Antonio has been living with his apartment propped up for four and a half months, right on Gran Via in Barcelona. At the end of January, the ceiling of his room collapsed due to water leaks, and the Fire Department recommended keeping the props in place until a definitive repair could be made. A few weeks later, the same thing happened in the hallway, and shortly after, in another essential room of the house, the bathroom. The property owner fixed his bathroom, but this week the props are still holding up the beams in the bedroom and the hallway.

Thirteen percent of Spaniards between the ages of 15 and 64 admit to having used cocaine at least once in their lives. This is one in eight citizens. Twenty-five years ago, that percentage was only 3.1%. This is one of the conclusions of the latest Ages report on alcohol and other drug use. Cocaine, as it is known, is a The United Nations warned on Thursday, is the drug that has grown the most worldwide in recent years. Politicians, athletes, lawyers, journalists... cocaine is present in all social strata, and Spain—Catalonia included—is the European country with the highest consumption. "It's linked to our leisure culture. We take drugs to socialize, while in northern European countries they do it to escape," explains Emilio Salgado, head of toxicology at the Hospital Clínic, who believes that in Mediterranean culture, prohibition would not be the solution to this problem. "Taking drugs is part of our nature," he maintains.