We wake up all year round and when we blink we see it's 6 in the morning, mostly we'd like to turn back the clock without knowing the wonderful point of putting our feet on the ground and starting to walk. However, in August nothing is the same. At this hour, the blinds of almost everywhere are still down, the terraces are cleared, and the first buses pass through the streets, some delivery people, people walking their dogs, and athletes who have decided to start the day when many are still sleeping. And to know what's behind all this and why it's worth trying, all it takes is a simple gesture of putting your feet on the ground and getting out of bed. Really, you don't have to be a runner or turn your vacation into military training. Going for a walk very early is, simply, a rather unpopular way to make the most of summer days (or just one day) and, above all, to recover a few hours that we often ignore because we associate them with the alarm clock and going to work. There are many reasons not to forget this time slot to simply walk and walk.1. Rediscover the backstage of the daily theatre

Walking at six in the morning in August is, above all, a way to rediscover your surroundings. When it is still dark or starting to dawn, the streets have a completely different rhythm from what they will show a few hours later. Silence replaces noise, the promenades and avenues are walked almost alone, and the light changes minute by minute until sunrise. Like a moving picture that only happens at that precise moment. This is the opportunity to see the city waking up: the cleaning services, the first runners, the delivery people, the markets preparing themselves, or the cafes raising their shutters draw a scene that most people are not used to seeing: a kind of gear or backstage of the theater that is about to begin and which cannot be seen in any other way.2. It doesn't have to be a routine

Another good reason is that you don't have to turn it into a routine. The fun can also be in trying it one August morning, waking up when it's still dark, going out without rush or much destination and discovering that, for a few hours, the city seems like a completely different place: that journey we have never taken and that (perhaps) we will never undertake again. It doesn't have to be a daily proposal: just one day is enough to fill us with satisfaction.3. Physical activity without heat 

In this activity there is a very evident practical reason: physical activity is best done at the beginning and end of the day. According to Canal Salut, during the summer it is advisable to move and do activity first thing in the morning or in the evening and avoid the hottest hours. Specifically, the Department of Health points out the period between 12 and 5 p.m. as when temperatures are highest and the risk of heatstroke increases. Among its proposals for staying active in the summer is precisely taking walks in the morning or evening. Likewise, the World Health Organization (WHO) goes even a little further when it talks about heat episodes. If demanding physical activity is to be done, with an intensity that goes beyond walking, it recommends moving it to the coolest part of the day and even recommends the period from 4 to 7 in the morning. This (almost extreme) recommendation helps to understand why moving the walk forward a few hours can make sense during the hottest days. 4. Your 'vip' moment

In summer we strive to find secret coves, little-known villages, and viewpoints that social networks haven't yet discovered. But leaving the house for a walk at 6 in the morning solves everything, like a magic wand that makes us instant vips full of powers: visiting natural spaces when there's almost no one around; taking the photo without competition; having the spiritual privilege of being the only being in that space, and having a golden hour light that cannot be easily found. For example, we can manage to conquer a promenade before the first bathers arrive, walk along a boulevard without the usual hustle and bustle, or admire an iconic facade in solitude and silence.5. Achieve a well-deserved reward 

The best thing is that the plan can have a reward, and a good one. After walking for an hour or an hour and a half, when the bakeries and cafes start to open, it's time for breakfast. A coffee, something freshly made with the intoxicating aroma of the bakeries and workshops in operation, and that strange feeling of having lived half a day when it's still eight o'clock. 6. Love and share with others

But leaving the house so early is not just an introspective activity that benefits oneself. This activity has a derivative full of love: it allows us to enjoy the pleasure of bringing freshly made bread home under our arm, or bringing breakfast to all those who haven't yet woken up: sharing croissants straight from the bakery with the smell of hot butter or even bringing breakfast in bed to those we love, like in the movies. Summer also serves this purpose.7. Physical and psychological well-being

