town. Be that as it may, this tradition speaks of Catalonia is boiling. The book of soups, stews and popular bowls (Edicions Sidillà), by Judit Pujadó, where she not only explains the recipes for these bowls, which are very different, but also the history behind each one. "Overall, we are talking about a popular tradition that, from the beginning of the 20th century, went from being the soup of the poor to becoming the soup of the villages," says Pujadó to explain this more popular and festive character that still dominates today.

Going underground is a magical and unique experience. An opportunity to get away from the routine and daily landscapes and discover an unknown, fascinating and often mysterious terrain, with labyrinthine landscapes and unusual morphologies that tell us many things about our past. In Catalonia we have everything from unique caves where stalactites and stalagmites are the protagonists, to mines from which salt or coal was extracted. Some spaces to which we can add caves and grottoes open to the landscape – both mountain and sea – where prehistoric man lived and which in times of conflict have also served as refuge for the inhabitants of the area.

Discovering the surroundings of a train can be a great experience. Seeing the landscape pass through a window gives another perspective, there is a reason why the great travelers of the 19th century found the railway one of their main means of transportation and turned it into the scene of great adventures. Some of the travelers who created the legend of Romantic Spain in Europe traveled around the State by train, such as the cartoonist Gustav Doré or the traveler and writer Charles Davillier, who left magnificent writings about their train trips. The great Victorian adventurers, like Agatha Christie herself, mythical travelers like Livingstone or Burton, or vagabonds like Blasco Ibáñez, traveled around the world by rail. And as those from El Consorcio said (the boomers You will know who we are talking about), what a pleasure it is to travel to the rhythm of the shock-chucho, the chupo-chuco of the train!

When the pandemic allowed us to leave home, many people headed to the mountains and rivers with the aim of breathing fresh air. After months locked up at home, it was necessary to reconnect with the natural environment, rediscover the sensations and emotions that contact with the blue and green of nature awakens. All correct if it were not for the fact that many go to natural spaces without a minimum awareness of where they are going and how to behave.

Summer and mosquitoes go hand in hand and getting bitten is practically inevitable. Although bites are not serious, they are usually very annoying, and prevention, as always, is key. However, it is important to be aware that most remedies against mosquitoes are not all that effective.

This summer, more than ever, we need fresh air. To fill our lungs with oxygen and release the tension accumulated in a pandemic year that has tested our ability to be resilient. Difficult times call for a change, even if it's just for a couple of days. And the best change can be to immerse yourself in one of the wonderful mountain landscapes that our country offers us, which can heal. Breathe in, stretch your muscles and let yourself be carried away by a natural environment that will reconcile you with life. If this is what you are looking for, you can include in your summer schedule a getaway to the mountains to recharge your batteries. And if you want to make it more authentic, you can choose to stay in one of the many and essential mountain huts in our regions. They are ideal places to enjoy a night in the mountains or to make a stop on your hiking routes.