One more summer, the Illa Roja beach in Begur will lead the human chain to defend freedom and respect for nudists in this space. The most recent case for which this cove became known was the conflict that broke out in 2021 between naturists and the owners of a beach bar who, under pressure from naturist associations, had to close down. This cove is a space that became a symbol of the nudist movement, and became a sanctuary for international naturism during the Transition, thanks to the push of pioneers and groups like the Catalan Naturism Club. Although this practice has gone through rather low moments in recent years, and the average age tends to be quite high, more and more young people are claiming it as a liberation from aesthetic pressure.

For years we have heard that sex is a biological need. Like eating, sleeping or breathing. But beware: it's a myth. No one has ever died from not having sex.

La Pedrera: night and day

Besides the Sagrada Família, Casa Milà is, possibly, Gaudí's most emblematic work. In this building, the architect explored the limits of architecture to create a unique residential building. It was the last house Gaudí built and, therefore, it is probably the most unique and personal, as it brings together all the research he did around architecture and art over the years. If you want to escape the heat, you can visit it by taking advantage of the La Pedrera Night Experience, an opportunity to tour the most emblematic spaces of the building with a guided tour that reveals Gaudí's most intimate essence. The visit culminates on the rooftop, with a videomapping show in which images, light, and sound merge with the building's shapes. A very special visit that you will end by having a glass of cava under the stars. And if you're more of an early riser, you can sign up for the La Pedrera Sunrise experience, an opportunity to enjoy the house in peace, just before it opens its doors to the public.

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Lubricants still carry a certain bad reputation. Some people think they are only needed when "there is a problem," but the reality is quite different: using lubricant is a great ally of pleasure. Almost any sexologist will tell you so. In fact, their use is associated with more sexual satisfaction, because they help reduce discomfort, increase pleasant sensations, and make relationships more fluid and comfortable. Now, which lubricant should you choose? The most important thing is to look at the base. There are mainly three: water-based, silicone-based, and oil-based.

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There are latitudes where August smells not of sunscreen, but of damp moss and saltpeter. They are islands of harsh, melancholic beauty that require reserving a space in your suitcase for cotton sweaters and even a fleece, and also winter jackets. From the vertiginous cliffs of the Faroe Islands to the polar horizon of Svalbard; from the volcanic energy of Iceland to the wooded labyrinth of the Åland Islands, passing through the rock spires of the Lofoten Islands and the Viking legacy of Shetland. In these territories, the ocean arrives with force, the meadows shine with an almost unreal green, and the cloudy skies act as the perfect backdrop for disconnection.

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Faking orgasms is much more common than it seems. Most of the time it's them, but they aren't exempt either. And often it has less to do with sex than with the expectations we generate. It's as if we feel we have to validate, reassure the other's ego, or prove that "it went well." This is where the orgasmic imperative comes into play: the idea that a sexual relationship is only complete if it ends in orgasm.

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It doesn't happen very often that dinner time depends on the movements of the sun and the moon. In fact, a great eclipse like the one that is about to happen in our country is not at all common: it is the first in more than a century. For this reason, on August 12, some tables in Catalonia will have more reasons than ever to look towards the sky instead of focusing only on the plate. Restaurants, wineries and hotels have prepared dinners, appetizers, tastings and cocktails conceived around the solar eclipse that will cross the Iberian Peninsula that afternoon. In fact, this combination has turned viewpoints, vineyards, terraces and open spaces into some of the most sought-after places to experience the phenomenon, and gastronomy has joined in with an offer ranging from a tomato bread appetizer and Empordà wine to tasting menus with a Michelin star.

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Sexual fantasies arouse much curiosity, but also much guilt. There are people who are frightened by what they imagine or wonder what that says about them. But perhaps the first thing to understand is that fantasizing is not the same as desiring. We can fantasize about a specific situation and have no real interest in putting it into practice. Fantasy is not a contract with reality, nor does it necessarily mask an unconscious desire for a philia or a trauma. I'm sorry for psychoanalysis.

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In the heart of July, the mountain can be a suffocating trap or an inscrutable oasis. The difference, basically, depends on a millennia-old technology that doesn't plug into anything: the tree. We all know the blast of heat when we open a car parked in the sun, and the sigh of relief when we find it under the protection of a good canopy. This same logic of survival, translated on a large scale, turns forests into the planet's most efficient primitive air conditioning.

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Infidelity is one of the most painful experiences a couple can go through. Not only because a pact is broken, but because insecurities and feelings of betrayal arise, and all the trust built up to that point is questioned. It is common to feel anger, sadness, humiliation, or confusion.

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Summer has traditionally been synonymous with disconnection, rest, and time to regain strength. However, in the midst of the digital age, this notion seems to have changed. Nowadays, free time has become a showcase where it seems essential to demonstrate that constant experiences are being lived. If summer was once an opportunity to slow down, now many people feel they have to fill each day with activities, getaways, or trips that are worth sharing on social media. When this doesn't happen, an uncomfortable feeling arises: that of wasting vacation time.

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Orgasm has become, for many people, a kind of final exam for sex. If it doesn't happen, the encounter seems incomplete, mediocre, or a complete failure. This is called the orgasmic imperative: the idea that every sexual encounter must end in orgasm and that this is the definitive proof that the sex went well.

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For years, the hymen has been presented to us as a kind of "seal" that covers the vagina and breaks with the first penetration. An image that has fueled myths, fears, and even forms of control over the sexuality of many women. But the anatomical reality is quite different.

