Around 3,000 Catalan families are waiting to be allocated social housing, but the high demand and limited supply of apartments available to organizations and government agencies mean that waiting lists continue to grow, even though applicants meet the requirements and have received a favorable decision. Until this solution arrives, most families survive by subletting or even staying in social hostels.

The Catalan Ombudsman has taken into consideration the complaint of a 72-year-old man regarding the age limit for colon cancer screening programs and is asking the Catalan Health Department, on which the complaint is based, to stop performing diagnostic tests after the age of 69, precisely the age at which these types of tumors are most common. This case of ageism, or age discrimination, was reported by... Joaquim Vilargunter from Barcelona in the pages of ARA After the regional health department headed by Olga Pané and a court denied him entry into the public prevention program, the director of social rights for the Ombudsman, Jordi Sánchez Pinyol, has opened an investigation following the news published on November 17th to determine if the Health Department has scientific reports to justify the age restriction to 69, and also inquires whether any such reports exist within that age range. In his complaint, Joaquim Vilargunter provided reports from other health services, such as those in the Basque Country and others in the European Union, which have decided to extend the screening age range to 74, taking into account the high incidence of cancer and the fact that stool analysis is cheaper than medical treatment. In the letter that Sánchez Pinyol has sent to the Catalan Health Department (Salut), he also asks about the exact cost of each test and "the impact that extending the age range to 74 would have on the healthcare budget," as well as what information is available on the incidence of this type of cancer in people over 69. The Ombudsman explains that he has opted to act ex officio without mentioning Vilargunter's personal case, knowing that he is unlikely to receive a positive response before turning 74 (he is two years away), while it could be a solution for other people who are about to reach the maximum age for the prevention program. According to Sánchez Pinyol, colorectal cancer screenings have many parallels with breast cancer, which also has an age limit and leaves women without universal and free periodic screening.

"School supplies," "maintenance of the educational project," or "general services." These are concepts familiar to many families because they appear on the fee receipts they pay at their children's school. However, the ambiguity of these terms can lead families to assume expenses of an educational institution that, by law, they should not have to bear, or at least should not be obligated to do so. This is the warning issued in a September resolution by the Ombudsman for Grievances, which ARA has been able to consult. The document is a response to a specific case concerning a change in fees at several semi-private schools, but the institution also notes that, in its work, it has detected that "some public and semi-private schools include expenses [...] that should not be the responsibility of families or should not be considered mandatory contributions."

Lowering the voting age to 16 while extending compulsory schooling to 18, two years longer than currently, are two of the proposals put forward this Tuesday by the ombudsperson for grievances, Esther Giménez-Salinas. She is calling for a review of the age of majority to eliminate what she has termed "inconsistencies" in determining rights, responsibilities, and decision-making capacity. "Why can a teenager start working at 16 but needs parental consent to open a bank account? Why can they decide to discontinue medical treatment at 16 but cannot donate blood until 18?" the ombudsperson asked, asserting that many young people are already sufficiently democratic by the age of 16. She therefore recommends that, from this age, teenagers should be able to open a bank account independently, enroll in school without parental accompaniment, and vote.

Shortly before turning 18, Nico (a pseudonym) applied for the emancipation benefit that young people who have left care are entitled to when they reach the age of majority to ease their transition into adulthood, considering that most lack the emotional or financial support of their families. The process took more than a year, to the point that, with no other source of income, he had to put his studies on hold and go to work.

Today, Oriol Junqueras and Xavier Trias will testify before the congressional commission on Operation Catalunya. Good luck. You already know that Operation Catalunya is a series of illegal activities organized or protected, tolerated, and ignored by Mariano Rajoy's government, including the fabrication of false evidence, espionage, and the misuse of public funds. And yet, the Spanish justice system hasn't lifted a finger to investigate it, because justice is Spanish before justice.

The apartment was half empty, but the entity that managed it was collecting rent from the Generalitat (Catalan government) as if all the spaces in the apartment were occupied. This is what is known among workers in the sector as "ghost spaces." Now, three examples of this entity have reported it to the Anti-Fraud Office and the Catalan Ombudsman, within the framework of the research advanced by the ARA In January: alleged irregularities in the payment of financial and housing benefits to young people in care were reported to a technician from the Girona district.

Months to receive a social benefit, years of waiting for a place in a public nursing home, or discontent over poor service. The slowness in responding to citizens is due to the fact that the Catalan administration is "slow, complicated, excessively bureaucratic, and obsolete in some cases." These are the words of the ombudsman, Esther Giménez-Salinas, who presented the institution's annual report to the Speaker of the Parliament, Josep Rull, in which she warns that complaints are growing at a very rapid rate. Largely responsible for this trend is the daily chaos of the Cercanías (Commuter Trains): if last year there were 160 complaints about the poor functioning of the trains, in the two and a half months of 2025 there have already been 397, more than double.

Almost a year after the crime in Mas d'Enric prison, the Ombudsman has reiterated its warning to the Department of Justice for the measures it took in response to the murder of a cook at the hands of a prisoner who also worked in the kitchen. The Ombudsman, Esther Giménez-Salinas, insists that the Generalitat must review "in depth" the circular that bans all inmates arrested for violent crimes from kitchens and other jobs considered at risk. Furthermore, she is demanding that all inmates who were dismissed under this rule be readmitted retroactively.

The Catalan ombudsman has announced this Friday that it will investigate ex officio the impact the closure of bank branches has on vulnerable population. In a statement, the Ombudsman has pointed out that financial services are "of general interest" and, therefore, the administration has to guarantee access to all people, respecting a minimum of quality and at an affordable price. According to the data provided by the agency, 12% of the population has problems accessing these services, either because of the physical distance from the closest branch or because of a lack of understanding of the systems (for example, the elderly may have more difficulties using online banking).

The Catalan Ombudsman will investigate the cases of sexual harassment, abuse of power and psychological mistreatment uncovered by ARA at the Institut del Teatre (IT). In light of the students' complaints on the actions of some teachers, including theatre director Joan Ollé, the Catalan Ombudsman has decided to open an ex-officio action and has requested information from the Barcelona Provincial Council, as owner of the centre, and the Barcelona Education Consortium. "The Catalan Ombudsman also wants to know if any formal complaints have been received, and if any actions have been taken to respond to them and their outcome," the Catalan Ombudsman said in a press release. ARA explained on Sunday that a student filed a complaint with the Catalan Ombudsman two weeks ago to report what she had suffered at the Institut del Teatre, but it did not go forward because complaints by and against individuals are not admitted.