It was 9:55 PM when the show to inaugurate the tower of Jesus of the Sagrada Família began. While the white voices of the Escolania de Montserrat sang the first notes and the musicians of the Liceu Symphony Orchestra tuned their instruments, a fleet of 700 drones warmed up their engines at the Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau, one kilometer away from the basilica.

The Castellers de Barcelona made history this Thursday by completing a 3 of 7 at an altitude of 3,454 meters, at the Jungfraujoch station in the Swiss Alps. The structure, crowned next to the building known as Top of Europe, becomes the documented highest-raised castell.

The Plaça del Blat in Valls has something that defies rational explanation. Call it magic, tradition, or simply the effect of bringing together the two groups of Xiquets de Valls at the kilometer zero of the casteller phenomenon. Whatever it is, Sant Joan 2026 is already part of history. The extreme heat has not prevented the square from once again becoming the setting for one of those days that, over the years, will be remembered.

During the week Anna Alstersjö arrives at the gym between a quarter past and three quarters past five in the morning. It's not crowded, but it's not completely empty either. She assures that the early bird catches the worm, but admits that sport has led her to get up early to make the most of the day. “It bothers me when my coffee isn’t open at 6:30 AM on a Sunday,” laments this Australian-Swedish resident of Brisbane.This city marked by a river, with an average temperature between 25 and 15 degrees and named after a colonial administrator, has one of Australia's earliest economies, along with Perth, on the west coast. According to a study led by Dr. Anna Edwards, a specialist in urban planning from the University of Melbourne and founder of Ingenium Research, in these two urban centers, one out of every three hospitality establishments is open before 7 AM. In Melbourne or Sydney, only 16% and 19%, respectively."The sun rises early in Brisbane – assures Edwards, who recently presented the data from his study to a city committee–. I was there, and when I opened the curtains at 4 in the morning and looked at the river, there were people running". According to his research, between 5 am and 11 am Brisbane generates spending volumes similar to those between 7 pm and midnight.But it is not an exception. In Adelaide in 2021, two friends started Salty Sips, a free beach yoga session that includes a dip in the ocean and brings together hundreds of people every Wednesday. At 6:30 a.m. yoga class and at 7 a.m., a dip. In Melbourne and Sydney, early mornings are filled with people running along the coast in a running club –with their posts on the Strava app –, swimming pools are filled with fast and slow lane swimmers, 24-hour gyms have proliferated, the Saint Judes cafe hosts members of a retired cyclists' club, and even a grandmother with her mobile phone at full blast does tai chi in a nearby alley.On the other hand, in cities like Paris, only 3% of hotels open before 7 a.m., and after 7 a.m. 14%, while in Amsterdam only 7% open before 8 a.m., a figure that in London rises to 24%, as reported by the study carried out in more than 7,800 establishments in 20 cities worldwide. While in Brisbane or Perth one out of every three establishments has raised the shutters before 7 a.m., in Barcelona's Raval this happens from 9 a.m. onwards.Among the possible causes are the temperate climate of the Australian coast in a country where almost 90% of the population lives less than 50 kilometers from the sea, the interest in outdoor physical activity in parks and coastal areas or beaches, while there are different schedules than those in Catalonia: in Sydney it is complicated to find a table after 9 in the evening because the kitchen is often closed. On the other hand, coffee culture is part of the country's personality to the point that the Australian football team has taken a person who is dedicated to preparing them coffee during the World Cup."Younger generations are more interested in health and a healthy lifestyle, they drink less than before," says Edwards. Trends that the Australian Bureau of Statistics has managed to collect. Young people between 19 and 24 years old who claim to drink daily have decreased for the first time since 2010, while, according to data collected through smartwatches, the practice of intense sports among the population is increasing.Edwards noticed the morning economy after consultant Ivan Power published a text on LinkedIn stating that “tea and coffee lubricate social life as much as beer, wine or spirits”. Power's idea that now even some business meetings (or first dates) happen over breakfast has been best synthesized by the mayor of Brisbane, Adrian Schrinner, in the presentation of the annual budgets: “While in Europe they embrace the night, in Brisbane we embrace the dawn”.Although the morning economy provides more “flexibility” for participating in social activities, Edwards recalls that cities already have a 24-hour economy. In fact, up to four million Australians work shifts between six in the evening and six in the morning, and as the researcher acknowledges, the challenge is to “understand what already exists and then make adjustments so that things work better for everyone who uses the city at different times of the day.”But tomorrow a majority of Australians will wake up at 6.41 a.m. on average, a quarter to eight if it's the weekend. “Most of my circle doesn't wake up as early as I do. Thays and LJ [her fiancé] do, which helps – assures Anna Alstersjö from Brisbane–. It also helps that the city is prepared, with public transport that starts early and cafes open”.

