No trace remains of the auditorium seating, and only the concrete skeleton of the stands is left, but the space of the former Mundet Homes theater is still impressive. After years of abandonment and highly restricted access, the building, designed by Manuel Baldrich and owned by the Barcelona Provincial Council, opened its doors this Monday to present the project that will transform the space forever: the Barcelona Center for Applied Neurosciences (BCAN), the first research center for neuroscience applied to health in Catalonia. The project, promoted by the University of Barcelona (UB), the Catalan Government, and the Provincial Council, will demolish the theater—which has been out of use since 1994—and transform this corner of the Collserola foothills into a space "of absolute scientific importance" where high-level academic and research activity will take place. The parish priest of the University of Barcelona, ​​recalling his first visit to this theater as a young professor, said it was a "very special" day for the Mundet campus because a solution had finally been found for a space that had been abandoned for decades. The renovation work will cost approximately 12 million euros, half of which will be provided by the Barcelona Provincial Council and the other half by the Catalan Government through European funds. To receive this EU funding, the work—which will begin in July 2027—must be completed before the end of 2028. The new research center is expected to be fully operational between 2029 and 2030. Guardia recalled that, while the space had been abandoned, several proposals had been considered, such as converting the old theater on the Mundet Campus into a large convention, symposium, and congress center, or constructing structures to house scientific research. She also explained that the new project, which aims to make Catalonia an international leader in neuroscience applied to health, stems from the impetus the university received from the frustration of not winning the Neurotech Spain project. The Minister of Universities and Research, Núria Montserrat, also referred to the history of the site, which in the past had also been an orphanage with the theater as its main recreational area. "A space that once provided care will now do so through research," she noted. Like the other speakers before her, the President of the Barcelona Provincial Council, Lluïsa Moret, also celebrated the collaboration between different institutions that made the project possible.

The rector of the University of Barcelona (UB), Joan Guardia, appeared this Tuesday in the Parliament of Catalonia to explain how his institution has handled the complaints. against the emeritus professor of the center itself, Ramon FlechaSeveral parliamentary groups had requested that Guardia answer to the chamber after the university opened an investigation following internal complaints it had received regarding conduct of sexual harassment, psychological coercion, mistreatment and exploitation linked to the professor and his research group, CREA, andwill send a preliminary report to the Prosecutor's Office"There are actions that may constitute a crime, and the Public Prosecutor's Office must intervene. We all hope that justice will act decisively," Guardia stated. "We are not the Public Prosecutor's Office, but we are a university committed to fighting malpractice. And when we have evidence, we impose sanctions," he insisted.

The Barcelona Prosecutor's Office has entrusted the new unit for crimes against vulnerable groups, where the prosecutors handling the Guardia Urbana crime and the Dani Alves case work, with opening an investigation following complaints against Ramon Flecha, emeritus professor at the University of Barcelona. This decision comes after the university launched an internal investigation following complaints of sexual harassment, psychological coercion, mistreatment, and exploitation linked to the professor and his research group, CREA. will send a preliminary report to the Prosecutor's OfficeAccording to a statement released by the Barcelona Provincial Prosecutor's Office, the unit investigating the case is the "Specialized Section for Violent Crimes against Children and Adolescents, as well as other vulnerable groups and complex criminal profiles." Prosecutors Félix Martín and Elisabeth Jiménez work in this section, as has been reported. The Vanguard And ARA has been able to confirm this. Martín is president of the Progressive Union of Prosecutors and has handled high-profile cases such as the Urban Guard murder case, in which the municipal police officers Rosa Peral and Albert López received a resounding sentence for the murder of a colleague. Jiménez brought the sexual assault complaint against footballer Dani Alves, who was initially convicted, although the High Court of Justice of Catalonia overturned the conviction. He ended up overturning the sentenceThe section specializing in crimes against vulnerable groups will work with a team from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), including members of the Sexual Assault Unit and agents from the Central Area of ​​Analysis and Intelligence Development, who have experience investigating cult-like organizations. The University of Barcelona sent the information it had gathered to the Public Prosecutor's Office even though its internal investigation was not yet complete. However, the preliminary report already pointed to the existence of a "high-control coercive group." Specifically, sixteen people had reported the group for having sexual relations "in a context of clear hierarchical inequality" with "students, interns, doctoral candidates, or subordinates." Furthermore, the UB also He provisionally suspended emeritus professor Ramon Flecha from his dutiesAnother honorary professor and two other professors he did not identify. He announced that he would join the case as a private prosecutor if the Public Prosecutor's Office ultimately decides to file a complaint or lawsuit.

