August 30th has something (not very pleasant) of a Sunday evening. It's still hot and there might be a few beach days left, but September is already peeking around the corner. However, in these last days of summer before the rush and the more serious part of the routine return, there are a series of nooks and objects in the house that are worth cleaning precisely now, before this kind of reset that also has something of a new year. Some of the things worth cleaning and tidying up now are objects that have been used intensively during the summer and that we no longer want to see lying around the house, and others, because in a few weeks they will be back in service.

Evening ice cream and a walk by the sea, picnics in the cool air, dances and town festivals… If we were to take a catalogue of our best memories, surely the vast majority would be of our summers and holidays. Few, surely, would be about the long winter afternoons or our daily work. Why does this happen? As is usual in these matters, neuroscience has a lot to do with it.

“I don't remember any year of my life that I haven't come to Vilosell,” says Georgina González. For her, returning every summer to her family's hometown is much more than a tradition. It's a part of her life. There are lunches with friends, sunsets, and summer festivals. And, over the years, she has also found her own group of friends, one of those things that aren't always easy to build in a small town.

If there's one thing we have plenty of in Catalonia, it's rumba legends. Peret, El Pescaílla, Los Amaya, Rumba Tres... the list is extensive and of the highest quality. Time and persistence have proven right those who claim Catalan rumba as our musical and popular genre par excellence. Although today its most classic version may not be experiencing a period of particular momentum, there are a good handful of bands that have modernized it and brought it into their own territory, as is the case with Habla de Mí en Presente or Maruja Limón. It is clear that its footprint in our local iconography not only has a past, but also a present and a future. The singers, the palmeros, Spanish guitars, the fan (the name given to the characteristic guitar technique of rumba), concerts, gypsies, and the revelry: all of this is rumba. But, what about dancing? Well yes, rumba is also danced, and a lot. “You could say it's the most carefree, most festive flamenco style. It's what is danced at major festivals, weddings, and communions,” explains Ariadna Rojano, a professor of this discipline at the Bailongu school, in the Sagrada Família neighborhood of Barcelona.

In Homer's Odyssey, Ulysses and his companions enter the cave of the cyclops Polyphemus and get trapped; in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the protagonist and his friend Becky get lost inside McDougal's Cave, a Missouri grotto known as Mark Twain Cave; the visit to the sea caves of Fingal, on the Scottish island of Staffa, inspired the opening of The Hebrides by the German composer Felix Mendelssohn... Since time immemorial, the subterranean world in general and caves in particular have fascinated humans: they are a secret door to the bowels of the earth, a transitional space between two realities, a dark, mysterious, and often sacred place. Discovering an impregnable cave is always celebrated as a human feat, but above all it is a reminder of nature's creative capacity when it has water, limestone, and thousands of years. Furthermore, when the summer heat intensifies, a cave is the best climatic refuge. 

Finding restaurants where traditional recipes are still cooked is becoming a small odyssey in Mallorca. Just as has happened with other aspects of the island's heritage, mass tourism, globalization, and changes in consumption habits have been marginalizing a way of cooking and eating that for generations had been part of daily life. Today, in many cases, this gastronomy plays an almost testimonial role, both in bars and restaurants and in the homes of residents.

"A poem should always have birds in it," wrote the North American poet Mary Oliver in 1990. A lover of nature, and especially of birds, the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1984 spent decades carefully observing how cardinal eggs break or how chicks chirp demanding food. In her book Devotions she explains how she waited for hours for the arrival of the water thrush. Today, however, birdwatching has become an activity that, far from being practiced only in solitude, is also experienced in community.In Catalonia, more and more women are approaching ornithology through organized groups, collective outings, or small learning networks where, in addition to identifying species, they find a way to share knowledge and build community outdoors."At first, you learn much faster when accompanied, because someone can guide you and make you see details that you would overlook on your own. But it's also important to look at it yourself in the guide, internalize it, and then put it into practice," explains Jaroa López Carrasco, a conservation biologist and technician at Paisatges Vius, where she works to protect endangered species.López, an ornithologist since she was thirteen, became fond of it thanks to a bird guide she had at home and her first outings to the Llobregat Delta with her uncle. But, once immersed in this world, she realized that most of her hobby companions were men. "It continues to be a field in which men predominate, that is evident, but I increasingly see more girls and women interested in this hobby," assures López.A historically masculinized hobby

It's quite curious. All of us, or almost all of us, know the name of Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente. On the other hand, we struggle to remember the names of researchers, scientific illustrators, or conservationists who also dedicated their lives to birds and nature. For a long time, the main obstacle has been invisibility. Precisely to combat this lack of role models, Lechuzas Pajareras was born in 2019, an organization that brings together women dedicated to the study of birds, research, conservation, and the dissemination of nature."In some associations, women make up nearly 60% of members, but this is not always reflected in decision-making spaces. Many times we are more present in administrative or support tasks, while positions of responsibility continue to be occupied mostly by men," explains Uca Díaz, spokesperson for the organization.What began as a group of twelve women is today a network of more than 350 members throughout the State. "Creating community is very important. One of the most beautiful things is to share experiences and hear other women say: «It has happened to me too». This allows us to feel accompanied and to talk without paternalism".