Going for a walk is also, evidently, a very complete way to exercise and obtain physical and psychological benefits that we can all intuit. For example, Ona Fillol says good morning to everyone at 7.24 am from her social networks: "Walking 45 min with the sunrise… The best ritual to start the day!", she says, and assures that starting the week walking when the sun hasn't risen yet has "many benefits such as activating the metabolism, starting with energy, improving circulation and starting the day in a better mood", she summarizes. Fillol assures that fat is burned naturally, legs, heart and joints are strengthened and that stress and anxiety are reduced. "You improve your mood and concentration, you sleep better at night and your body and mind will thank you", she adds.Likewise, the trainer behind the account @ona_moves, Ona Espot, explains that what walking at six in the morning brings her, which she doesn't find at any other time of the day, is that "there are fewer people, the weather is much more comfortable, and the day starts differently." What makes her think it was worth getting up early is "especially the light" of the day, but also her mental state: "I have a clearer and more relaxed mind," she assures. And beyond the internal benefits of making this effort, Espot assures that what surprises her most is "the people, the noise, and the routine." "I feel like I wake up with the city, the two at the same time," she says. From her perspective, she invites everyone who is starting to try it to detect "how they truly feel throughout the day" and feel how, certainly, "there is something different." Espot also mentions numerous benefits, but highlights the clarity and, paradoxically, "the rest" it provides. And among her most vivid memories of this summer practice, there is not only a list of benefits or sensations, but a metaphorical entry into the routines of many people: "Especially when you pass by the same places and greet people you don't know, but we know we will meet fleetingly, even with knowing glances." 8. Wake up, but maybe not so much

One of the reasons to go out early in the summer is that perhaps, paradoxically, you don't need to do it at 6 AM. "I always recommend going out when the sun rises, and 6 AM is usually a good option, especially in hot weather," says Miguel Sánchez, a hiking specialist, in this case about the Camino de Santiago: the quintessential context for summer hikes. Although he argues that it is always best to start early, he qualifies that at the end of August, with the shortening of the day, 6 AM is "a bit early" and assures that one could leave at 7 AM and it would still be "early enough not to catch the central hours of heat." So we would be getting up early, but without exaggerating.9. Live the landscapes and holidays

For its part, among the evident benefits there is also the admiration of the beauty of the landscape, be it the everyday one or the one visited as a tourist. For example, Mireia Delgado particularly highlights "the colors of the sunrise in Montserrat", pinkish hues that, combined with the particular stones, leave a totally picturesque landscape. The networks are also full of travelers who get up at 4 and even 2 to climb peaks in the Alps, the Pyrenees, Greece, Sicily, the United States or any Indonesian volcano or remote summit in order to see, at least once, the landscape from another perspective. Conversely, there are also many tourists who come to our coasts to see the sun rise over the Mediterranean. For example, the British Georgia explains all that the maritime landscape component brings her: "I will never stop feeling grateful", and she considers these kinds of walks as the best. Like her, dozens of travelers cannot help but be impressed by the Mediterranean landscape and its dawn reflections. It is enough to go out when there are still few people, to see how more cars and pedestrians progressively appear and to check how, in little more than an hour, that initial silence disappears. There is no need to set the alarm clock at half past five every day or, even, to become one of those people who explain that they have exercised, meditated and read fifty pages before sunrise. It is enough to try it one summer morning (when, if not?). Go out when the city is still asleep and return when others are just starting their day. That day we will have already done it all.

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For years, the motorhome has symbolized a holiday of freedom, but parking restrictions, the saturation of many areas, and rising costs have led many travelers to seek alternatives. In this context, houseboats are attracting interest as a different way to travel along rivers and canals without needing a nautical license and with the same autonomy. A formula fully consolidated in countries like France, England, or the Netherlands, where the journey ceases to be just a trip to become part of the holiday.

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The archetype of the tourist who walks through Catalonia and, specifically, Barcelona, remains in the collective imagination as that group of young people who travel with low cost companies, do not contribute to local commerce, saturate La Rambla and Park Güell, and desperately seek a bar to drink cheap alcohol. However, a new model has been emerging in Catalonia for years as an antidote to mass tourism: silver tourism, that segment of the population over 55 or 60 years old, with purchasing power and consumption capacity.

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When 24-year-old Clàudia Ferro told her parents that she wouldn't be staying in any hotel or had booked any apartment that summer, the first question was inevitable: “And where will you stay?”. The answer summarizes a new way of understanding travel: “I will work a few hours a day and, in return, I will have a place to sleep”.

