Last week, the sound of a bouncing ball echoed once again in the Catarroja municipal sports hall. This sports facility was devastated a year ago when floodwaters claimed dozens of lives in this town. Lives, memories, property, and dreams of thousands of Valencians were lost. A year later, life is resurfacing in the area hardest hit by the storm, but the pain remains. While Ferran Torres celebrated his goal against Elche with a commemorative shirt, the FC Barcelona Foundation has worked for months to rebuild three sports facilities in the area, located in three of the most affected municipalities: Catarroja, Paiporta, and Benetússer. Initially, the plan was for the three facilities to be the Maria Pina Municipal Sports Center in Benetússer, the Catarroja Municipal Sports Center, and the El Terrer Municipal Football Field in Paiporta. However, it was later agreed that instead of the football field, the work in Paiporta would be carried out at the municipal sports center, a semi-open court. "At the Barça Foundation, there are a few of us with experience in international humanitarian aid who have worked in natural disasters or conflicts. People responded beautifully to the DANA storm, very generously, but what we wanted was to listen to them to understand their needs once the days were over. So, a few weeks after the DANA storm, we went to the area and met the mayors personally when it was still full of piles of cars and mud. "It fits with our idea of ​​using sport as a tool for social transformation," he adds.

One of Barça's latest signings is a media sensation. But he doesn't play football. This week, the club's foundation premiered its documentary at the Guadalajara International Film Festival. More than a refugeeA work carried out in collaboration with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) with a special narrator, Mexican actor and singer Alfonso Herrera. The documentary tells us how in Uganda, the African country with the largest number of refugees, football helps improve lives. How sport is a space of safety and hope for the nearly two million refugees fleeing cruel wars. I understand why there's more talk about Joan Garcia's signing, but if Barça is special, it's for reasons like this.