Storm winds are blowing for Lleida football. To the category descents of two historic clubs from the region, such as Unió Esportiva Tàrrega (which falls to Segona Catalana) and Borges CF (to Tercera), three more simultaneous ones concentrated in Lleida city are added. It has been a long time since so many sporting failures have been accumulated in the capital: AEM's women's team will no longer continue in the Primera RFEF after thirteen years of competition; Atlètic Lleida, despite having opted to compete in the Segona RFEF, drops dramatically to Tercera; and Lleida Club de Futbol, in addition to falling into the abyss of the Lliga Elit (the sixth level of Spanish competitions), cannot find an investor to cover its debts and is one week away from disappearing.

Despite being a convinced atheist, I have a past where I went to catechism. This involved, to make matters worse, having to go to the twelve o'clock mass on some Sundays. The most intense and anticipated moments for the children (and not so much for the children) were when the music came into play. Especially on the most significant days, when acoustic guitars appeared. Without a doubt, the closest to Harlem gospel we could experience. Hallelujah!

The mayor of Tremp has worked for thirty years as a Catalan teacher. She began in municipal politics in 2007 and, when she became a deputy in the Parliament of Catalonia last term, she requested a compulsory leave of absence which she extended after the 2024 elections, when she was appointed delegate of the Generalitat in Alt Pirineu i Aran.

The Arbeca-based punk-folk band Pork Chop Boys has launched a crowdfunding campaign to bring a crowdfunding campaign to life, Trans(in)humància, a 190-kilometer itinerant cultural project. The band members will undertake this journey on foot in the fall, from their hometown to the Shepherds' School in Enviny (Pallars Sobirà), following ancient transhumance routes and performing concerts at each stage of the journey. For ten days, the group will walk accompanied by three horses and a donkey that will carry the necessary equipment for the route.

Exactly thirty years ago, the Farrera Centre of Art and Nature (a village of just over a hundred inhabitants in Pallars Sobirà) was seen as a wild idea. It was founded by the painter Cesca Gelabert and the geographer Lluís Llobet, two neo-ruralists with anti-system ideas who already had a home in Farrera. They were convinced by the Irish activist Bernard Loughlin (1950-2018), who had been director years earlier of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, the name of a house-refuge for renowned European artists and writers. “You should do the same in Farrera, and only the two of you can build it,” Loughlin insisted to the young Catalan couple.

The Tàrrega-born Jaume Ponsarnau has just turned 55 and is doing so at one of the best moments of his sporting career. He has surpassed 500 official matches as a coach in the elite of Spanish basketball, has just renewed with Bilbao Basket until 2029, was chosen best coach of January in the Endesa league, and this Wednesday evening he plays with his team the decisive match of the FIBA Europe Cup final against PAOK Thessaloniki with only a six-point disadvantage.

The school canteen service in public schools is always a cause for debate. The high cost of its management, menu policy, food origin, supervision... The fronts are multiple. The debate has been a constant for years everywhere and with a very clear trend: public administration, represented by the county councils, is progressively taking over the control and management of this service, despite the reluctance of some town councils and, above all, of students' families. Families criticize the commodification of an activity that they consider essential for the development of their children and demand more participation in its decisions. “It is a space that takes more than two hours and requires it to be well constructed, well accompanied, that it becomes a well-structured learning time to avoid conflicts,” argues the director of the Federated Associations of Students' Families of Catalonia (AFFAC), Lidón Gasull, who laments the prevalence of a “completely privatized and outsourced canteen system, which is not directly linked to the school”. A large part of the reasons for this reality is that the service, previously always managed by families or the schools themselves, is now mostly managed by school councils, which entrust it to private companies through public tenders.

—If we buy the prepared calçots, the essence is lost”, I said to the group chat of the gang a few days before our traditional annual calçotada.

The school canteen service in public schools is always a cause for debate. The high cost of its management, menu policy, food origin, supervision... The fronts are multiple. The debate has been a constant for years everywhere and with a very clear trend: public administration, represented by the county councils, is progressively taking over the control and management of this service, despite the reluctance of some town councils and, above all, of students' families. Families criticize the commodification of an activity that they consider essential for the development of their children and demand more participation in its decisions. “It is a space that takes more than two hours and requires it to be well constructed, well accompanied, that it becomes a well-structured learning time to avoid conflicts,” argues the director of the Federated Associations of Students' Families of Catalonia (AFFAC), Lidón Gasull, who laments the prevalence of a “completely privatized and outsourced canteen system, which is not directly linked to the school”. A large part of the reasons for this reality is that the service, previously always managed by families or the schools themselves, is now mostly managed by school councils, which entrust it to private companies through public tenders.

The next May 1st marks fifty years since one of the most daring actions of agrarian unionism in the still tender post-Franco era. It happened in Les Borges Blanques in 1976. Three young farmers from the area, members of the still illegal Unió de Pagesos, prepared a banner and hundreds of leaflets denouncing the policies of UTECO (the Francoist union of cooperatives) and the ruinous prices of oil. They prepared everything to be displayed on Passeig del Terrall, precisely at the time of the inauguration of the Oil Fair in the capital of Les Garrigues, where regime authorities and police agents were to be present. It was a success, but unfortunately the three young men were identified: Josep Pau Pernau from Arbeca, Josep Duch Sesplugues from Espluga Calba, and Modest Panadés Vives from Belianes were captured by the Civil Guard and detained for two nights in the town hall cells, where they suffered some beatings.

Placing the child as the main protagonist of their learning, providing them with autonomy to foster curiosity and ability, claiming the natural environment and parental collaboration, and turning educators into simple guides of the process. These are some of the postulates of the educational model of the Reggio Emilia schools, in northern Italy, considered the best and most innovative in the world (even though they were founded after World War II).

