The easiest way to represent our planet is as it is: with a globe—a sphere. But things get complicated when we need to represent it on a flat surface—a sheet of paper or a screen—to create what we know as a map. The answer to "Which is the most accurate map of the world?" or "Which world map is most similar to reality?" is confusing: all of them or none. Any cartographic projection of our planet is a simulation, a tool for a specific purpose.

We face increasingly complex collective problems of all kinds, with overlapping and intertwined issues. It often happens that the public administrations responsible for responding have a division of powers and levels of government that frequently makes it difficult to know who is responsible for what. But if, in addition, the most relevant administration in Catalonia uses different maps and territorial divisions in each department, the situation becomes very worrying. Indeed, the various departments of the Generalitat of Catalonia operate with territorial divisions that do not coincide. It is true that this lack of uniformity stems from the specific historical and logistical needs of each area of government (healthcare, education, etc.), but it is also true that, as the effects of changing times make things more complicated, as we mentioned, we could begin to see a situation where "people have problems, the Generalitat has departments."

Subscriber Josep Roca sent me a complaint about two issues related to graphic design. First, he points out: "Something I appreciate about the most widely referenced newspapers in English-speaking or French-speaking countries is the practice of accompanying news stories with good maps, especially when the events take place in locations unfamiliar to the average reader. And this is a major deficiency, in my opinion, of AHORA: a lack of maps." He concludes by providing an example: "On page 20 of the Sunday, October 26th edition, the text mentions several Ukrainian place names, such as Pokrovsk, Koupansk, the Oskil River, Vovchansk, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk. Inexplicably, none of them appear on the accompanying map. The borders of Donetsk and Luhansk are also missing from the map, despite their inclusion in all of Trump's 'peace' talks."

This Sunday's elections draw a map of Germany very different from that of four years ago. The decline of Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) and the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) are two common facts throughout Germany, but in some places the populist and xenophobic force of Alice Weidel has imposed itself with more than 36% of the 8% of the votes.

The elections on Sunday draw a very different political map of Germany than four years ago. The decline of Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) and the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) are two common facts throughout Germany, but there are some places where the populist and xenophobic force of Alice Weidel has imposed itself with more than 36% of the 8% of the votes.