Raores have been back in the kitchens since September 1st, when the fishing ban in the Balearic Islands, which began on March 31st, was lifted. "In other years, fishing was allowed in August, but scientists found that was when they reproduced the most and so they extended their protection," says marine biologist Anna Bozzano. In the kitchens, chefs like Carme Ruscalleda maintain that they are a very beautiful and very gastronomic fish, "especially if fried," she comments.

There are photographs in every home. Of children, granddaughters, parents, grandmothers. People are usually shown in a slightly artificial position, in the middle of some activity that defines them or at an emblematic moment in their lives: about to kick a ball, on top of a mountain, or dressed in a wedding suit. In the dining room of our house, there was a photograph of my great-grandfather Manelet next to a three-meter hammerhead shark. It had accidentally become entangled in the net of the boat in which he was fishing, and when they arrived at the port of Arenys, someone immortalized that extraordinary catch, which even made the news in the United States. The Vanguard. Like everything that becomes normalized because it forms part of the foundation upon which one acquires the use of reason, perhaps I never attributed to it the importance it had. It was simply there. It was part of the domestic landscape, like the rosebushes and loquats in the yard, the pottery workshop on the porch, or the Creedence Clearwater Revival vinyl records.

La Barceloneta is a hake stew or pickled anchovies. La Barceloneta is in four-story apartments, that is, a two-story house divided into twenty-eight-square-meter apartments. La Barceloneta is life on the street, with meals delivered to your doorstep. La Barceloneta is where Alba Aguilera (Barcelona, 2001), Montse Catalán (Barcelona, 1975), Esther Jorquera (Barcelona, 1987), and Marina Monsonís (Barcelona, 1979) work or live. They explain how they fight against the paellas and frozen sea bream sold on Passeig Joan de Borbó (a name they don't like), against the macha tea and chicken shops. teriyaki And above all, against monoculture tourism. La Barceloneta is where the four women have become friends, tied together by many ropes from a single net they weave with strength: they want to preserve the essence of a fishing neighborhood.

The sea is endless, but consumers' wallets aren't. The ten most consumed fish in Catalonia in 2024 can be grouped according to a single characteristic: they are the most affordable. They also have other things in common, such as being small, traditionally cooked, and high-quality fish.