"Wild boars don't understand borders." These are the words of an environmental technician from a municipality in the Baix Llobregat region, which perfectly summarize the problems local councils face in controlling wildlife. All of this has gained prominence in the wake of the crisis. due to the outbreak of African swine feverBut for months—and in some cases, years—metropolitan municipalities with nearby mountains have been rolling up their sleeves to keep these wild boars under control. The problem arises when, outside of natural parks, the option chosen by one municipality affects the situation of another: either because it opts for hunting, which causes the wild boars—very sensitive to noise—to move to another area, or because it does nothing to control them. It's a scenario that turns municipal management of wild boar control into a veritable arena for game theory. This dilemma occurs, for example, in Sant Climent and the villages surrounding Sant Ramon mountain. The village's hunting society regularly conducts wild boar hunts within the municipal boundaries, which are entirely a hunting area. However, the city council warns that these efforts are "insufficient if neighboring municipalities do not implement similar measures" or if hunting is restricted in nearby areas—as is the case in so-called safety zones. This is the case, for example, in Sant Boi de Llobregat, where the standard control method is capture with cages followed by anesthesia by a veterinarian, and in Viladecans, where they are in the process of hiring a specialized company to do the same following incidents that occurred in the town center last autumn.

For 15 years, Rubí has been demanding a second FGC (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya) station in the north of the municipality, and this Friday marked another key step in the negotiations. The Department of Territory and the City Council met to jointly evaluate the results of the feasibility study commissioned in January, and the Generalitat's position is clear: building a second station (or stop) on the S1 line in Rubí is viable, but with conditions. Before any further study of the project is carried out, they warn, the City Council must develop the area for urban planning purposes. During the meeting—which brought together the Secretary of Mobility, Manel Nadal, the President of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat, Carles Ruiz, and a delegation from the City Council headed by the Mayor of Rubí, Ana María Martínez—the Generalitat representatives linked the profitability of this new infrastructure to the urban development of the surrounding area as outlined in the Municipal Urban Development Plan (POUM). In practice, Territori has passed the buck to the local government and has stated that once this development is completed, the preliminary construction studies will begin. Therefore, the project remains without a start date or budget. Secretary Nadal maintains that "any reasonable improvement proposal is always welcomed" and explained that, according to the feasibility analysis, the best location for this new station would be in the industrial park. "Once the actions planned in the POUM (Municipal Urban Development Plan) are carried out, the possibility of building a second station will be viable," Territori maintains. The location of this new stop, which would be in addition to the Rubí Centre station (two kilometers further south of the municipality), would improve access to the higher part of the city, which has a population of over 78,000. The new station would serve workers in the industrial park, residents of the northern neighborhoods, and those living in housing developments on the other side of the railway tracks, such as Sant Muç, which are further from the city center.

If I wanted to show Catalan cuisine to someone who wasn't from here, I'd be hard pressed to find a more suitable place than Mas Umbert, a restaurant tucked away in the heart of Vallès, just below the Sant Llorenç del Munt mountain range. The farmhouse, located in Sant Feliu del Racó, is a beautiful building, with two charming dining rooms and a kitchen that sits between them and separates them. If I had to choose adjectives to define this restaurant, I'd say it's family-run, traditional, and heritage-oriented.

It is not easy to find such a large stretch of undeveloped land in the middle of Barcelona's dense metropolitan area. The 400-hectare Parc de l'Alba in Cerdanyola del Vallès, next to Sant Cugat, is to be completely transformed over the next decade. The consortium formed by Incasòl and the Cerdanyola City Council plans to build a new neighbourhood with 5,733 homes where 15,000 people could potentially live. It will also include a business area around ALBA Synchrotron and create a commercial area and a large park that will occupy 200 hectares.