The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, met this morning at first light with the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, at Palau, to address the situation in which Renfe's commuter service in Catalonia has been immersed since the crisis opened in January, with the accidents in Adamuz and Gelida. This is the first meeting between the two leaders since the railway crisis broke out, almost three months ago. Puente and Illa arranged this meeting by taking advantage of the fact that the minister has been in Barcelona since yesterday because he attended the first edition of the AENA literary awards last night.

The names of the key figures were still unknown, and today they have been made public. Òscar Playà, the current director of the Barcelona metro network (TMB), will be the new CEO of Cercanías Cataluña, the new company that will take over the Cercanías operationThis was explained by the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and the Minister of Transport and Mobility, Óscar Puente, who on Monday morning formally established the new company, which will also be officially registered before a notary this week. The presidency of the new Cercanías Catalunya will also be held by a Catalan, the Minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque. These are, therefore, the two names that will lead the board of directors of this joint venture (formed by the Generalitat and Renfe, i.e., the State) and which has the mandate to operate – and improve – both Cercanías and Regional services from now on. Sources from the Ministry of Territory said that Playà "was the best option" due to her more than 20 years of experience "leading complex organizations" and her "extensive knowledge of the railway sector." Since 2021, Playà has served as general manager of the TMB metro network. He had previously worked at the ATM as director of T-mobility, and from now on, according to the Catalan government, he will become "more involved in the management and direction of the company."

Samuel Umtiti's ordeal is over. After a season without playing a single minute for Lille and not finding a team, the French centre-back, who touched the sky in 2018 with the World Cup, bids farewell to the pitch at the age of 31 (he will turn 32 on November 14). He did so with a video in which he appears at the Olympique Lyonnais stadium, the headquarters club, as he reviews his career. In the video, posted on Instagram, he speaks in French and is subtitled in English and Catalan. "In Catalonia, I've learned a lot, but I've also discovered a side of football that no one is really prepared for," he says, referring to the place where his career began to decline due to injuries. It was precisely knee problems that caused Umtiti to fold. His last match was on January 21, 2024: 90 minutes in the Coupe de France with a 1-0 victory at Racing Club de France. 603 days later, he announced the end of his sporting career.

The Catalan Sociailst Party (PSC) does not want to turn these elections into a duel with the Catalan Republican Left (ERC). Yesterday the socialists poured cold water on the possibility of a debate between their candidate, Salvador Illa, and the head of the Republican list, Pere Aragonès. ERC wanted this debate to try to turn the election into a two-horse race and eliminate JxCat, the other main pro-independence party, from the equation. At first it seemed that the strategy worked, because yesterday Illa said early in the morning that he was in favor of debating alone with Aragonès, but finally he backed away. The PSC does not want to have to choose one rival over the other. It prefers that ERC and JxCat wear themselves out in the struggle to lead the pro-independence bloc, while it comfortably leads the constitutionalist bloc. This, according to socialist sources, can only have one outcome: victory.