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We wake up all year round and when we blink we see that it is 6 in the morning, mostly we would like to turn back the clock without knowing the wonderful point of putting our feet on the ground and starting to walk. However, in August nothing is the same. At this time, the blinds of almost everywhere are still down, the terraces are cleared and the first buses pass through the streets, some delivery drivers, people walking their dogs and athletes who have decided to start the day when many are still sleeping. And to know what lies behind all this and why it is worth trying, all it takes is a simple gesture of putting your feet on the ground and getting out of bed. Really, you don't have to be a runner nor turn your vacation into military training. Walking very early is simply a rather unpopular way to make the most of summer days (or a single day) and, above all, to recover hours that we often ignore because we associate them with the alarm clock and going to work. There are many reasons not to forget about this time slot to simply walk and walk.1. Rediscover the backstage of daily theater

Walking at six in the morning in August is, first and foremost, a way to rediscover your surroundings. When it's still dark or starting to get light, the streets have a completely different rhythm from what they will show a few hours later. Silence replaces noise, the promenades and boulevards are walked almost alone, and the light changes minute by minute until sunrise. Like a moving picture that only happens at that precise moment. This is the opportunity to see the city waking up: the cleaning services, the first runners, the delivery people, the markets getting ready, or the cafes raising their shutters paint a scene that most people don't usually see: a kind of gear or backstage of the theatre that is about to begin and cannot be seen in any other way.2. It doesn't have to be a routine

Another good reason is that it doesn't have to become a routine. The fun can also be trying it out on an August morning, getting up when it's still dark, going out without haste or much destination and discovering that, for a few hours, the city seems like a completely different place: that journey we have never taken and which (perhaps) we will never undertake again. It doesn't have to be a daily proposal: just one day is enough to fill us with satisfaction.3. Physical activity without heat 

In this activity there is a very obvious practical reason: physical activity is best done at the beginning and end of the day. According to Canal Salut, during the summer it is advisable to move and exercise in the early morning or in the evening and avoid the hottest hours. Specifically, the Department of Health points out the period between 12 and 5 p.m. as when temperatures are highest and the risk of heatstroke increases. Among its proposals for staying active in summer is precisely taking walks in the morning or evening. Likewise, the World Health Organization (WHO) goes even a little further when talking about heat episodes. If demanding physical activity is to be carried out, with an intensity that goes beyond walking, it recommends moving it to the coolest part of the day and even recommends the period from 4 to 7 a.m. This (almost extreme) recommendation helps to understand why moving the walk forward a few hours can make sense during the hottest days. 4. Your 'vip' moment

In summer we strive to find secret coves, little-known villages, and viewpoints that social networks have not yet discovered. But leaving home to walk at 6 in the morning solves everything, like a magic wand that makes us instant vips full of powers: visiting natural spaces when there is almost no one; taking the photo without competition; having the spiritual privilege of being the only being in that space, and having a golden hour light that cannot be easily found. For example, we can manage to conquer a promenade before the first bathers arrive, walk along a boulevard without the usual hustle and bustle, or admire an iconic facade in solitude and silence.5. Achieving a well-deserved reward 

The best thing is that the plan can have a reward, and a good one. After walking for an hour or an hour and a half, when the bakeries and cafes start to open, it's time for breakfast. A coffee, something freshly made with the intoxicating aroma of bakeries and workshops in operation, and that strange feeling of having lived half a day when it's still eight o'clock. 6. Love and share with others

But leaving the house so early is not just an introspective activity that benefits oneself. This activity has a derivative full of love: it allows us to enjoy the pleasure of bringing freshly made bread home under our arm, or bringing breakfast to all those who have not yet woken up: sharing croissants straight from the bakery with the smell of hot butter or even bringing breakfast to bed for those we love, like in the movies. Summer also serves this purpose.7. Physical and psychological well-being

