The European Union aims to move towards strategic autonomy in defence matters, and Catalonia and Euskadi cannot be left out. This has been one of the points of agreement between former president Pere Aragonès and former lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu, who starred in the final act of the conferences on economics organised by the University of Vic under the leadership of the former republican leader. The moderator of the conversation was the director of ARA, Esther Vera, who asked both of them to choose a specific area in which Europe should take a step forward. Urkullu's response was immediate: "We need a European industrial policy". Aragonès took up the challenge, doubling down on the proposal: "We must move towards a European army, less of a Spanish and French army. And this is not just about manufacturing tanks, it's more about technology than gunpowder".

In September, Pere Aragonès announced that he was renouncing his salary as ex-president to take over the family's hotel chain. At that time, he also explained that he would combine this task with his doctoral thesis at the University of Barcelona and also with teaching at the University of Vic.

"My husband dying during the Covid pandemic was a hard blow. I was locked up at home, completely alone, grieving. I only interacted with my mother, who has Alzheimer's." Maria Ángeles Fajardo, 64, still has a broken voice when she remembers it. She pauses briefly and adds: "It was truly horrible. I felt very bad, very depressed and very, very alone."