Just over a year remains until the next municipal elections, and in most municipalities, parties are already pulling strings to nominate their candidates and configure their lists. In the four Catalan capitals, a good portion of the candidates have already announced if they will run again, and new names entering the municipal dispute have also been revealed, but there are still unresolved unknowns.

The Girona-based group Minibús Intergalàctic is already making a name for itself in the Catalan music scene. After a very solid debut album, they now present their second record, "Moviment oscil·lant polinòmic y=1/x" (Neu!, 2026), which forms the basis of the project and is set to become one of the musical discoveries of the year. The presentation tour will begin on April 24th in Girona and will continue in Barcelona (May 9th), Reus (May 22nd), and Lleida (May 30th).

Girona is a medium-sized city of just over 100,000 inhabitants. Within a few kilometers, a diverse and contrasting urban landscape is concentrated, with very little physical distance between affluent and humbler neighborhoods. As confirmed by the data from the Annual Population Census of the National Institute of Statistics (INE), analyzed by ARA, district 2, which includes Montilivi and part of Palau, has around 9% of its population born abroad, while, at the same level, but on the southwest side of the city, in Santa Eugènia, this proportion exceeds 50%. the data from the Annual Population Census of the National Institute of Statistics (INE), analyzed by ARA,district 2, which includes Montilivi and part of Palau, has around 9% of its population born abroad, while, at this same level, but on the southwest side of the city, in Santa Eugènia, this proportion exceeds 50%.

The Fundació Cultural El Foment de Girona doesn't stop growing. It landed in the city six years ago, in the midst of a critical moment of the pandemic, in Plaça dels Mercaders, and, since then, it has been expanding around this nerve center in the heart of the old town, with more and more leisure and gastronomic proposals, always with Catalan culture as its banner. It has now become a non-profit foundation, funded by more than 300 members and, in one year, it manages to program up to 400 proposals, more than one a day, including concerts, workshops, tastings, monologues, literary cafés... And, this 2026, for Sant Jordi, it is organizing a grand celebration again.

This Saturday morning, during an informal get-together with Guanyem activists, the mayor of Girona, Lluc Salellas, announced that he will run again as a mayoral candidate for the City Council. Initially, Salellas intended not to run again as a candidate, as he explained in his first interview with ARA as mayor, but in recent months the possibility of his continuation at the head of the cross-party left-wing formation that integrates the CUP has gained traction. The decision arises from a proposal by the activists, who consider him the best option to try to regain the mayoralty and to be able to continue the current government's work from the highest executive responsibility. Salellas is the formation's greatest asset, especially after the number two in the last election, Cristina Andreu, who was a pillar, resigned at the beginning of the term for health reasons.

Amazon's new logistics center, opened in 2023 in an industrial estate on the outskirts of Figueres, has revolutionized the Alt Empordà. It is, by far, the largest company in the region, ahead of major companies such as the supermarkets of Antonio Escudero in La Jonquera or the food giant supermarkets of Antonio Escudero in La Jonquera or the food giant Transgourmet. Around 2,000 people work day and night, a volume that represents more than 1% of the entire population of all municipalities within a 40 km radius. And, logically, this correlation between workers and inhabitants, much higher than that of any large company in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, causes everything surrounding Amazon's business to have a direct impact on the day-to-day life of the region.

Lloret de Mar is celebrating. After years of demands and legal disputes, the Can Juncadella coastal path, blocked since 2009 by the garden fences of a Kazakh magnate's mansion, will reopen to the public. This has been agreed by the Lloret de Mar City Council in an agreement with the property owner that will allow the route to be redefined and the passage through the estate to be opened. The agreement, which will have to be voted on by the municipal plenary, where it is expected to be approved without problems, will allow compliance with up to six rulings in favour of reopening by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TJSC).

Although Latin rhythms and urban aesthetics have long dominated the bulk of the music scene, the passion for rock'n'roll and the distortion of electric guitars, even if it is a minority, remains alive among new generations of artists from our country. In Catalonia, one of the most alternative and stimulating groups of this genre is Roko Banana, a trio from Banyoles formed by Mak Dzinovic (guitar and vocals), Àlex Abad (drums and vocals) and Edu Rodríguez (bass and vocals), who have just released their third album, Gran Muralla (Aloud Music). It is a highly ambitious album, somewhere between progressive rock and indie, with nine intense, combative and exciting tracks that speak of friendship and offer a fervent critique of the individualism that governs the rules of the capitalist system. The live premiere will be on April 2nd at the La Nau venue in Barcelona.

The pianist, harpsichordist, and conductor Dani Espasa (la Canonja, 1974) is one of the most knowledgeable and prolific musicians in Catalonia. In 2005 he founded the Vespres d’Arnadí orchestra, a group of top-level musicians dedicated to the performance of Baroque pieces with historical instruments and criteria, which performs continuously in theaters and auditoriums in our region. In recent years, the ensemble has undertaken a huge task of unearthing lost works of ancient music, some by Catalan composers, such as Domènec Tarradellas and Carles Baguer. They are now the resident ensemble of the Peralada Festival, and this Maundy Thursday, April 2, they will inaugurate the Easter edition with a version of Il Cristo condannato, by Antonio Caldara, composed in 1717 and unpublished in modern times. The work will be revived in the church of El Carme under Espasa's direction, with Montserrat Seró and Josep-Ramon Olivé among the soloists, and the participation of the Cor Francesc Valls.

