Salvador Illa's government continues to give momentum to one of the star measures of its term: loans for young people for the first purchase of an apartment or house to serve as their primary residence. Now they will also be able to be used to finance rehabilitation works and purchase homes that already have official protection (HPO) status, as reported by the regional minister and government spokesperson, Sílvia Paneque, in a press conference this Tuesday.

When we go shopping, we pay more and more attention to food labels. A gesture that is common today, but which thirty years ago almost no one considered. The concern for the origin of products, the way they are grown, and their environmental impact was just beginning to make headway. In 1994, coinciding with the creation of the Catalan Council of Organic Agricultural Production (CCPAE), Altinco was born, a company from Mollerussa that was a pioneer in the development of natural-origin solutions for agriculture. Today, integrated into the MatHolding-CERESTIA group, that innovative commitment has earned it the Rural Award at the FAR Awards.

The statute for rural municipalities has been approved, a law that should help curb depopulation in Catalonia. This law will affect 608 municipalities—out of a total of 947 in Catalonia—with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants and aims to give them tools to reverse the territorial imbalance the country is currently experiencing: 75% of the population lives in urban areas, while the remaining 25% live in rural areas. This law is the first that Salvador Illa's government has sent to Parliament for approval, although it was promoted by the previous government, led by Pere Aragonès. The law was approved this Wednesday with the support of all parliamentary groups except Vox.

Making a living from culture is difficult, but doing so outside the Barcelona metropolitan area seems downright impossible. In Camp de Tarragona and Terres de l'Ebre, high-quality shows and festivals are scheduled, both public and private, but the means to bring culture to the rural world are very fragile. There are examples of success, but also of failure. There are artists who decide to dedicate themselves to something else or festivals that had worked very well, but choose to grow and end up hanging on. There are subsidies to promote various cultural activities, mainly from the Department of Culture and the Tarragona Provincial Council, but depending on public aid to operate is a very high risk.