Summarizing more than 1,200 pages divided into three books and more than nine hours of film divided into three films –and, therefore, apologies to the fans–, The Lord of the Rings tells the story of how the hobbits, elves, men, and dwarves of Middle-earth – J.R.R. Tolkien's alternative and fantastic world – united to fight evil and to try to destroy the one ring, an evil jewel with which the world could be dominated. Just when a new season of the series "The Rings of Power" is about to premiere, and a new film in this universe is being filmed, the Gràcia neighborhood is proposing itself as a luxury setting for new productions. Right now in the center of Barcelona there are several Gollums – the owner of the ring for many years, a creature that inspires both fear and pity – dragons, a magical forest, and a wizard Gandalf. But Gràcia does not only remember The Lord of the Rings for this.

At just 28 years old, Marcela was already running a newspaper with almost a hundred collaborators in Colombia. Despite having to deal with threats due to border conflicts – several journalists from the area were killed – and promoting dozens of initiatives to revive her town's community, what finally blocked Marcela was motherhood. After fleeing the country pregnant and accompanied by her partner, she arrived in Catalonia a year and a half ago, and when her son, Fer, was born, she collapsed. "You have 20,000 personal things inside, but then motherhood arrives and it hits you like a slap," she admits.

Once again, the University of Barcelona (UB) is once again the best-rated university in the State in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2025, popularly known as the Shanghai ranking and considered the most prestigious in the world. The institution from the Catalan capital maintains its place among the top 200 universities in the world. It thus consolidates itself as the only university in the State that manages to sneak into the upper tier of the classification.

The migratory crisis in Ceuta continues. Moroccan security forces thwarted a new attempt at mass entry into the Spanish autonomous city this Saturday. Hundreds of people, mostly of sub-Saharan origin, tried to access it and were intercepted by Moroccan soldiers. This group was waiting for the moment to jump the border hidden in Fnideq, a city on the Moroccan side bordering the Spanish enclave. The attempt at a mass jump took place in a mountainous area, according to Moroccan sources informed the Efe agency. In any case, the complex situation in the Spanish border town is prolonged, which has caused internal political upheaval and a clash between the Spanish government and Morocco for having questioned the Spanishness of Ceuta.

An earthquake of magnitude 5 in Alhendín has caused material damage in various parts of the province of Granada this past dawn. The Junta de Andalusia has activated the emergency phase of its seismic risk emergency plan. The tremor has caused some material damage, mainly due to falling roof elements and cracks inside buildings. The monumental complex of the Alhambra of Granada has not suffered damage and has opened to the public normally.

Quick and not excessively expensive actions at stations so that users begin to notice that something is improving. This is one of the lines of work that the Government has opted for to try to regain citizen confidence in Rodalies after its annus horribilis. The Government, the ministry, Renfe, and Adif have now announced the deployment of a plan for millionaire works, spread across various stations, which aims to transform these transit points into "decent" infrastructures while the major works, which will take years to complete and show results, are not yet underway.

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."

The trip three years ago to Mexico was supposed to be about getting to know another way of understanding death, but it didn't turn out as Nina Roma expected. While mother and daughter happily strolled among the graves, the father and brother wanted to leave because they were not prepared to think about death. "I can't force anyone to think about death, let alone mine." This is how blunt the poet and lecturer Nina Roma (Sant Cugat del Vallès, 1991) is, who was born with epidermolysis bullosa, a genetic disease popularly known as butterfly skin, which causes extreme skin fragility, and a simple bump or friction can cause wounds or blisters. It is a rare and incurable minority disease that affects about sixty people in Catalonia and just over 500 in Spain.

A fire is burning in the lungs of Barcelona, on the Collserola mountain. A large contingent of the Barcelona Firefighters and the Generalitat are working to extinguish the fire, which started around 3:25 PM in the part of the massif located between the Catalan capital and Esplugues de Llobregat. Emergency teams had requested the preventive confinement of the Can Caralleu neighborhood, a measure that has now been lifted. In parallel, the Guàrdia Urbana located and arrested a person in the vicinity of the fire, after detecting suspicious behavior and speaking with witnesses. The individual has been transferred to police facilities pending the outcome of the investigation, now in the hands of the Agents Rurals.

In recent days, anonymous posts have been appearing on social media promoting a new mass entry into Ceuta this Saturday. To prevent this, both Madrid and Rabat have mobilized. "By providing ourselves with more personnel and material resources, and with a deployment of the armed forces," explained the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, this Thursday. "We will continue to implement the necessary personnel to help return to normality as soon as possible and to prevent events like those of July 30 from happening again," he added.

