We want to recommend a range of activities for the coming days, such as the community life that is reviving in the Barcelona neighborhood of Vallcarca, summer activities at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) or discovering the interior of the monument to Columbus, among others.

“The beaches, which should be a place of tranquility, have been transformed into a space where you have to keep an eye on mobile phones and try to guess if a person is using it to look at Instagram or if they are actually taking photos or videos of your children,” explains Laura Ferrer, a specialist in conscious and emotional sexual education for children, youth, and adults. The widespread presence of mobile phones, cameras, and social networks has changed the way many families experience children's swimming in public spaces like the beach. What a few decades ago could be experienced with more naturalness – small naked children playing in the sand or entering and leaving the water – today coexists with a new concern: what if someone photographs or records the child without permission? And where could that image end up? Ferrer's practice is increasingly receiving families who have suffered or are suffering unpleasant situations on the beach and who live in fear of the non-consensual dissemination of images of their children. “It’s not paranoia, it’s real, it’s happening and it’s very sad. We are moving to ensuring that our privacy is not stolen from the sand,” warns Ferrer. According to the therapist, these concerns have reached her from families she works with from various parts of Catalonia, Galicia, and northern Spain. Children's privacy, more exposed

Although there is no comparable data to measure the extent to which this habit has changed, many families and professionals perceive a change in the way childhood is lived in public spaces. “A daily photograph that may seem innocent at first glance – for example, at the beach, in a bikini or swimsuit – can end up being reused with artificial intelligence tools or circulating in criminal environments for the exchange of child sexual abuse images,” warns Irene Montiel, professor of Law and Political Science at the Open University of Catalonia and researcher at the VICRIM group. The current regulations on data protection do not establish specific regulations for spaces such as beaches or swimming pools, but rather apply the general framework on the right to one's own image, privacy, and data protection. There are situations in which a person may appear incidentally in a photograph taken in a public space, but the general principle is that the capture and, above all, the dissemination of identifiable images require special caution, even more so when minors are involved. “In the case of minors, it would not be permitted to photograph them, as the aim is precisely to protect their image and privacy. Since these are public spaces, we must be aware that people may appear in our photographs at any time, but the general principle is that no one should be able to take a photo of someone else without authorization,” explains Francisco Pérez Bes, deputy of the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD). In the case of minors under fourteen years of age, if a photo is to be taken of them, authorization must always be given by parents or legal guardians.More eyes: when it's no longer just the mobile phone recording

But the challenge, adds Pérez Bes, is no longer just mobile phones. “There are increasingly more devices with a conventional appearance that can be used for recording. For example, smart sunglasses that incorporate photographic and video cameras. This threatens our right to privacy and makes it increasingly difficult to identify whether we are being recorded or not,” he warns. For Ferrer, the debate should not fall solely on families, but also on how we protect shared spaces. “Perhaps we will have to start implementing mobile-free beaches, as is already done in some nightclubs, to regain freedom and avoid digital exposure,” he suggests. The line between protecting and scaring

Faced with this situation, many families opt to put swimsuits or some piece of clothing on children. “Families cover them with sun protection clothing, using it as a shield so they are not so exposed to a sexualizing gaze. But, of course, the internal moral dilemma as parents is there: ‘I want my son to be able to go naked, calm and relaxed, but at the same time I am teaching him that his body is not to be shown’,” reflects Ferrer. For his part, Montiel considers that measures must be taken and the most vulnerable protected by setting limits if necessary: “Thirty years ago it was not common to see so many mobile phones or electronic devices and we did not feel so exposed. Now, anyone can take a photo or record a video without you noticing. We have to have a little more awareness and set limits, we should not fall into collective panic, but we must transmit values of care and respect for our own body”.Ferrer recommends looking for less crowded beaches and quiet spaces and, if nudism aligns with family values, opting for contexts where this practice is lived more naturally. Precisely, recent information on nudism in Catalonia suggests that the naturist collective perceives a reduction in the practice and links it, among other factors, to shame and fear of exposure on social media. "Any public space can be a risk context, considering that there are people looking for this type of images. It's not about living in fear but about being aware of it," explains Montiel, also a professor in the criminology degree at the UOC.