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In recent months, references to convents, liturgies, religious symbols, and spiritual experiences have found a place in films, novels, podcasts, and albums. Rosalía's Lux Tour is perhaps the most obvious example. Songs like Dios es un stalker or Mio Cristo piange diamanti have reopened the debate about the renewed interest in religious imagery in popular culture. But her new album is not the only cultural product that has turned its gaze towards the monastic universe and mystical experience. Alauda Ruiz de Azúa has also done so with Los domingos, about the decision of a teenager to enter a cloistered convent, or Carmen Urbita and Ana Garriga with Instrucción de novicias, the book that originated from the podcast Las hijas de Felipe, which recovers the voices of nuns from the 16th and 17th centuries to demonstrate that, as they themselves say, "everything that happens to you has already happened to a nun". For the anthropologist Joan Prat i Carós, however, it is not a completely new phenomenon, but rather a change of perspective. "The possibility of meditating, being silent, and finding yourself has always existed. There are moments when these ideals emerge and others when they remain more hidden," he explains. According to him, spiritual needs have not disappeared, they simply adopt new forms and languages. Things shed their skin, but what lies beneath the skin is the same. Far from idealizing convent life, Urbita and Garriga acknowledge that it is not surprising that, in a world saturated with screens and noise, the idea of the convent – with its own rhythms and its promise of tranquility – can be aspirational. A perception also shared by Anna Castellano i Tresserra, director of the Royal Monastery Museum of Santa Maria de Pedralbes (ICUB). "Current society has undergone accelerated changes in the way we live and relate to each other, and this has caused a feeling of unease and the need to stop and think about where we want to go," she states. In this context, she adds, "the silence of the cloisters and the architecture of the monasteries offer an experience that contrasts with the acceleration and anxiety of current life".Perhaps that is why the new luxury consists of walking through these uncrowded spaces where it is still possible to stop and listen to the stories that their walls preserve and tell. "Monasteries are no longer sought only as cultural resources, but as spaces that allow for a more complete experience, linked to the territory, history, and this current need to pause," explains Mireia Bonet Sendra, head of the Tourism Service and coordinator of the Cister Route Management Office.In fact, the extensive network of monasteries in Catalonia has known how to interpret this interest and today not only preserves its legacy, but also opens its doors to the public with an extensive cultural program: guided tours, exhibitions, and music festivals that this summer will once again fill the cloisters of some of the most important cenobiums in the territory with life.

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When a relationship ends, we often look for quick fixes to stop suffering: zero contact, staying busy, going out more, deleting photos. And all of this can help. But the reality is that there is no magic key to getting over a breakup.

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What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of August? Surely holidays! For decades, August has established itself as the month of holidays par excellence. Because of the worship given to sun and beach, as well as because the school or work calendar forces a break. In recent times, however, August's holiday hegemony is being blurred by societal evolution. Progressive aging, not having children, and changes in customs – teleworking or the desire to avoid heatwaves, seek lower prices or less crowding – mean that more and more people are not forced to take their holidays in August.How the tourists arriving in Catalonia are distributed throughout the year is a paradigm of this change. According to data provided by the Catalan Tourism Agency, the two most touristy months of the year – in Catalonia's case, July and August – with which the seasonality of a destination is calculated, have lost momentum since the pandemic was overcome. In 2020 – the most atypical year due to covid – these two months accounted for 28.98% of tourists and in 2021, 29.04%, but since then the concentration has progressively fallen to 23.74% in 2025, when 12.3% of tourists arrived in August and 11.4% in July.If we delve into the 2025 data, the transformation experienced in national tourism stands out. While among foreign tourists, August (12.8%) and July (11.8%) still lead by a significant margin as the months with the most visits, the fact is that among Catalans, June (12.6%) has made the overtaking in August (12.4%) and in the case of tourists from the rest of Spain, July (10.4%) and June (10.3%) have also positioned themselves ahead of August (9.5%). Furthermore, January, February and March are also gaining attractiveness for tourists from all origins, even though for decades sun and beach in the summer has been one of the main attractions for visiting Catalonia and the rest of Spain.So, if August stops being the month for making money with tourism, does the expression 'fer l'agost' (making August) applied to the tourism sector risk becoming history? It is difficult for such a radical change to occur, for beaches to suddenly empty in August as happens in the colder months, because summer – and August in particular – are strongly linked with the idea of taking holidays, highlights Saida Palou Rubio, who is a doctor in social and cultural anthropology and an aggregate professor in the Department of History and Art History at the UdG. Nevertheless, the circumstances are such that little by little, tourism will not be as concentrated in August as before.

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Talking about sexuality at home tends to be uncomfortable, even today. Without going any further, I invite you to remember how this topic was treated in your families of origin. Often, the answer is: “There was no sex education at home.” But not talking about it also educates. Transmitting to children that it makes us uncomfortable is, in essence, teaching them that sexuality is a taboo. And thus, it will be difficult for us to become role models.

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In 2017, Blanca and Òscar set off with two bicycles to travel the world. They cycled to Athens, where they took a flight towards Cape Town. In South Africa, the second part of the adventure began: crossing the African continent by bicycle. "By the end of this trip, we had been cycling for a year and a half, living with the bare minimum, and I started to need a stable place that would be a home, but at the same time I wanted to keep traveling, and the only possibility I saw was to convert a van into a camper," explains Blanca. With Òscar, they have Vivirenruta, an Instagram profile and a blog where they share their daily lives, which since 2017 has been based on traveling around the world, living a nomadic life.

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If you've asked yourself this question before, there's probably an underlying idea worth reviewing: sex isn't about pleasing. Or, at least, not only about that. Because when we understand sexual relations as the other person's responsibility – as if they should know exactly what we need or how to make us enjoy ourselves – it's easy to end up experiencing sex with frustration, pressure, or disappointment.

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Recovering desire is a common concern for many couples at some point in the relationship. And it's completely natural: no one has explained to us that sexual desire is not constant, but rather something that also needs to be cared for and worked on.

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