The intentions of the Spanish government to ban social media for under-16s have been very well received in Catalonia. 87% of Catalans - almost 9 out of 10 - endorse this as the minimum age for social media users in all EU countries, according to a survey by the Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió (CEO) and the European Parliament. The poll, published this Monday to mark 40 years since Spain's accession to the community club, indicates that only 10% of respondents are against the measure, while only 3% do not know or do not answer. Setting a minimum age limit for these platforms convinces even the youngest in the sample, as 84% of those interviewed between 18 and 24 years old are in favor.

This past weekend I rewatched Gran Torino, one of the best films directed by Clint Eastwood (and that's saying a lot, considering he's one of the best directors of the last fifty years of Hollywood). It coincided with the publication of the YouGov poll for this newspaper, with the data that 66% of Catalans, an undeniable majority, are in favor of restricting immigrants' access to the country. This same majority is, at the same time, in favor of guaranteeing equal rights among all residents. However, 30% declare themselves in favor of applying the national priority defended by Vox and Aliança Catalana (and which the Popular Party has adopted). Released in 2008, Eastwood's film already speaks openly about immigration, and it's a hymn to the diversity and social cohesion of a country (the USA, but it could be Catalonia, it could be the Catalan Countries) historically formed by immigrants. However, being a hymn doesn't mean it's accommodating or well-intentioned: it shows how Black people have prejudices against Asians, Asians against Whites, Italians against Chinese, Chinese against Hispanics, Poles against the Irish. White supremacism over everyone else is portrayed, as well as the resentment and xenophobia that minorities profess towards Whites, etc. There is violence, weapons (we are in the USA), linguistic, cultural, and religious conflicts, and tattered American flags on the porches of rundown houses in degraded neighborhoods. But Eastwood clearly takes a stand for people's capacity to welcome and coexist. It's a capacity based on tolerance, empathy, and intelligence, qualities that define us as human beings before patriots.

It hasn't even been two years since Salvador Illa became president of the Generalitat, and the oasis of tranquility he enjoyed in his first months is beginning to look more and more like a mirage. For a long time now, protests in the streets have been added to the difficulties of governing in minority, with teachers being one of the most demanding groups. The ARA survey, conducted by YouGov, detects some electoral wear and tear for the PSC, but, despite everything, the socialists would consolidate their first position today if the elections were brought forward. There is no forecast of this happening, even though negotiations for the budget with ERC are still open, which adds a point of unpredictability to the calendar. The PSC would obtain between 36 and 42 seats and would see the second party in the Parlament no longer be Junts, the main victim in case of elections, but Esquerra (27-30).

Seven out of ten Spaniards believe that prostitution is a form of violence against women, a percentage that rises to 75% among the female population. Specifically, according to a survey published this Thursday by the Ministry of Equality, 69% of the Spanish population strongly or quite agrees with this statement. The data also reveals that 63% of the population would disapprove of a male relative paying for sex, a rejection that is even more pronounced among women, reaching 71.1%. Similarly, there is clear opposition among women to having a relationship with someone who pays for sex. 91.2% state that they would not be willing.

Half a century after the death of dictator Francisco Franco, the health of democracy is faltering, and it is no coincidence that social unrest is coinciding with the rise of far-right populist forces, according to a study by the Institute of Political and Social Sciences (ICPS). The survey, presented this Wednesday, explains why support for democracy in Catalonia is at its lowest level since the worst of the economic crisis of this century, in 2012. Specifically, 19.4% of Catalans, nearly one million people, are open to a dictatorial system (up from 10%), 4.9% would prefer a dictatorship at certain times, and 2.6% did not know or did not answer. In 2012, when support was at its highest point, the percentage was 19.7%. In any case, 80% remain loyal to democracybut with a downward trend.

Is it true that adolescent boys and girls and young adults today are increasingly right-wing, and that boys are increasingly sexist? Yes, and no. Yes, if we look at how they are globally portrayed in surveys. And no, if we understand that the social and demographic composition of these age groups, compared to that of fifteen or twenty years ago, is now extremely heterogeneous. Therefore, if it seems that in general back off It's not due to the poor performance of the world we come from, but rather the world we're arriving from. I mean that new social environments and communities that didn't exist before have now been added, and at an accelerated pace. And the evolution that would have been predictable in a more stable society, given school education, the critical role of the media, and all the socializing action of children in human rights and democratic principles, has been altered.

As every year, the Living Conditions Survey (CVD), a study that gives us a fairly accurate picture of how people live in Catalonia and the rest of the State. The initial picture seems pretty good. Poverty continues to decline in Catalonia, as it has since 2020. Today, 17% of the Catalan population lives below the poverty line, which means earning less than 1,000 euros per month. In Spain, this rate has been stagnant for three years.

Young people in Barcelona speak less Catalan than we thought and leave home earlier. This is what emerges from the latest Youth Survey presented this Wednesday by the Barcelona City Council based on 1,407 interviews of young people between the ages of 15 and 34 between March and July last year. Until now, the questionnaire on young people in Barcelona only included those registered as residents in the city, but in this edition it has also included those who are not but have been living in the Catalan capital for at least six monts. It has been done "to discover the social reality of the street," explained the Councillor for Children, Youth, the Elderly and People with Disabilities, Joan Ramon Riera. And including these young people, 13.4% of those surveyed, has changed things. For a start, it makes it possible to make a more realistic estimate of how many young people there are in the city and the figure rises to 404,805. Of these, 58% were not born in Barcelona, but have come to work (33%), study (27%), with their parents or other family members (22%) or for other reasons. "We are importing young people," said Riera. However, he acknowledged that the survey does not shed any light on young people who have decided to leave Barcelona and try their luck elsewhere. "We don't know how many young people Barcelona is expelling, but we do know that it is a great centre for work that creates jobs and that life here is more expensive".

Pere Aragonès is the 132nd president of the Generalitat. On Friday he was sworn in, on Monday he took office and on Wednesday he held his first government meeting with the new ministers. The in extremis pact between Junts and ERC unblocked a situation that could have led to a repetition of the elections, the first in the history of Catalonia. Instead of convening the executive council, on Wednesday the legislature would have been dissolved and the countdown would have begun for elections that, according to the Centre for Opinion Studies (CEO), Esquerra would have won alone, breaking the 14-F tie with the PSC. The Republicans would have been the most benefited and would have gone from 33 to 36-37 seats in the Parliament, and would thus surpass the Socialists, who would also have grown to 34-35, and especially JxCat, the most damaged of the three major parties, which would have fallen from 32 to 28-29 seats. That is, the difference between ERC and Junts would have widened from one MP to between 8 and 9.

Given the disagreement of the pro-independence parties eleven days before the automatic call for new elections, the first polls are beginning to be published on a new appointment at the voting booths next July. This Saturday, both La Vanguardia and El Periódico published polls which, despite differing in the distribution of seats, agree that the pro-independence party would maintain its absolute majority, at least in terms of seats. In any case, the PSC candidate, Salvador Illa, would once again be in first place; Pere Aragonès, with Esquerra, would continue to be the candidate with the best chances of becoming president, and Junts per Catalunya would follow in third place.