Barely five months after the end of the last tour in Barcelona, La Ludwig Band returns to the stage, now at La Mirona Salt, as part of the Strenes Festival, with a new album under their arm, the fantastic Pel barri es comenta, which has just come out of the oven. In the live debut of the new album, the band has shown a very good tone, with drive and exuberance, singing new songs, yes, but with the shared feeling that in this minimal gap between one project and the other, not much has changed.

In Bàsquet Girona's last home game at the Fontajau pavilion, against Andorra, play was interrupted several times due to repeated power outages. The local team ended up winning the match, but the opponent managed to close the gap during the pauses caused by technical problems, which distracted the Girona players. It was the weekend of March 15th, the one with strong winds in the northeast of Catalonia, but the same situation had already happened before. In January, for example, in the EuroLeague game between Uni Girona and Galatasaray, the initial whistle sounded an hour late due to the same problem. And this March, against Casademont Zaragoza, the court went dark again with one minute left to play, with Uni two points down. The interruption broke the team's positive momentum and the home team ended up losing by three points.

Girona has once again become the capital of Catalan music with the celebration of the XXVIII Enderrock Awards. The gala, presented with great ease by communicators Alba Riera and Andreu Juanola, has been, once again, a great showcase of the country's musical scene, with numerous live premieres and a review of the year's great milestones.

The work of Salvador Dalí is a treasure trove of surprises. His vast and extraordinary output is spread throughout Catalonia, primarily among the museums of Figueres, Portlligat, and Púbol. But, from time to time, these three locations... Dalinian triangle New pieces of great value continue to arrive, which the Catalan public can admire for the first time. This is the case with a fantastic folding screen or screen made with oriental motifs, created by the artist in his earliest period, when he was a teenager. It is now being presented for the first time at the Salvador Dalí Birthplace Museum in the center of Figueres, until September 13.

Bread is practically a religion for the French. ParisAlmost the entire population lives within five minutes of a bakery (in French, the typical bakeriesAnd, morning or afternoon, it's easy to bump into neighbors walking home with at least one baguette under their arm. The vast majority of the city's bakeries are extraordinary, both those in the center and those on the outskirts, always with a tempting aroma and plenty of freshly baked bread and pastries. Many display awards in their shop windows, prizes received in various baking competitions over the years. One of the most popular competitions is the Best Baguette in Paris contest, organized by the City Hall, which in 2026 recognized Fournil Didot, a small, previously little-known bakery in the 14th arrondissement, away from the tourist bustle, behind Montparnasse towards the... suburbs From the south.

The residents of Sant Climent Sescebes, a small town of about 700 inhabitants in the Alt Empordà region, are accustomed to the sounds of gunfire and explosions in the distance. Less than a kilometer away lies the Spanish army's training base, the only one in Catalonia where soldiers conduct live-fire exercises and maneuvers with explosives. Every week, the soldiers carry out exercises with live ammunition, and occasionally, other forces such as the Civil Guard, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), or, in recent months, even elite squadrons of the Ukrainian army, also come to the 1,300-hectare training ground.

The journey is one of the foundational myths of literary history. Literally, it represents the adventure of leaving or returning home, and metaphorically, it encapsulates the full meaning of any form of inner experience involving personal movement or evolution.Odyssey from Homer to theUlysses by James Joyce. From Quixote From Cervantes to the adventures of Jules Verne. From Goethe's coming-of-age novels to Mark Twain's picaresque tales. From Moby Dick Melville's journey through the paradises of Aurora Bertrana...

The GI-531 road is one of the most congested in the Girona region. It crosses the Llémena Valley, a river basin dotted with small villages surrounded by nature, from Sant Gregori – west of Girona – to Les Planes d'Hostoles in La Garrotxa. The road is narrow, with significant changes in gradient, a single lane in each direction, very sharp curves, and a virtually nonexistent shoulder. Private vehicles share this route with other traffic. groups of cyclists who do sportHeavy goods vehicles from companies working in the area and school buses also use this road.

On Saturday night, filmmaker Albert Serra, from Banyoles, won the Goya Award for best documentary of the year with his A shocking film about bullfighting, Afternoons of solitude. However, he wasn't the only person from Girona to take home a statuette at the Spanish Film Academy Awards gala: Jordi Jiménez, a resident of Salt, also went up on stage to receive an award; in his case, for Gilbert, a little gem of stop-motion about friendship and selfishness, recognized as best animated short film.

The Minister of Territory, Housing, and Ecological Transition, Sílvia Paneque, is one of the pillars of Salvador Illa's government. The President of the Generalitat entrusted her with two of the portfolios expected to play the most prominent role during this legislative term: housing and the Rodalies commuter rail network. She was also given the task of serving as the government spokesperson. Paneque, a close confidante of Illa, received the offer to join the government just over a year after winning the municipal elections in Girona as the PSC candidate. However, the mayoralty slipped through her fingers when Guanyem formed a pro-independence government with ERC and Junts, With Lluc Salellas at the helm. Now, with the countdown to the municipal elections underway, the Girona pro-independence movement has seen the Rodalies commuter rail chaos as the ideal opportunity to try and weaken Paneque, with an eye toward a possible mayoral candidacy in 2027.

From cross-border routes of the Republican exile, which follow the same paths that thousands of people took clandestinely on foot during the Civil War, from Portbou to Maçanet de CabrenysThere are a lot of them. Over the last few years, the Democratic Memorial of the Generalitat of Catalonia, in collaboration with the municipalities of Alt Empordà, has worked to study and properly mark them. However, a new one has now been added to the list, which, for the first time, has also been marked in collaboration with the Occitan administrations. The first democratic memory route carried out jointly with Northern Catalonia.