New blow to artistic heritage in France. Two individuals broke in to rob this Tuesday shortly before six in the morning at the Auguste Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, near Nice, and fled with four paintings from the museum. The loot, according to municipal sources, could be valued at about 9 million euros.

A few corners of the Costa Brava have escaped real estate pressure. This is the case of the magnificent Marimurtra Botanical Garden, in Blanes. Carl Faust, a German businessman passionate about botany, decided in the twenties of the last century to invest his fortune in the creation of a paradise of vegetation in Blanes. "Faust wanted a space that would be a living demo for the great botanists of central and northern Europe, with the aim that they would not have to travel to see succulent plants and other exotic species in Mexico, South Africa, northern Morocco...", Josep Borrell, director of the Marimurtra Botanical Garden for many years, explains to me.I am in the oldest part of the garden, dedicated to cacti and succulent plants. "They were planted in this sloping area and gravel was put down so that water would not accumulate and damage the roots," Josep explains to me. There is a great variety of cacti, some of giant size, bigger than me. With Josep, I take a peaceful walk through the garden. It is a journey through the five continents, especially through places with a Mediterranean and subtropical climate. In addition to vegetation, fauna is also a protagonist: migratory birds, small reptiles... find refuge here. And insects! Without insects, there are no plants. Marimurtra introduced beehives for pollination, and now they have very good honey, which they have for sale. It is a honey from more than a thousand flowers and with an ever-changing and surprising taste: the bees have many combinations of flowers at their disposal.Suddenly Josep stops. "Look, the Wollemia nobilis!", he tells me. We are in front of a tree I had never seen before. If you go to see it, it will surprise you. It must be a little over 4 meters tall. This species coexisted with dinosaurs, and survived practically unchanged for millions of years. It was thought to be extinct. It is considered a "living fossil"."The Wollemia nobilis was discovered in 1994, near Sydney, in the Blue Mountains. It was found by a young park ranger, David Noble, exploring hard-to-reach ravines and rappelling", explains Enric Barril, head of biological collections at Marimurtra. "Its generic name, Wollemia, comes from the name of the national park where the discovery took place (Wollemi), and the specific epithet (nobilis) is a tribute to its discoverer and its majesty (in Latin nobilis means noble)", specifies Enric. "It is critically endangered. The exact place where it lives is an intact and pristine area. It is not known where. Well, only a few know", he tells me. "To preserve it" I say. "Yes, of course. But an international distribution of clones of specimens and seeds was made to some botanical gardens and scientific institutions to ensure its conservation ex situ. Thanks to this, we have this one here, at Marimurtra. Notice that it is slightly raised from the ground level. We have done this to prevent water from stagnating at the collar of its roots", Enric explains to me.Seed exchanges between botanical gardens are very common. They are mainly done to protect endangered species and for conservation projects. "We have our own seed bank and a catalog that we keep updated," Josep, who knows a lot of botanical gardens around the world, tells me. "Traveling is the cheapest way to learn," he says. "But I still have to go to the Hanbury Botanical Garden, located at Capo Mortola, in Italy, also by the sea, and integrated into the landscape – an inheritance from the English garden–. Faust was inspired by this Italian garden to create Marimurtra".I didn't have to wait long to witness a scene that repeats itself a few times a day. Two girls with Asian features, dressed in shades of red, come skipping down the stairs flanked by cypresses – Epicurus's staircase – to Linné's temple. It is a small temple that imitates the style of classical Greece dedicated to Carl von Linné – the father of modern taxonomy – located on the edge of the cliff of Cala sa Forcanera.Social networks have made this circular gazebo an object of desire for many people from all over the world, some of whom travel 9,000 kilometers to take a photo there, like the Chinese. "We have translated many texts from QR codes into Chinese," says Josep. "We have hired a native Chinese community manager to attend to the community from their country. For us, it is key that she can interact with them not only in their language, but also with their codes," he adds. "We have the challenge that they don't just come to take a photo," Josep tells me. "We are thinking about what else we can offer them so they can get to know the garden, its collection, and Faust's work." I make a zoom out with my gaze and I get an essentially bicolor picture: the green of the vegetation and the blue of the sea, and some white brushstrokes, which make the sea very rough. Then I close my eyes and feel even more the great variety of smells, and the sound of the waves that embrace the beach. And I put myself in the shoes of someone who does not have the sense of sight, who, in their own way, can also enjoy this magnificent garden by the sea.Historical images of weddings and other eventsA few years ago, to mark the centenary, the Cal Faust Foundation, which manages the Marimurtra Botanical Garden in Blanes, put out a call to receive old photographs from those who have taken photos of family celebrations there. It has been, and continues to be, a common practice for the people of Blanes, the inhabitants of the region, and beyond. This is the case of Josep's parents, who had their wedding photos taken there. The call – which remains open – allows us to learn about details of the garden from years past. Participants receive a gift: an annual pass.

