Far from the Principality of Catalonia, there is an island territory where the Catalan language and the feeling of belonging make it feel surprisingly close: l'Alguer. This city, incorporated into the Crown of Aragon in the 14th century, still preserves a living variant of Catalan today. There, identity beats strongly, sustained by words, traditions, and celebrations that are passed down from generation to generation. Festivals, like languages, are mirrors in which people rediscover that version of themselves that endures over time.

'Sardinia: The Megalithic Island' is the title of the exhibition that opened on April 16th and can be visited at the Archaeology Museum of Catalonia (MAC) in Barcelona until November 2, 2025. The exhibition, which incorporates one of the giants of the Mont'e Prama necropolis in Cabras with more than 200 exceptional archaeological objects, presents the richness and diversity of Sardinian megalithism, and at the same time, sheds light on the ways of life, customs, and traditions of the Nuragic civilization.

The sculpture of the Boxer is more than 2,500 years old, but it remains imposing. It is made of limestone, measures more than two meters and weighs about 300 kilos. Between the 9th and 8th centuries BC, it stood guard, along with other stone giants representing archers and warriors, over the necropolis of Mont'e Prama (Sardinia), where 125 tombs have been found, mostly of young men with traces of having carried out intense physical activity. The Boxer, discovered in 1974, survived the destruction by the Carthaginians in the 5th century BC and can now be seen in the Archaeological Museum of Catalonia (MAC), within the exhibition Megalithic Island"We're still excavating, but we don't have answers to many questions. Do they represent the buried warriors? Do they evoke mythical ancestors? Do they commemorate an important event?" asks Anthony Muroni, director of the Mont'e Prama Foundation and a specialist in megalithism (the use of large stones) that were originally used to build the giants. The dolmens used to build the giants were originally located more than 18 kilometers from the necropolis. Megalithism (the use of large stones) is still part of the Sardinian landscape. Across the island, 240 funerary dolmens are preserved. At the MAC, you can see different representations of the mother goddess and bulls. The nurges are a key feature of the Sardinian landscape: an estimated 7,000 were built between 1800 and 1150 BC. Many legends have been built around them, and in some places they are called fairy houses. Settlements sprang up around them, as can be seen in a recreation at the museum.

This Nuragic civilization had no hierarchy when it came to burying their dead. Giants' tombs are collective graves built between 1800 and 1000 BC. More than 800 have been documented, and when viewed from above, they resemble a cow's head. "Aristotle wrote that incubation ceremonies were held at the entrance to these tombs; the sick had dreams in which the deities answered their questions," Boya states. The exhibition also visits sanctuaries dedicated to the worship of water, where community and tribal gatherings took place around sacred wells. You can see bronze votive offerings placed in the sanctuaries by the sargos, depicting a ship, a warrior with two shields, and a seated woman with a child. At that time, Sardinia must have been a prosperous island. "We know that as early as 4,000 BC, they were already exporting to other parts of the Mediterranean and that it was a prosperous island thanks to its obsidian deposits," says the director of the MAC.

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Spanish Supreme Court magistrate Pablo Llarena has perplexed the European courts and is the main responsible for the fact that the international image of the Spanish state is at a low ebb, at least in the legal sphere. His obsession to achieve the extradition of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has even led him, in the case of Italy, to try to deceive the European General Court (EGC), which thought that the European arrest warrant was suspended because the Attorney General's Office had said so. This Monday, however, Sassari's Court of Appeal has decided to suspend the extradition procedure until the EGC rules on Puigdemont's immunity and the Court of Justice of the European Union rules on the pre-trial question Llarena submitted when a Belgian court rejected the extradition of former minister Lluís Puig.

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Sassari court has suspended former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont's extradition trial until relevant rulings are handed down by EU courts in Luxembourg. As explained by his Italian lawyer, Agostinangelo Marras, outside the court, the process remains on stand by until, on the one hand, the European General Court (EGC) decides whether to restore Puigdemont's immunity and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rules on pre-trial questions relating to Belgium's refusal to extradite former Catalan minister Lluís Puig.

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Carles Puigdemont is now out of Bancari prison. After spending the night there and appearing before the judge from the penitentiary centre telematically, the Court of Appeal of Sassari has decided to release the former president, arrested on Thursday at Algher airport. Although his defence has requested a 24-hour postponement of the hearing, Puigdemont has been released without charge. In this way, the leader of Junts has left prison without paying any bail and, according to the head of the former president's office, Josep Lluís Alay, he will have "total freedom of movement" and, therefore, will be able to leave Italy. The magistrate has summoned Puigdemont to testify again on 4 October and then the question of extradition will be discussed.

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