As a complement for when tourism days have involved a lot of walking, spas are great allies when on urban holidays. However, they are also of great help when we are not traveling anywhere but want to disconnect a little from routine life and daily stress. If this is our plan, we have some new ones here at home that are open to people who do not stay in the hotels where they are located but want to spend a relaxing time there or undergo all sorts of treatments. In fact, allowing yourself a luxury without having to take planes is an even greater luxury, and at a lower price.

Sant Joan is synonymous with the start of summer, as the saying goes. It's a time for firecrackers and parties that go on until dawn, for coca and cava and, why not say it, also for great castells. Because yes, casteller-wise, the arrival of June 24th marks a turning point in the season. The calendar enters a new dimension and the groups begin to show their best cards. Valls and Tarragona will once again concentrate a large part of the attention of the casteller world in two events that, year after year, serve to gauge the state of form of the groups and begin to outline the great objectives of the summer.This year, however, the tempos have advanced. Before reaching Sant Joan, we have already seen several groups that have managed to build basic nine-story castles and, even, some premature incursions into the extra range. All this suggests that the main formations arrive at the end of June with more work done than in other seasons. Despite this, the festivals of Valls and Tarragona continue to maintain their specific weight within the calendar.The first great duel from Valls in Plaça del BlatThe Colla Vella and the Colla Joves will first meet on the night of June 23rd in Plaça del Blat with the traditional Completes performance, a day that preserves all the essence of old-style human towers and usually offers the first clues about the intentions of the two groups. Less than 24 hours later, the same venue will host the great Sant Joan performance, an event that year after year marks the start of the strong part of the human tower season.In Plaça del Blat, the quintessential stage for human tower rivalry, Colla Vella and Colla Joves arrive with important aspirations. The rosats have had a convincing start to the season and have progressively expanded their range of constructions. The work done with the basic nine-level towers allows them to start looking towards other objectives and face Sant Joan with various options open. The 5d9f continues to be one of the structures that generates the most excitement, but rehearsals also hint at the possibility of seeing other top-difficulty constructions such as the 7 of 9 with folre, the 4 of 9 with folre and agulla, or the pillar of 8 with folre and manilles.The situation of Joves is different, but equally promising. The reds have advanced with more caution during the first weeks of the course, consolidating pieces before making the leap to the big challenges. Now, however, the time has come to accelerate. The group from Gassó street is working with an eye on superior constructions and with the desire to present themselves at Sant Joan with everything. The 2 of 9 with folre and manilles and the pillar of 8 with folre and manilles appear as some of the most notable objectives.Tarragona's groups want to bring premieres for Sant JoanIn Tarragona, the festival also arrives loaded with attractions. The Colla Jove is the one that, at present, presents the most solid credentials. The lilacs have completed a very consistent start to the season and recently achieved the earliest magical triplet in their history. With the basic castles of nine fully consolidated and the pillar of 7 with folre already debuted, all eyes are now on the 2 of 9 with folre and manilles. If the rehearsals in the coming hours support it, those from Cós del Bou could become the first group of the year to debut this construction.

Quiet weekend on the casteller calendar before Sant Joan, although with solid performances and some notable movement.

With the arrival of the heat, parties begin to take place by the pools. W Barcelona, one of the pioneers in evenings by the water, inaugurates this June a new edition of the Wet Deck Summer Series (WDSS), its summer electronic music cycle. This year, the party will be held under the concept House of Sound, will begin on June 14 and will run until August 30 with weekly events at the Wet Deck space, the hotel's outdoor terrace with a pool, overlooking Barceloneta. The cycle will offer sessions every Sunday from 7:00 PM to 12:00 AM with the participation of artists from the national and international electronic scene.

The human tower season continues to advance with a firm step and the second weekend of June has left a new demonstration of solidity from the main groups in the country. With Sant Joan just around the corner, the squares are beginning to regularly see nine-story towers and the first major performances of the season. The main focus fell on Saturday on El Pati, in Valls, while on Sunday Girona completed a very high-level weekend throughout the territory.

Pregnancy and motherhood represent an inevitable pause for castellers, but the real challenge often comes later. Regaining physical fitness, reorganizing family schedules, managing breastfeeding, or overcoming the feeling of missing important moments of childhood are, like in any job, some of the obstacles that appear on the way back to the square. A reality shared by many women in the casteller world and which, often, goes unnoticed behind great collective achievements.