When Barcelona prepared for the 1992 Olympic Games, it didn't build one city. It built several. There is one that we all know. There is another that we have almost forgotten. Two extraordinary urban operations. Two radically different destinies. And, paradoxically, two stories that speak to us of the same failure.A few days ago, during a visit organized by the Group of Architects for the Defense and Intervention in Architectural Heritage (AADIPA), we toured the Olympic area of Vall d'Hebron again. More than visiting some buildings, we rediscovered an extraordinarily modern idea of a city that, thirty-four years later, seems to have been abandoned by those who were supposed to continue making it grow. Eduard Bru's urbanism was not a finished project. It was an open structure, capable of evolving over time, which aimed to reconnect Barcelona with Collserola. Elevated walkways that transformed into balconies over the city, pergolas that generated shade and public space, platforms that stitched together the sports facilities, and a landscape designed so that greenery and water would give it meaning. It was an urbanism that trusted in the future. But that future never arrived.The uses were not completed. The spaces were not consolidated. The ensemble was not maintained. And what was to become one of Barcelona's great gateways to Collserola has too often ended up becoming an inhospitable landscape, where vandalism has replaced life and where abandonment has slowly erased the original project. And yet, the architecture continues to be moving.The Palau Olímpic de la Vall d’Hebron, a work by Jordi Garcés and Enric Sòria, continues to surprise more than three decades later. Externally, it is a large brick volume, almost a fortress, with a solidity that seems immune to the passage of time. It is difficult to imagine that behind that apparent simplicity lie two sports pavilions. But it is precisely inside where the architecture unfolds all its sensitivity. The long access corridor, between the pelota courts, culminates in a large stained-glass window that frames the three chimneys of Sant Adrià and turns that end of the route into an authentic balcony over Barcelona. At the other end, the handball pavilion is an immense cube of air where a reticulated roof lets in light with unexpected delicacy, which seems to stop time and makes the roof levitate above the brick walls. An austere and silent architecture that continues to excite because its quality does not depend on trends.

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.

The Dansàneu reaches its 35th edition, reaffirming itself as much more than a performing arts festival. From July 24 to August 2, the Valls d’Àneu will once again become a stage where music, dance, theater, literature, and thought dialogue with the monumental and natural heritage of the Pyrenees. True to over three decades of history, the festival champions a culture rooted in the territory but fully contemporary, capable of reinterpreting tradition and turning it into a driving force for creation, reflection, and cohesion.

Between Banyuls and Portvendres, in the Roussillon, there is a coast that has lived for more than a century with its back to tourism. The Costa Vermella, the continuation of the Costa Brava towards Northern Catalonia, displays one of its most well-preserved landscapes. There are no second homes, nor sports ports. But rather a protected area on the seafront and vineyards that merge with the water. It is the bay of Paulilles, a collection of beaches saved from the tourist massification of the 60s and 70s thanks to dynamite.

Would you like to become a novicus, an apprentice gladiator in the amphitheater of Tarraco 2,000 years ago, for a few minutes? You will do so guided by Marcus Valerius Mesala, editor muneris of Tarraco, who will explain the secrets of this space, you will be able to witness a gladiator fight and experience a fight against exotic animals from the arena itself.

There is plenty to choose from. This summer, holidays are packed with activities. Cultural heritage is adorned to welcome visitors with a dream program to enjoy with the family too. If you are planning a getaway, for a day or several, be sure to consult the 2026 Summer Program of the Cultural Heritage of the Generalitat de Catalunya.Summer Program 2026 from the Cultural Heritage of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

When we return from a stay outside Lleida (whether longer or shorter) and we see the profile of La Seu Vella on the horizon welcoming us, we feel deep inside that very local and popular: “I’m home!” Even if it seems unbelievable, we even say it when the temperatures climb above 43 °C. Mind you: with our mouths more pursed and fans in hand. In any case, the emotional bond we have with the city’s most iconic monument is glaring. La Seu Vella is a symbol of Lleida. It is pride. It is love. Yes! All in all… do we know it well enough? And the rest of the city’s heritage?

The plot where the Central Market of Tarragona was built was not always the heart of the city. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was little more than a vacant lot on the outskirts of the Eixample, where Tarragona residents used to play football and cycle. The first football match in the city's history was played right there, in the velodrome that was then called Plaça del Progrés. Today, the square is named Corsini, in honor of the chief public works engineer of the city at the beginning of the century.

The year she got pregnant, María Oruña (Vigo, 1976) planned everything. She left her job at an international law firm because she worked too many hours and couldn't balance her personal and professional life, opened her own office, created a website, and wrote an essay on labor law with advice and guidance for people who might need it. She had planned to take a year to write that first book, but in the end, she only spent four months on it. And with the time she had left, she started writing something to entertain herself. That draft eventually became Puerto escondido (2015; Port Amagat, in the Catalan edition by Columna), the novel that catapulted her to become one of the best-selling authors in Spain. But the beginnings of a literary phenomenon are rarely easy or quick.