It's not just a theory; a scientific team from the University of Barcelona and the University of Alcalá has been able to prove it by tracing the trail of cut stone tools recovered from the Peña Capón site (Muriel/Tamajón, Guadalajara): 25,000 years ago, the hunter-gatherers of the Peña Capón area. The researchers followed the trail of flint tools that different groups of hunter-gatherers exchanged over the years and found evidence that the stones traveled a distance of about 700 kilometers. They originated in the area where Saint-Sulpice-de-Excideuil and Mauprévoir are located today, in the Dordogne department of southwestern France, and ended up at Peña Capón, in the center of the Iberian Peninsula. The authors of the study argue that the social networks reached an area of ​​nearly 89,000 square kilometers. The tools would have been exchanged between interconnected groups. "One of these pieces traveled inside a leather bag and was not used for hunting or cutting. That's why we believe it had symbolic value," says Marta Sánchez de la Torre, professor at the University of Barcelona and co-author of the article published in the journal Science AdvancesThe tools would have been used to strengthen social alliances and maintain contact between different groups during the Last Glacial Maximum, when conditions were very harsh due to extreme cold and food scarcity. "We have also been able to verify, at other sites such as Montlleó, in the municipality of Prats i Sansor, in the Cerdanya region, that the colder it was and the worse the conditions, the greater the interconnection and exchange," says Sánchez. "There was not only an exchange of tools, but also of people, and that was key to the survival of these groups, which were quite small, usually consisting of 20 or 30 people," he adds.

Like Alice chasing the white rabbit, we enter the Historic Building of the University of Barcelona, following in the footsteps of a very excited Joan Maragall (1860-1911), who has convinced his father that he is not suited to industrial work and wants to pursue a career. The young heir chooses Law because he doesn't dare "apply for a degree without practical application," but what he really aspires to is "to rub shoulders with the enlightened youth," he writes in the Autobiographical Notes"Here begins the blissful time of my youth," he added.

The CREA research group, which has been questioned for years by an alleged case of sexual harassment and abuse of power by its founder, emeritus professor Ramón FlechaThe research group has decided to end its activities. The group announced its dissolution yesterday in a statement released on social media, the day after the University of Barcelona (UB) again referred the alleged harassment by Flecha and others linked to the research network to the Public Prosecutor's Office. Despite this announcement, the group does not admit to any accusations in its statement. In fact, they explicitly state that they feel they are victims of "persecution." The researchers argue that the group is dissolving because it "has been subjected to systematic and continuous harassment" and that those who have remained involved have suffered "persistent discrimination" in public competitions and academic appointments as "punishment" for their work.

The CREA scandal is not new to the ARA newspaper: we have been following it for nine years. Since June 2016, when we published the article "A research group at the University of Barcelona has been denounced, accused of acting like a cult."We have reported on all the latest developments in a case that persistently calls into question the effectiveness of university protocols and control mechanisms, as well as the judicial system itself.

Sexual and psychological coercion, mistreatment, exploitation, and degrading and intimidating behaviors that would fit the pattern of a "high-control coercive group." These are some of the allegations made by eleven people to the commission investigating the CREA (Community of Research on Excellence for All) research group, commissioned by the University of Barcelona (UB) following of the complaint against the professor – now emeritus – Ramon Flechafor having sexual relations "in a context of clear hierarchical inequality" with "students, scholarship recipients, doctoral candidates, or subordinates." The investigation is still ongoing, but given the "seriousness of the facts," the University of Barcelona (UB) filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office this Monday—the third time they have done so—and has suspended two professors and an honorary professor, in addition to the precautionary suspension of Flecha, announced months ago. Furthermore, if the Public Prosecutor's Office decides to file charges or a lawsuit, the UB will request to join the case as a private prosecutor, according to university sources at a meeting with journalists. They stated this after receiving the preliminary report of conclusions from the first phase of the investigation, prepared by the committee of experts investigating the case, which includes the testimony of eleven of the sixteen people who reported these events. The Rector of the University of Barcelona, ​​Joan Guardia, received the report last Friday. The commission will continue its investigation, take statements from the remaining complainants, and undertake any actions it deems appropriate to clarify the facts until a criminal investigation is underway. Following these conclusions, the University of Barcelona (UB) will also offer psychological support to all those affected by this case, both currently and in the past. It will also adopt measures to prevent the academic and professional merits of those accused from being considered in faculty selection processes. "The events described by the complainants are unjustifiably serious; they are intolerable and repulsive acts that violate the dignity and respect that every person deserves. The University of Barcelona is aware of this and deeply regrets the suffering and pain of the complainants," the UB stated in a press release. The CREA (Regional Center for Research and Advanced Studies) has reacted to the UB's announcement by recalling that the university already filed two complaints with the Public Prosecutor's Office in 2004 and 2016, both of which were dismissed. They also maintain that their evidence and witnesses have not been properly considered, and therefore welcome the public prosecutor's investigation. "Sending the case to the Prosecutor's Office, or forwarding it to the court if it occurs, guarantees that those accusing us will do so in the appropriate forum, and that we can finally present our evidence and witnesses," they argue. In fact, they claim to have "abundant documents that would prove the falsity of the statements made by the anonymous accusers."