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It's almost a classic in the family imagination: sooner or later we end up heading to the famous Parisian park to experience a few days of pure fantasy. The excitement in the children's eyes when they see the big castle or hug their favorite character is an image that remains etched in the retina forever, and that is undeniable. It's one of those places you have to go to once in your life. However, once the dream is fulfilled, parents also know the fine print of the experience well: budgets that require financial engineering, hours of queuing that test the limits of our patience, and the feeling of being in a constant traffic jam of people and strollers.

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Births in Catalonia rose slightly last year after 17 years of decline. In 2025, 28,019 boys and 26,230 girls were born, a total of 54,249 infants, representing an increase of 0.8% compared to 2024, according to provisional data released this morning by the Institute of Statistics of Catalonia, Idescat. This breaks a downward trend of almost two decades, although the increase is so slight that the crude birth rate remains at 6.7 births per 1,000 inhabitants, the same as in 2024.

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Most children stop using daytime diapers between the ages of two and four, although nighttime training can be more difficult and may not be completed until around five or six years of age. For Alejandra Pérez, supervisor of pediatrics and neonatology at Sant Pau Campus Salut Barcelona, it is key to understand that sphincter control is not a habit learned through repetition, "but rather a maturational milestone acquired when the child's body is physiologically, cognitively, and emotionally ready." Neurologically, Pérez continues, "it involves a transition from an involuntary reflex action (where the bladder empties automatically) to a voluntary and conscious act under cortical control." Forcing this process prematurely, therefore, "is ineffective and can generate frustration, anxiety, and unnecessary conflicts, as each child has their own pace of nervous system maturation."

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Born more than 25 years ago as a non-profit social initiative associated work cooperative, DELTACOOP has consolidated its own model of support for children, adolescents, and families based on proximity, quality, and commitment to the territory. Currently, the entity is made up of professionals who actively participate in a horizontal, democratic, and people-centered organization.

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The other day, at a social gathering (they call it baby shower and I haven't been able to sleep since), there was a mother with a small child in a stroller. She was next to me, so I could see how she was looking, all worried, at children's reels on her mobile phone (a phone the size of the middle slice of a rustic loaf). To spare myself the sight of the creature passing, with its little fingers, disturbing frogs with a narco accent, I made a joke. The kind of jokes you make to kids. Then the mother looked at me, condescendingly, and said: "You'll be a good grandmother." If my daughter made a joke to the same creature or said things to it, the deceased wouldn't tell her: "You'll be a good mother."

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Each year, the Joan Brossa Foundation adds more and more educational centers that want to practice poetry and art from a playful, experimental, and radical perspective, just as the poet Joan Brossa created. To break away from canons and innovate, to try new ways of writing, to play with the forms of language as if they were objects you can hang on walls... Brossa is intuition, play, and freedom, and so too is the educational program that the Joan Brossa Foundation's Centre for Free Arts makes available to schools and families.

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Summer and heat are here, and we change our footwear, but which is the most suitable for children's feet? Podiatrist and communicator Neus Moya advises that to choose respectful footwear, you must observe that the child walks exactly the same as if they were barefoot. "The shoe must respect the shape and function of the foot. It must have an anatomical toe box and allow movement".

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“At first I was afraid of everything: of the food, that something might happen to them, I was even afraid of them sleeping away from home. But after the first experience, the girl came back very happy and the fear has passed,” explains Nabila, mother of three, about the summer camps. Her daughter Yosra, eleven years old, has already been to camps twice, once with school and once in the summer. Her son Marouan, 16 years old, has also been – this year will be the fourth time – and the youngest, Omar, hasn't dared to go yet, although Nabila has hopes.

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The Romans left a profound mark on the Iberian Peninsula, visible in Latin, Roman law, aqueducts, bridges, amphitheaters, and triumphal arches. Thanks to genetics, we now know that their arrival also changed the population's DNA. A study led by researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and published in the journal iScience has obtained the most complete and precise picture to date of the history and genetic evolution of the Iberian peoples who inhabited the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula from the beginnings of the Iron Age until the Roman conquest, between 2,700 and 2,100 years ago.