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For some time now, Ibiza has become one of the most relevant gastronomic tourist destinations in the Mediterranean. Due to the variety of proposals and also the renown of the chefs who have decided to open restaurants there. Dabiz Muñoz has his own establishment in Ibiza, with his StreetXO, which opened this very summer; the British television chef Gordon Ramsay, with Hell's Kitchen; the immersive gastronomy experience Sublimotion, by Paco Roncero (costs around 1,650 euros per person)..., all located in Platja d'en Bossa as part of the profound transformation of the area driven by Grup Matutes. Apart from this, there are currently three Michelin-starred restaurants in Ibiza: Unic, by David Grussaute; Omaska, by Walter Sidoravicius, and La Gaia, by Oscar Molina. In Ibiza, you can eat international, Mediterranean, Basque, Galician, Catalan, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Mexican, Peruvian, Argentinian cuisine... Even, with a little effort, you can find Ibizan cuisine. What we present here are a couple of proposals (a peasant couple: between two and two dozen) that prioritize local produce and its own gastronomy; in addition, we have also taken into account that the restaurants are open beyond the high season.

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If organizing plans with friends during the year can already be a headache, things get even more complicated when it comes to group travel. Perhaps that's why more and more people are opting to travel solo rather than giving up just because their partner or friends can't make it.

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“I’ll go back to studying, you can’t make a living from pétanque”. It’s practically impossible not to have come across this meme online, one of the most recurring of the last decade. If it makes you laugh, it’s because it plays perfectly on the absurd: a young boy appears who admits that making a living professionally from pétanque is very difficult. A game that, as everyone knows, is amateur and is only played by elderly people. Well, if we stick to reality, it shouldn’t amuse us in the slightest: not only are there tens of thousands of young people who play it all over the world, but there are also professionals who dedicate themselves to it, like the Aragonese Jesús Escacho, world champion and four-time European champion of the specialty.

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For those of us who are passionate about traveling, you'll recognize us from afar. We are the ones who save pins on digital maps as if they were treasures, the ones who have folders full of screenshots of exotic corners, and the ones who feel butterflies in our stomachs every time Friday approaches. We love the feeling of adventure, of treading on landscapes that seem from another planet, of filling our eyes with unforgettable places, and of discovering new ways of understanding life. The world is immense, fascinating, and full of places that change your life.

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In 1999, coinciding with the total solar eclipse visible in a small strip of the United Kingdom – the first in over seventy years – the Morgan family gathered in St. Davids, in the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire. Among those present were some elderly relatives who remembered the 1927 eclipse. "But, as often happens in the United Kingdom, the clouds prevented us from seeing the spectacle. Nevertheless, the most vivid memory is not of the missed eclipse, but of the family reunion".

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One more summer, the Illa Roja beach in Begur will head the human chain to defend freedom and respect for nudists in this space. The most recent case for which this cove became known was the conflict that broke out in 2021 between naturists and the owners of a beach bar which, under pressure from naturist associations, had to close. This cove is a space that became a symbol of the nudist movement, and became a sanctuary for international naturism during the Transition, thanks to the drive of pioneers and groups like the Catalan Naturism Club. Although this practice has gone through rather low moments in recent years, and the average age is usually quite high, more and more young people are claiming it as a liberation from aesthetic pressure. 

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Putting on a swimsuit to go to the beach, taking a trip to the mountains… The summer plans we look forward to all year round are not equally easy for everyone. “These weeks the world stops in a kind of truce where most people disconnect, but we can't,” says Elisenda Martínez from Barcelona. It’s not easy to go to the beach after a mastectomy, to see your scars or to take photos without hair; it’s not easy to accept that the getaway you have planned will leave you “worn out” or that you’ll have to schedule your holidays around medical appointments and various treatments. “In the summer, cancer doesn’t go away,” laments Martínez, who, even though it’s harder now, doesn’t stop going to the festivals she used to attend before her diagnosis or enjoying the summer with friends and family.

