The Circle of Economy has decided to address a central issue that sparks debate and even poisons politics: immigration. In an opinion piece, a document through which this organization expresses its views on essential matters, the Circle calls on the PSOE and the PP to reach an agreement to regulate immigration, which, it argues, requires treatment as a matter of national policy. The document, titled The need for a migration policy: production model, integration and social welfareThe Circle criticizes the lack of a "genuine immigration policy" in Catalonia and Spain and the application of "a succession of reactive and fragmented responses," such as the regularization announced by the Spanish government, which it sees as necessary but also as "an acknowledgment of failure, which should not perpetuate past mistakes." One of the Circle's recommendations is to review the "arraigo" (rooting) policy, which is rarely used in other countries and, although conceived as an exception, has become the most common way to obtain residency and employment. Furthermore, it contributes to the precariousness of the labor market, fosters a low-wage economic model in which per capita income does not grow sufficiently, and generates a pull factor that increases irregular immigration. Without specifying how, the Circle advocates "modulating" the entry of immigrants and aligning it with the objective of shifting towards a more productive and less labor-intensive economic model based on low wages.

The figures are striking: almost 37% of Catalan university students currently live with a mental health diagnosis, primarily anxiety disorders (15.4%) and depressive disorders (7.1%). Looking at their lifespan, nearly half of the students have been diagnosed with a mental health problem at some point. This is compounded by a high level of emotional exhaustion: more than a third of students report feeling emotionally drained every day. These data are taken from...Study on mental health in the university system of Catalonia (2023), promoted by the Department of Research and Universities, and prepared with the participation of Catalan universities. The report goes further and the conclusion is clear: this emotional distress does not only affect the student body, but stress and burnout are common to all workers in the university community.

The country's internal political debate has decidedly focused on the immigration issue. Calling it a "debate" is perhaps too delicate a way of describing it, because the terms of the discussion range from exhausting and paralyzing low-key bickering to broad insults that exasperate and make one lose control. A dialectic that leaves relatively little room for thoughtful and reasonable dialogue. Immigration, which for some is the mother of all evils and for others the path to redemption from all our misfortunes, polarizes public conversation and seems to determine future parliamentary political representation above all other axes of confrontation.

One day after the new immigration regulations approved by the Spanish government came into force, the Department of Social Rights has sent city councils instructions on the two new reports that municipal technicians must prepare so that migrants can begin the regularization process. The Spanish government's text contemplates new ways to request regularization and reduces bureaucracy in the process, although it also leaves Legal loopholes for asylum seekers whose applications are rejected.

When the screenwriter Eduard Sola won the Gaudí by House on fire He remembered his humble origins, "proudly charnego." And when he won the Goya, he dedicated it to the "super mothers" who, like his own, have sacrificed everything for their children. "Mom, that's for you. I love you so much," he said in Catalan. Two months later, we meet with Eduard Sola and his parents, now over the whirlwind of awards and the hangover from the political debate that arose from the word charnego.

Do athenaeums make sense in the 21st century? With this title, the youth discussion group Café Continental opened in January 2023 at the Ateneu Barcelonès, recalling the same discussion that had taken place at the beginning of the century, in which the very young Sagarra, Papasseit, Foix, Garcés, and others participated. With the discussion's wording, the participants already responded. They were there and valued meeting physically, feeling close, and debating any topic after the pandemic and the virtual isolation they had experienced. Two years later, this question takes on more meaning than ever in a Catalan and European context where immigration has exceeded all Western expectations. Sociologists say that the failures in migrant integration stem from a lack of connection with the environment. The French case explains this very well: with good public schools, well-equipped neighborhoods, and a strong culture, malaise and ghettos continue to exist.

Call for annexation, a invasion of greenland, 25% tariffs on all Mexican and Canadian products (suspended for a month), tariffs on aluminum and the threat to tax European imports as well. Donald Trump's geopolitical stretches regarding North American and European partners have not materialized so far, but they have set off alarm bells on both sides of the Atlantic. And in the case of Canada and the European Union, they have opened the debate on greater economic integration.