La Toñi, the oldest orca in the Iberian population and matriarch of a group of specimens known as Gladis, has appeared with ten pellet impacts on her dorsal fin, some still lodged in her body. A scientific team detected the wounds on Monday, when they spotted the animal in the Strait of Gibraltar, after two years without seeing her in the area.

The images of saturation on the platforms and crowds on trains to travel by train to the south of the country on the day of the eclipse continue to have repercussions. This Friday, two days after the chaos, the Government admitted that there was a "collapse" on Rodalies (commuter rail) during the afternoon of the astronomical phenomenon. But the Secretary of Mobility and Infrastructure, Manel Nadal, defended that it only occurred on the way south and that, on the other hand, the return "was orderly". However, in the evening, scenes of queues to enter the stations, especially those in Tarragona, and platforms packed to the brim were repeated, and Civil Protection had to activate the Ferrocat plan for crowds in pre-alert.

Officially and according to the school calendar, the 2026-2027 academic year in Catalan schools and institutes begins on Tuesday, September 8. However, teacher discontent in recent months may mean that classes do not start normally on this September 8. Let's review everything you need to know about the start of this school year.

Erica is 89 years old and has been a lifelong resident of Barcelona. Years ago, she used to spend hours in the water water skiing, a sport she had practiced since she was young: the sea was part of her life. Before the pandemic, she enjoyed a very active lifestyle, spending hours at the gym training and trying to take care of herself and stay in shape, but when the lockdown arrived, she had to spend ten months barely moving. Those months of isolation, inactivity, and sedentary lifestyle harmed her eyesight to the point of becoming blind. Now she can enjoy the beach again. “Being able to come to the beach is half of my life. I start jumping and playing like a little girl,” she explains. Next to Erica is Antonia García, an 83-year-old resident of Barcelona who needs help entering the water since she suffered a stroke in 2025.“Last year I could enter the water without any problem and I swam perfectly. Until I had a stroke and I lost swimming, like other things that I used to do before and now I can't anymore”, she points out. This summer is the first that Erica and Antonia are enjoying, at Sant Miquel beach, the bathing support service, a free service that the Barcelona City Council offers to people with reduced mobility or functional diversity. Also to people who, like Erica and Antonia, do not want to give up being able to go to the beach. The service is structured in four points of attention located on the beaches of Sant Miquel (in Barceloneta), Nova Icària, Bogatell, and the bathing area of Fòrum. The service technicians help them to walk and enter the water and are attentive in case they require additional help or there is any incident. 

The Spanish government has assured that the safe return of Moroccan minors who entered irregularly into Ceuta on July 30 is a priority. However, with the law in hand, the repatriation of young people has special protection compared to the ordinary procedures applied to adults. In fact, in recent years, returns with biological families are the absolute exception and only occur in specific cases. Furthermore, according to the prosecution, none have been processed to Morocco "due to the lack of cooperation" from the Alawite authorities. Not going any further, in 2024 only eight children were repatriated: four from Colombia, three from Romania, and one from France.

The situation in Ceuta is far from normalizing. This is a message that social organizations and entities in the autonomous city, as well as its population, have been repeating for days. Fifteen days after tens of thousands of people entered swimming from Morocco, triggering a humanitarian emergency, the Elín Association of Ceuta is focusing on people's health and their care: "We are on the verge of a health crisis," warns Ramsés Mohamed, a social educator and spokesperson for Elín, in statements to ARA. "We are talking about people with illnesses and infections that cannot be treated," he adds. Many of the migrants who arrived in Ceuta did so with significant trauma after the sea crossing.

The closure for renovation works between the Sarrià and Gràcia stations of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) on the Barcelona-Vallès line is testing users' patience. Trains have not been running on this section since Tuesday and will not resume until August 23rd. As an alternative, a special bus service has been established connecting the two stations and covering the usual route, with stops at Sant Gervasi, Muntaner, La Bonanova, Les Tres Torres, and Sarrià.

As the return to school approaches, students and families alike ask themselves the same questions: when does the school year begin, what are the holidays, or when do classes end? At ARA, we review the key dates for the 2026-2027 school year, which is marked by the uncertainty of new educational strikes and the fallout from the PISA tests. new educational strikes and dragging the fallout from the PISA tests.

The day after the total solar eclipse that captivated thousands of people across Catalonia, some people might start experiencing eye discomfort or minor ocular alterations, such as blurred vision. In the last two days, the healthcare system has attended to nearly 450 ophthalmological emergencies coinciding with the solar eclipse.

Intersindical Valenciana (STEPV) has denounced the budget accompanying law and Article 155, which calls for "ensuring ideological neutrality in educational centers, supervising that teaching activities, curricular materials, and school events remain alien to any kind of indoctrination".