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La Pedrera: night and day

Besides the Sagrada Família, Casa Milà is, possibly, Gaudí's most emblematic work. In this building, the architect explored the limits of architecture to create a unique residential building. It was the last house Gaudí built and, therefore, it is probably the most unique and personal, as it brings together all the research he did around architecture and art over the years. If you want to escape the heat, you can visit it by taking advantage of the La Pedrera Night Experience, an opportunity to tour the most emblematic spaces of the building with a guided tour that reveals Gaudí's most intimate essence. The visit culminates on the rooftop, with a videomapping show in which images, light, and sound merge with the building's shapes. A very special visit that you will end by having a glass of cava under the stars. And if you're more of an early riser, you can sign up for the La Pedrera Sunrise experience, an opportunity to enjoy the house in peace, just before it opens its doors to the public.

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There are latitudes where August smells not of sunscreen, but of damp moss and saltpeter. They are islands of harsh, melancholic beauty that require reserving a space in your suitcase for cotton sweaters and even a fleece, and also winter jackets. From the vertiginous cliffs of the Faroe Islands to the polar horizon of Svalbard; from the volcanic energy of Iceland to the wooded labyrinth of the Åland Islands, passing through the rock spires of the Lofoten Islands and the Viking legacy of Shetland. In these territories, the ocean arrives with force, the meadows shine with an almost unreal green, and the cloudy skies act as the perfect backdrop for disconnection.

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It doesn't happen very often that dinner time depends on the movements of the sun and the moon. In fact, a great eclipse like the one that is about to happen in our country is not at all common: it is the first in more than a century. For this reason, on August 12, some tables in Catalonia will have more reasons than ever to look towards the sky instead of focusing only on the plate. Restaurants, wineries and hotels have prepared dinners, appetizers, tastings and cocktails conceived around the solar eclipse that will cross the Iberian Peninsula that afternoon. In fact, this combination has turned viewpoints, vineyards, terraces and open spaces into some of the most sought-after places to experience the phenomenon, and gastronomy has joined in with an offer ranging from a tomato bread appetizer and Empordà wine to tasting menus with a Michelin star.

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In the heart of July, the mountain can be a suffocating trap or an inscrutable oasis. The difference, basically, depends on a millennia-old technology that doesn't plug into anything: the tree. We all know the blast of heat when we open a car parked in the sun, and the sigh of relief when we find it under the protection of a good canopy. This same logic of survival, translated on a large scale, turns forests into the planet's most efficient primitive air conditioning.

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Summer has traditionally been synonymous with disconnection, rest, and time to regain strength. However, in the midst of the digital age, this notion seems to have changed. Nowadays, free time has become a showcase where it seems essential to demonstrate that constant experiences are being lived. If summer was once an opportunity to slow down, now many people feel they have to fill each day with activities, getaways, or trips that are worth sharing on social media. When this doesn't happen, an uncomfortable feeling arises: that of wasting vacation time.

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August is not a thrilling month when it comes to series premieres, but the few fictions that land on the platforms have a clear objective: to entertain without making us think too much. The calendar includes some new releases but also the return of already known titles.