The current CAP Passeig de Maragall, in the Sant Martí district of Barcelona, still appears today –half a century after Franco's death– in the name of the Spanish Falange (FET y de las JONS). Despite the Generalitat managing the center and assuming all maintenance costs, the registered ownership remains in the hands of the dictatorship's political apparatus. This is the most disconcerting finding of the research by historian Neus Moran, who documents how the State protected health heritage from Francoist plunder before the transfer of powers.

There are spaces that tell the past of a community better than any history book. In Amposta, this story inevitably goes through its market. Not only as a commercial facility, but as the setting where, for decades, the daily life of the city has unfolded – and still unfolds today.

In July 1348, there was a terrible massacre in the Jewish quarter of Tàrrega. We know its scope from the documentation of the Royal Chancellery, the account of Josef ha-Kohen, The Valley of Tears, and the excavations in the mass graves carried out in 2007 at the Roquetes site. Both children and women, adults and the elderly died, and in that indiscriminate and furious attack, swords, axes, other types of bladed weapons and tools, and stones were used. The bone remains show extreme violence and atrocious beatings. For the first time, we also have the origin and composition of their DNA. A study by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)  promoted by the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya, which has been published in Genes, has for the first time traced the genetic history of a medieval Jewish community in the Iberian Peninsula. Until now, none had been done for this community before their expulsion in 1492.

On March 26, 1938, a bomb dropped by Franco's air force fell in the heart of Reus, in the Plaça del Mercadal, damaging Casa Navàs. The projectile caused damage to the upper part of the building and toppled the turret that crowned one of Reus's most emblematic buildings, a Modernist jewel built at the beginning of the 20th century by Lluís Domènech i Montaner. Fortunately, the main floor was not affected, and during the 1940s the upper part of the building was rebuilt, but not the turret. More than eighty years later, the current owner of Casa Navàs, Maser Grup, has decided to reconstruct this distinctive feature. Work on the building began last July, but much preparation was required before the first scaffolding was erected.

Casa Navàs, due to its unique character, is one of the finest examples of Modernisme in Europe. Built between 1901 and 1908 by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner and the decorator Gaspar Homar, it is the only Modernista building in Spain that has survived to this day in its original state. The building was commissioned by Joaquim Navàs, a wealthy textile merchant, during a period of great economic activity in Reus. Navàs and his wife, Pepa Blasco, asked Domènech i Montaner to design a shop-house on one of the corners of Plaça del Mercadal. The commission had a virtually unlimited budget, which explains why it became one of the Barcelona architect's most lavish works.

Lluís Domènech i Montaner (Barcelona, ​​1849-1923) was one of the most important architects of Catalan Modernism. A graduate in architecture in 1873, he designed such imposing buildings as the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona. As a teacher, he mentored such prominent figures of Catalan Modernism as Antoni Gaudí, Josep Puig i Cadafalch, and Josep Maria Jujol. Domènech i Montaner also excelled as a type designer, illustrator, and bookbinder. His political involvement was particularly significant. Committed to Catalan political identity, he was a driving force behind the Regionalist League and also served as a member of the Spanish Parliament. He combined his profession with studies in heraldry and Romanesque art.

About fifteen subscribers to ARA newspaper's Premium Club They enjoyed a guided tour of Casa Navàs in Reus. Located in the heart of the Baix Camp capital, on Plaça Mercadal, this house designed by Domènech i Montaner is one of Catalonia's modernist gems. Many elements are reminiscent of the Palau de la Música Catalana, also by the same architect.

From its inception, the Abertis Foundation has placed culture and heritage at the heart of its activities, promoting projects that connect artistic expression with the communities in the countries where the group operates. This commitment takes shape in cultural outreach programs, international exhibitions, and institutional partnerships that make the Abertis Foundation a key player in promoting art beyond borders. The Castellet Castle is one of its heritage assets of exceptional interest, which the Foundation makes available to the public. In addition to being its headquarters, the site houses the International Centre for Mediterranean Biosphere Reserves (UNESCOMED), following the declaration adopted on April 5, 2014, at the UNESCO General Conference in Paris. Castellet has thus become a benchmark in the field of Mediterranean cultural and natural heritage, open to the public and highlighting the Foundation's commitment to culture in the broadest sense of the word.

Casa Navàs is the subject of a new book dedicated entirely to this iconic Modernist building designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, located in Reus. The volume, titled The Navàs House Written by Raimon Portell, this book offers a profound look at the architectural and artistic essence of this unique jewel of European Modernism. Published by Setier and Triangle Books, it features a carefully curated photographic collection by Pierre Grubius and Joan Capdevila Vallvé, allowing readers to discover in detail the richness of Casa Navàs's interior spaces. Two editions have been published: one in Catalan and English, and the other in Spanish and French. With an initial print run of 5,000 copies between the two editions, they are now available in bookstores in Reus and at Casa Navàs for €15.