It was known that men and women used marine horns to communicate until the mid-20th century. And they were still used, until seven or eight decades ago, by itinerant fishmongers when they wanted to sell their wares in the Ripollès region and the Pyrenees, or by the Ebro riverboatmen to announce the arrival and departure of vessels, or to warn of fog. "They are highly effective long-distance communication tools and, in addition, could have served as musical instruments, because they can produce a very loud sound and allow for very effective control of their intensity," says Miquel López-Garcia, archaeologist and researcher at the University of Barcelona. To demonstrate his hypothesis, López-Garcia, who is also a professional trumpet player, took Neolithic marine horns preserved in various Catalan museums, such as the Vinseum, the Barcelona History Museum, and the Gavà Museum, and played them to study their sound qualities. The results have been published in the magazine Antiquity from the University of Cambridge. "We knew that several shells had been discovered of Charonia lampas "In a relatively small area of Catalonia, specifically in the lower reaches of the Llobregat River and in the Penedès Pre-coastal Depression, east of Barcelona," explains Margarita Díaz-Andreu, co-author of the research and professor at the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) at the University of Barcelona. This has led researchers to suggest that they could have functioned as musical instruments. Researchers believe this could indicate that different communities used them to communicate. "The use of shells as musical instruments and as powerful communication tools transforms how we understand sound, space, and social cohesion in early prehistoric societies," concludes Díaz-Andreu.

Packed to capacity for years, the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), part of the University of Barcelona (UB), is enjoying a boom, awaiting the future Hospital Clínic to revitalize the area as the city's main biomedical hub. The companies it houses are growing and attracting more funding, but so are the research centers that conduct research in its laboratories.

The Portuguese poet, humanist, and writer Francisco Botelho de Morais e Vasconcelos (1670-1747) must have thought it wiser to hide his support for the Austrian cause during the War of the Spanish Succession. To conceal any evidence, he removed about 200 octaves, about twenty pages of sensitive political and biographical information from the epic poem. The New World (1701), which features Christopher Columbus.

The University of Barcelona (UB) has doubled the arrival of researchers from the United States in the 2024-2025 academic year. According to Rector Joan Guardia, 14 researchers joined last year, compared to seven in the previous two. He admitted that "quite a few applications" have been received to work at the center, but some were not "viable"; a situation that Guardia linked to the progressive exodus ofAmerican researchers harmed by Donald Trump's policies, which withdraws funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and censors lines of research related to gender perspectives and the climate crisis, among other topics.

The University of Barcelona has provisionally suspended from his duties the emeritus professor of the University of Barcelona Ramon Flecha, recently accused of having sexual relations "in a context of clear hierarchical inequality" with "students, interns, doctoral students, or subordinates." This was announced in a press release, which also stated that it will launch an internal investigation, led by a "commission of experts" made up of three specialists "with specific training in gender-based violence and institutional harassment." At least two of them will be women.

The Governmenthas suspended "as a precautionary measure"The Career of Excellence award granted this week, within the framework of the Serra Húnter program, to Marta Soler, professor of sociology at the University of Barcelona (UB). Soler is the director of CREA, a research group controversial due to allegations by former members who in 2004 and 2016They declared that it was an abusive group–complaints that endedarchiving– and because its founder, also professor Ramon Flecha, has recently been accused in a letter to the rectorate ofhaving sex "in a context of clear hierarchical inequality"with "students, fellows, doctoral students, or subordinates."

Coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the Beatles' concert at Barcelona's Plaça de la Monumental, the University of Barcelona (UB) has recovered previously unseen color footage. The project, led by Magí Crusells, a professor at the Faculty of Geography and History and director of the Film-History Research Center at the University of Barcelona, ​​shows a two-and-a-half-minute amateur recording of the British group's performance on July 3, 1965. According to the university, it is the most valuable surviving visual document of the group.

A letter from a group of fourteen people sent to the rector of the University of Barcelona, ​​​​Joan Guardia, denounces the professor – now emeritus – Ramon Flecha to have sexual relations "in a context of clear hierarchical inequality" with "students, interns, doctoral students or subordinates", according to a joint publication by RTVE Noticias, Ràdio 4, Eldiario.es and InfoLibre. This same professor has been legally pursuing the newspaper ARA for five years for having published, in 2016, that his research group, CREA (Community of Research on Excellence for All), had been denounced, accusing it of acting like a cult, a complaint that was eventually shelved after a year.

"Of the Catalan classics, the most translated is Mercè Rodoreda, then comes Ramon Llull, and the third is Salvador Espriu. It has had and still has a great influence in many places around the world," commented the poet and university professor Jaume Subirana shortly before the round table dedicated to the author of The bull's skin at the University of Barcelona (UB) as part of the third Salvador Espriu International Symposium, held at the UB, Pompeu Fabra University, and the Autonomous University. Participating were poet and editor Ramon Balasch and two singer-songwriters, Raimon and Pau Alabajos, moderated by one of the driving forces behind the academic event, Professor Maria Moreno i Domènech.

With his hands behind his back and taking short steps – reminiscent of a tin figure taken from an avant-garde poem – Pedro Gimferrer (Barcelona, ​​​​1945) walked, this Thursday at noon, the corridor of the auditorium of the University of Barcelona. The author ofThe mirrors He was to receive the institution's highest honor, the doctorate honoris causa, for his "literary career, which produced a prolific body of work, but also for his great contribution to the studies of art, film and literature," according to Dr. Marina Solé.