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In recent months, references to convents, liturgies, religious symbols, and spiritual experiences have found a place in films, novels, podcasts, and albums. Rosalía's Lux Tour is perhaps the most obvious example. Songs like Dios es un stalker or Mio Cristo piange diamanti have reopened the debate about the renewed interest in religious imagery in popular culture. But her new album is not the only cultural product that has turned its gaze towards the monastic universe and mystical experience. Alauda Ruiz de Azúa has also done so with Los domingos, about the decision of a teenager to enter a cloistered convent, or Carmen Urbita and Ana Garriga with Instrucción de novicias, the book that originated from the podcast Las hijas de Felipe, which recovers the voices of nuns from the 16th and 17th centuries to demonstrate that, as they themselves say, "everything that happens to you has already happened to a nun". For the anthropologist Joan Prat i Carós, however, it is not a completely new phenomenon, but rather a change of perspective. "The possibility of meditating, being silent, and finding yourself has always existed. There are moments when these ideals emerge and others when they remain more hidden," he explains. According to him, spiritual needs have not disappeared, they simply adopt new forms and languages. Things shed their skin, but what lies beneath the skin is the same. Far from idealizing convent life, Urbita and Garriga acknowledge that it is not surprising that, in a world saturated with screens and noise, the idea of the convent – with its own rhythms and its promise of tranquility – can be aspirational. A perception also shared by Anna Castellano i Tresserra, director of the Royal Monastery Museum of Santa Maria de Pedralbes (ICUB). "Current society has undergone accelerated changes in the way we live and relate to each other, and this has caused a feeling of unease and the need to stop and think about where we want to go," she states. In this context, she adds, "the silence of the cloisters and the architecture of the monasteries offer an experience that contrasts with the acceleration and anxiety of current life".Perhaps that is why the new luxury consists of walking through these uncrowded spaces where it is still possible to stop and listen to the stories that their walls preserve and tell. "Monasteries are no longer sought only as cultural resources, but as spaces that allow for a more complete experience, linked to the territory, history, and this current need to pause," explains Mireia Bonet Sendra, head of the Tourism Service and coordinator of the Cister Route Management Office.In fact, the extensive network of monasteries in Catalonia has known how to interpret this interest and today not only preserves its legacy, but also opens its doors to the public with an extensive cultural program: guided tours, exhibitions, and music festivals that this summer will once again fill the cloisters of some of the most important cenobiums in the territory with life.

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What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of August? Surely holidays! For decades, August has established itself as the month of holidays par excellence. Because of the worship given to sun and beach, as well as because the school or work calendar forces a break. In recent times, however, August's holiday hegemony is being blurred by societal evolution. Progressive aging, not having children, and changes in customs – teleworking or the desire to avoid heatwaves, seek lower prices or less crowding – mean that more and more people are not forced to take their holidays in August.How the tourists arriving in Catalonia are distributed throughout the year is a paradigm of this change. According to data provided by the Catalan Tourism Agency, the two most touristy months of the year – in Catalonia's case, July and August – with which the seasonality of a destination is calculated, have lost momentum since the pandemic was overcome. In 2020 – the most atypical year due to covid – these two months accounted for 28.98% of tourists and in 2021, 29.04%, but since then the concentration has progressively fallen to 23.74% in 2025, when 12.3% of tourists arrived in August and 11.4% in July.If we delve into the 2025 data, the transformation experienced in national tourism stands out. While among foreign tourists, August (12.8%) and July (11.8%) still lead by a significant margin as the months with the most visits, the fact is that among Catalans, June (12.6%) has made the overtaking in August (12.4%) and in the case of tourists from the rest of Spain, July (10.4%) and June (10.3%) have also positioned themselves ahead of August (9.5%). Furthermore, January, February and March are also gaining attractiveness for tourists from all origins, even though for decades sun and beach in the summer has been one of the main attractions for visiting Catalonia and the rest of Spain.So, if August stops being the month for making money with tourism, does the expression 'fer l'agost' (making August) applied to the tourism sector risk becoming history? It is difficult for such a radical change to occur, for beaches to suddenly empty in August as happens in the colder months, because summer – and August in particular – are strongly linked with the idea of taking holidays, highlights Saida Palou Rubio, who is a doctor in social and cultural anthropology and an aggregate professor in the Department of History and Art History at the UdG. Nevertheless, the circumstances are such that little by little, tourism will not be as concentrated in August as before.

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Years ago, houses used to be the most common refuges to protect oneself from the heat. Far are those times when grandma would prepare you a cold infusion of water with mint or place a bucket of ice in front of the fan as home remedies when you came back all sweaty from playing in the neighborhood square. Today the situation is quite the opposite. Now these home recipes fall rather short in the face of premature and record-breaking summers that force us to seek refuges everywhere. Before summer arrives, children and the elderly fill the squares, libraries, and neighborhood centers to try to alleviate the stifling heat. The idyllic postcard of a neighborhood network contrasts with the image of sweaty neighbors leaning between the bars and ledges of windows, especially in the poorest neighborhoods of Catalonia, where nearly 30% of vulnerable people cannot afford air conditioning. Inequalities are increasing, and the capacity of certain sectors of society to cope with heatwaves is becoming increasingly limited.

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