There are women who still carry the label of “the first” or “the only one”. Conxita Villar Mir is the first dean of the Official College of Agricultural Engineers of Catalonia (COEAC) from outside Barcelona. At 29 years old, she had been the first female representative. Today she is the only female dean in the sector in the entire State, the first recipient of an award from the Institute of Engineering of Spain for her contribution to equality, and the only one from outside Madrid. Singularity as both a merit and a symptom.

Ciutadilla, Castellserà, Agramunt, Palacio de Anglesola, Bell-lloc, Bellvís, Alamús, Juneda, Bovera, Torregrossa, Torrefeta, and Florejacs… Bread ovens, especially small ones, have been proliferating in rural areas in recent years. Although still tentative, the opening of new businesses is counteracting a trend that seemed dramatic. "What was in decline until now seems to be a trend," says Toni Frias, the current president of the Bakers' Guild of the Lleida region. But this is no coincidence. At least, not in the eyes of the industry. "It was the result of time and a lot of dedication," Frias states. In recent years, the Guild has dedicated significant effort to promoting and organizing courses and training for new bakers and shopkeepers who have converted to traditional bakeries. "Now we are reaping the rewards," concludes the president of the organization.

Antoni Gorgues was still living at home with his parents when he decided to make a radical change in his life. He was 24 years old and had been working as an accountant for a company in Lleida for some time when, in 1996, he decided to leave it all behind to dedicate himself to his great passion: music. Exactly thirty years ago, from his teenage bedroom, he founded Guerssen, an exclusive label now known for reissuing psychedelic rarities. "It all started with few resources, simply with a lot of enthusiasm and little knowledge," recalls Gorgues himself, who is now immersed in the commemorative events, which have kicked off with the release of a collection of fifteen limited and numbered singles, featuring garage, psychedelic, and other sounds and bands. freakbeat and hard rock, mainly from the sixties, with some surprises from the eighties such as the two singles featuring the earliest demos by Los Negativos, never before released on vinyl. On March 28th, the Morera Museum in Lleida will host a talk about the history of Guerssen, featuring Antoni Gorgues himself along with some of his collaborators: Álex Carretero, Marc Argenter (the label's designer), and journalist Àlex Oró. Following the talk, the documentary will be screened. The Negatives: Graduated from Underground (Víctor Carrey, 2024) on the history of the group. Also at the Museu Morera, a small exhibition on the history of Guerssen will be on display, featuring records and memorabilia. Finally, the Café del Teatro will host a performance by Los Negativos with a lineup that includes two founding members of the band, Carles Estrada and Robert Grima, along with a string section, performing the entire album. Kaleidoscopic Piknik as never before.

Deep, guttural vocalizations. Loud, thunderous screams. Lamentable sounds in the purest Cro-Magnon style. Facial expressions of extreme torment. A whole testosterone-fueled menagerie that the free weight rooms and machine rooms shelter day in and day out. It's also true that this type of user isn't the only one found in gyms. The diverse range of people who share these spaces fosters a biodiversity that, at the very least, is healthy.

After a long professional career almost always linked with Televisió de Catalunya, the communicator Mari Pau Huguet (Estopanyà, 1963) has been Recognized this March as an Emblematic Woman by the Hera association of LleidaShe has been working in the Audience Services Office for over fifteen years, but continues to participate in audiovisual projects and host many events.

Trini Porta, a 52-year-old resident of Montoliu de Segarra, lives alone with a dog and two cats. Last January, she suddenly lost Cupi, a powerful dog she adopted from the Cervera pound ten years ago. An irreversible liver disease forced her to have him euthanized to prevent further suffering. The void he left is still raw. She doesn't hesitate to compare this loss to the loss of a person. "I've lost a member of my family, and many people don't understand that," Porta admits.

The story of the Urgell Canal, one of the most crucial hydraulic infrastructures for the development of contemporary Catalonia, will once again be brought to life through music and theater with the return ofOpera in the veinsA stage and musical production will arrive next April at two emblematic venues. The show will premiere again on April 19 at the Teatre de la Lonja in Lleida, and the following day, April 20, it will move to the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, ​​in a double performance that will conclude the tour begun last year.

Cervera will once again become one of the epicenters of Catalan classical music this Easter. From March 26 to April 4, the capital of the Segarra region will host the 16th edition of the Easter Festival, a unique event within the country's musical landscape because it is the only one dedicated entirely to this repertoire. The program will include 14 concerts held in various venues throughout the city, featuring a combination of symphonic, choral, chamber, and contemporary music. Among the invited ensembles and performers are the Julià Carbonell Symphony Orchestra of Lleida, the Chamber Choir of the Palau de la Música Catalana, Polifemo Consorte, the Cobla Sant Jordi, and the Prysma Quartet, as well as soloists such as Marta Mathéu, Miquel Villalba, and Joel Bardolet.

The 7lletres literary prize is entering a new phase with a name change intended to reinforce its identity and cultural ambition. The 21st edition, presented at Concabella Castle, officially adopts the name 7letres. Manuel de Pedrolo Short Story Prize, a decision that explicitly links the award to the writer from Aranyó and strengthens its position within the Catalan literary scene. The presentation on Monday brought together representatives from the Segarra County Council, the Cervera City Council, the Els Plans de Sió Town Council, and the Tàrrega Town Council—the four institutions that promote the project and have renewed their collaboration agreement. This image of institutional unity reinforces a model of cultural cooperation that, from a local perspective, has successfully consolidated an initiative launched in 2006 with the aim of honoring Pedrolo and, at the same time, stimulating contemporary creative writing.