It is a pity – not for us alone, but for the whole world – that we do not have more of a taste for our Gothic painting. Romanesque is certainly more accessible to us because of the influence it had on the avant-garde of the 20th century, Catalan painting which, due to temporal proximity, we value more. But what a pleasure we miss by not celebrating painters like Bernat Martorell or Lluís Borrassà to the same extent!

Up to 47 shuttered businesses - nine of which have a "to let" sign - in a street with about seventy premises. This is the image of the pandemic offered by Carrer Ferran, the main street that connects Rambla de Barcelona with Plaça de Sant Jaume, and whose rate of economic recovery, lacking the usual tourist dominance, has fallen far behind the city's average, which already operates at 87%. The centre is lagging behind at a different speed, with a level of recovery of about 60% - and this is noticeable in a flagrant way in a Carrer Ferran devoid of the usual bustle of visitors, with only a minority of shops resisting. "The trouble is that this has ceased being a neighbourhood and the shops have been focusing on tourists," laments Angela Calvet, from the artisan leather goods store Calpa, after surveying the state of the street.