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The end of the school year is approaching, and with it, a scene that repeats in many homes with school-aged children: they arrive with various – if not many – crafts they've made at school, in after-school activities... And the questions return: what should we do with all this? Do we keep it all? Do we throw it all away? Do we leave it at home and gradually discard it after a few days without the children noticing?

]]> The Oresund Strait is a bottleneck, four kilometers at its narrowest point, separating the North Sea and the Baltic Sea (to give you an idea, the Strait of Hormuz is thirty). The Danes built Kronborg Castle there, a fortress to control the passage and charge tolls to commercial vessels. At the end of the 16th century, the fortress was transformed into a magnificent Renaissance castle, of an opulence that made it famous throughout Europe.The castle is in the city of Helsingor, today better known in the rest of the world as Elsinore, an English name that Shakespeare used when, a few years after the great reformation, he set Hamlet there. I was able to visit it this Sunday and rarely have I had the impression of a place where literature corresponds so exactly with what you see: corridors, guard posts, Nordic coldness and conspiracies, even the great hall where Hamlet could have had the death of his father performed. It doesn't matter that Shakespeare had never been there. To be or not to be is about that.

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In school canteens, we have run out of croquettes. We no longer have banana yogurts, and the macaroni is wholemeal. The day there is a vegetable starter and lentils as a main course, the students (and indeed all of us) suffer a brutal shock because culturally for us they are two starters and we miss a main course. The changes in the canteen menus have added a bit more drama, if that were possible, to school food, which has always been in the spotlight. I have attended courses on communication in schools, and all attendees agree: one of the most common complaints is about food. Whether we are from a public or private school, from Girona or Penedès, the canteen issue is always a struggle, and it's very difficult to get it right. Once a week, which almost always tends to coincide with the fateful day of legumes, I have to serve meals at my school. And after many hours of serving meals under my belt, I have come to the conclusion that, even if Ferran Adrià himself came to spherify olives, there would be complaints.

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3Cat's SX3, with funding from Grup Transversal, this week opened the doors of Fantàstix, a new cultural, family, and immersive experience focused on the power of stories, imagination, and the active participation of children. Located in the Sagrada Família neighborhood, the space, which was a former 2,000-square-meter parking lot, has been transformed into a "factory of imagination," where the narrative focuses on the premise of recovering the power of storytelling, which has disappeared from the world. The project's intention is to become a new meeting point for families, the educational world, and Catalan children's and youth culture.

]]> The literary festival Món Llibre will celebrate a new edition from May 29 to 31 at the CCCB and MACBA with a free program aimed at children, families, and industry professionals. This year's proposal focuses on the book as a physical space for fiction and explores children's ability to imagine possible worlds from everyday environments, while also advocating for the presence of children's culture in contemporary cultural spaces.

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Watching a child is hypnotic. You look at them closely and often see things in them that you recognize yourself in. And when you see something you don't recognize, you marvel, thinking where they must have gotten it from. One day, your young son told you: "Death has entered me and I don't know what's wrong with me, but today it's not leaving me."

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We have become extraordinarily skilled at choosing, practically in everything. We choose the best school, the best extracurricular activity, the most ergonomic backpack, the BPA-free lunchbox, and the flat-soled sneakers. We choose sugar-free, we choose to restrict mobile phones, we choose respectful clothing as if clothing could behave disrespectfully, and we choose toys with a Montessori label.

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“Children don’t just feel conflict, they breathe it”. Psychologist specialized in mediation and conciliation Javier Wilhelm highlights that when two families go through a conflict situation and their children share a class, this has a direct implication on the minors’ well-being. The school can play an important role as a link between the parties, but the key factor that will determine the extent of the consequences are the families involved. The way they manage their disagreement –with the emotions it entails– can lead to a serious estrangement between the children and, among adults, open a communicative abyss.

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Fantasy books, mystery books, dystopian stories, personal diaries, and traditional tales with block letters, cursive letters, or print letters. And sagas, many sagas. Students from Institut Escola Sant Felip Neri in Barcelona, aged 4 to 15, have recommended their favorite books to us, as well as those that once opened the door to the enjoyment of reading. These are their recommendations for this Sant Jordi.

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