"I wouldn't trade this sailboat for any dinghy." Says Segimon Molist, from Vic, who is grateful to have been able to enjoy a swim at ses Ielles. It's not the first time he's sailed around Cap de Creus from the sea, but "it's a place that always surprises you," he adds. "I had never done this route before and I recommend it," says Jesús Conte, a journalist. "I loved it, it was a fantastic experience," shares Josep Maria Canyelles, a businessman from Vilanova i la Geltrú, happy to have been able to "get to know from the sea an increasingly protected area with restricted access".

Very close to the Mediterranean Sea, where the foam breaks against the rock and the landscape shines under the light, another kind of tide emerges each year. A yellow burst that travels along paths, margins, and wastelands, tinting them with the humble presence of the broom. So integrated into the landscape that it often goes unnoticed, this plant is, in reality, one of the oldest and most persistent presences in the Catalan imagination.

The five, ten, twenty and fifty pound notes are changing their design. Where previously, on the reverse, there was the face of Churchill, Jane Austen, Turner and Alan Turing, respectively, there will now be an animal from the British wildlife chosen from a pre-selection of eighteen, selected by a panel of experts. On June 3rd, a public consultation was opened for this purpose, which will close on July 3rd. The public can opt for, among others, the hedgehog, the puffin, the badger, the marten, the red fox or the bumblebee. The candidates to appear on the new paper money have been divided into three categories: mammals, birds and a third group that includes amphibians, insects and fish. "Can you lend me a beaver?" may soon mean "can you lend me five pounds?". And "can you pass me a bumblebee?", perhaps it will mean "can you pass me 50?" Mysteries of slang.

In 2004, Sonali Deraniyagala was 40 years old and lived in London with her husband and two children. They decided that they would not spend that Christmas in England but in a nature reserve in the south of their country, Sri Lanka. On December 26, the tsunami –a word she didn't know– swept away the lives of her husband, her two children aged 5 and 7, and her parents. For a long time, she only thought about killing herself, but she found comfort in memories and in writing. What remains of those we love when they are gone? What do we remember? Questions and reflections that she wrote over seven years and which became the book Wave (wave), which is now being translated into Spanish by Capitán Swing and will be in bookstores from this Monday, June 8.

For weeks now, the casteller world has been breathing a clear feeling: the teams have started the season at a very high level. This Sunday, in El Vendrell, this intuition has finally been confirmed with facts. The Diada de les Colles Campiones del Concurs de Castells has been the definitive proof that we are facing one of the best season starts in recent years, with records that recall, and in some cases surpass, those of 2016. And most significantly: on June 7th alone, the first gamma extra unloaded of the season have already been seen.

“When I was little I lived huddled in a dark street. The sea was humid there, but the sun was cheerful there”. This is how one of Joan Maragall's poems begins, masterfully recited by actor Jep Barceló in the show Maragall at home, a splendid monologue woven from articles, poems, and correspondence from one of the most listened-to voices in Catalonia at the turn of the last century. The show takes place in what was the dining room of Maragall's house, in Barcelona's Sant Gervasi neighborhood. In this room every afternoon, at five o'clock, punctually, the couple had tea (Joan Maragall's wife, Clara Noble, was of English origin on her father's side).

The French-Iranian illustrator and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi has died at the age of 56, as communicated by her family to the AFP agency. Satrapi had withdrawn from public life months prior due to the death of her husband, producer and actor Mattias Ripa, who died on April 8, 2025. "Marjane Satrapi died of sadness just over a year after the death of Mattias Ripa, her husband and the love of her life," states the press release made public by the illustrator's family, which does not specify the cause of death.

At more than 3,000 meters of altitude, on the Tibetan Plateau, Qinghai's landscape has ceased to be an arid and silent expanse, transforming into one of China's most ambitious energy experiments. Where until recently a cold desert with almost no vegetation predominated, today a complex of solar panels stretches out, which, along with wind turbines and hydroelectric power plants, forms one of the largest integrated renewable systems in the world.

The forecasts are coming true and May is bidding farewell with a new set of nine-story towers. The Castellers de Sants unload the first 3d9f of the season at the Pla de la Seu festival in Barcelona and become the fifth group to reach this category this 2026. The borinots complete their best performance of the course with the tower of 8 with folre and the 4d8, in a day that also leaves notable achievements for the Colla Vella dels Xiquets de Valls, the Colla Jove Xiquets de Tarragona and the Colla Castellera de Sant Pere i Sant Pau.

Casteller rehearsals have changed profoundly over the last decade. Safety nets have become an essential tool for the groups that want to work on constructions of maximum difficulty with the necessary guarantees. While many formations have been adapting their venues to these needs, some have had to live with space limitations that made it difficult to develop modern and efficient systems.