"They were looking for friendship or a relationship, and there was a phase where they were pressured to send money or kept on premium-rate numbers for extended periods, and they suffered anxiety because the person they were involved with was having a very difficult time." This is how one of the researchers summarized the method they followed. The accused of defrauding at least six men by pretending to be a woman on dating apps. "Several of those he lured were vulnerable people or people with disabilities, like Àlex," the police officer added, referring to the young man who ended up committing suicide before the phone bills left his family bankrupt. In fact, one of the six victims listed in the case was accompanied by his guardian at a disability support organization when he reported the scam to the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police). This Friday, the young man attended the second and final day of the trial alone, where he explained that he lost between 600 and 800 euros to this scam, which caused him fear and anxiety. "They called me so many times that I had to stay awake all night. They told me they would come to where I lived, that I would receive large fines," he explained to the court. With some variations in each case, the scam always followed the same pattern: the victims knew a girl On the internet—the user always used the same mobile phone but went by different names—he asked for help to quit working for a webcam sex show company. He instructed them to call premium-rate numbers for as long as possible, even though there was no one on the other end of the line. Then messages arrived from another number. In this case, the caller identified himself as a representative of the sex show company and demanded transfers or more calls to avoid a supposed fine incurred as a result of the calls to the premium-rate number. The accused allegedly obtained almost €27,000 in this way, and the prosecution is seeking a sentence for fraud and extortion that could carry a maximum of 11 years in prison.

Júlia Ponsa explains to ARA that Tinder, the dating app, is on leaveIn fact, for days I've been hearing an ad on the radio for a "marriage agency," Samsara, asking if you're fed up with the kind we talk about, but it does mention the magic word: matchIn the article, the journalist tells us about a film,Materialists, which stars in amatchmaker. That is, what in Castilian and, by extension, Catalan, is called, thanks to the novel, a matchmaker. The one who charges for making suitable couples. Today, the title of the work we have all studied in class is no longer The Celestina, but The MatchmakerThe subtitle, of course, should not be either. Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea, because the tragicomedy, today, it is not worn. Today it is worn dramedy.

He explains that, "from denial," he read the first paragraph of the ARA news about a young man who was emotionally defrauding young women she met through dating apps. Upon rereading, she no longer had any doubt that the physical description, the mannerisms, and the details described fit the man she had considered her partner for months and with whom she shared her home. In fact, while she was reading the website a friend showed her, he was quietly at home, so her main concern was how to get rid of him without confronting him. "I have a psychopath at home and I don't want to see him again," she stated in an interview with ARA. Hours later, taking advantage of the fact that he had gone out to attend "meetings," she changed the lock on the door and blocked him on his phone. For a couple of nights, she slept at friends' houses, always with a certain fear that he would reappear. Now that several months have passed, the woman, calmer now and no longer afraid of being recognized, agrees to let her story be made public, always with the desire to help other women.

How many more victims are there? Why does he do it? How can he stop? These are questions that women who have encountered The emotional Tinder scammer, the man three women reported to the ARA. It can be argued that the pattern of presenting himself under a false identity and, in many cases, allowing himself to be supported by the women he falls in love with dates back to at least 2018. Seven years of contacting people through dating apps, posing as a Spanish-Cuban neurosurgeon and maintaining sexual relationships with several women at once through deception. Victims have been located in San Sebastián, Cádiz, Barcelona, ​​​​Madrid, Girona, Ibiza, and Granada.

Every good Catalan needs to dedicate himself to an unavoidable activity during these dates: the calçotada. Every good Catalan, if he can, will teach his foreign friends this curious and unique way of eating bonsaied spring onions, unique, earthly and heavenly. Every good Catalan will have more than one calçotada. The one at work, the one with his football friends, the one with his walking group, the one with his parents at school... If he wants to be a good premium Catalan, he will be the one to organize it. A bad Catalan diverts the calçotada (just as he diverts the tió to hug Santa Claus).