Going for a walk is also, obviously, a very complete way to exercise and obtain physical and psychological benefits that we can all intuit. For example, Ona Fillol says good morning to everyone at 7:24 AM from her social media: "Walking 45 min with the sunrise… The best ritual to start the day!", she says, and assures that starting the week walking when the sun has not yet risen has "many benefits such as activating metabolism, starting with energy, improving circulation, and starting the day in a better mood", she summarizes. Fillol assures that fat is burned naturally, legs, heart and joints are strengthened, and stress and anxiety are reduced. "You improve mood and concentration, you sleep better at night, and your body and mind will thank you for it", she adds.Likewise, the trainer behind the account @ona_moves, Ona Espot, explains that what walking at six in the morning brings her, which she doesn't find at any other time of day, is that "there are fewer people, the weather is much more comfortable, and the day begins differently." What makes her think that getting up early was worth it is "especially the light" of the day, but also her mental state: "I have a clearer and more relaxed mind," she assures. And beyond the internal benefits of making this effort, Espot assures that what surprises her most is "the people, the noise, and the routine." "I feel like I wake up with the city, the two at the same time," she says. From her perspective, she invites everyone who is starting to try it to detect "how they really feel throughout the day" and feel how, certainly, "there is something different." Espot mentions numerous benefits as well, but highlights the clarity and, paradoxically, "the rest" it provides. And among her most vivid memories of this summer practice, there isn't just a list of benefits or sensations, but a metaphorical entry into the routines of many people: "Especially when you pass the same places and greet people you don't know, but we know we'll meet fleetingly, even with complicit glances." 8. Get up early, but maybe not so much

One of the reasons to go out early in the summer is that, paradoxically, you might not have to do it at 6 AM. "I always recommend going out when the sun rises, and 6 AM is usually a good option, especially during hot periods," says Miguel Sánchez, a hiking specialist, in this case about the Camino de Santiago: the quintessential context for summer hikes. While he advocates that it's always best to start early, he qualifies that at the end of August, with the shortening of the day, 6 AM is "a bit early" and assures that one could leave at 7 AM and it would still be "early enough not to catch the central hours of heat." So we would be getting up early, but without exaggerating.9. Live the landscapes and vacations

For its part, among the evident benefits there is also the admiration of the beauty of the landscape, be it the everyday or that which is visited as a tourist. For example, Mireia Delgado particularly highlights "the colors of the sunrise over Montserrat", pinkish hues that, combined with the particular stones, leave a totally picturesque landscape. Social networks are also full of travelers who get up at 4 and even 2 to climb peaks in the Alps, the Pyrenees, Greece, Sicily, the United States, or any Indonesian volcano or remote summit in order to see, at least one day, the landscape from another perspective. Conversely, there are also many tourists who come to our coasts to see the sun rise over the Mediterranean. For example, the British Georgia explains all that the landscape component of the sea brings her: "I will never stop feeling grateful", and she places these kinds of walks as the best. Like her, dozens of travelers cannot help but be impressed by the Mediterranean landscape and its dawn reflections. It is enough to go out when there are still few people, to see how more cars and pedestrians gradually appear and to check how, in just over an hour, that initial silence disappears. There is no need to set the alarm clock at half past five every day or even to become one of those people who explain that they have trained, meditated, and read fifty pages before sunrise. It is enough to try it one summer morning (when, if not?). Go out when the city is still asleep and return when others are just starting their day. We will have accomplished everything that day.

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The archetype of the tourist who walks through Catalonia and, specifically, Barcelona, remains in the collective imagination as that group of young people who travel with low cost companies, do not contribute to local commerce, saturate La Rambla and Park Güell, and desperately seek a bar to drink cheap alcohol. However, a new model has been emerging in Catalonia for years as an antidote to mass tourism: silver tourism, that segment of the population over 55 or 60 years old, with purchasing power and consumption capacity.

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Driving to where the mainland ends has a hard-to-explain appeal. It is an almost irrational impulse that pushes us to cover kilometers and more kilometers towards the horizon, tracing steep coastlines until we hit that exact point where the continent capitulates, defeated by the uncatchable immensity of the ocean. On this road trip, we won't go to coves full of parasols nor will we stretch out on a lounger; we want to travel to the abysses. We seek the rough smell of saltpeter, the Atlantic wind buffeting our faces and the vertiginous certainty that, beyond that cliff where we have stopped the car, there is nothing else. These geographical extremes, those ancient dead ends where it was once believed the universe ended, have today become the perfect refuge for those who need a dose of raw beauty. From Ireland to Patagonia, passing through Galicia or the frozen confines of Iceland, we propose a route through the great limits of the Atlantic. Lower the windows, turn up the radio volume, and let yourself be swept away by the unavoidable call of the void.

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For some time now, Ibiza has become one of the most relevant gastronomic tourist destinations in the Mediterranean. Due to the variety of proposals and also the renown of the chefs who have decided to open restaurants there. Dabiz Muñoz has his own establishment in Ibiza, with his StreetXO, which opened this very summer; the British television chef Gordon Ramsay, with Hell's Kitchen; the immersive gastronomy experience Sublimotion, by Paco Roncero (costs around 1,650 euros per person)..., all located in Platja d'en Bossa as part of the profound transformation of the area driven by Grup Matutes. Apart from this, there are currently three Michelin-starred restaurants in Ibiza: Unic, by David Grussaute; Omaska, by Walter Sidoravicius, and La Gaia, by Oscar Molina. In Ibiza, you can eat international, Mediterranean, Basque, Galician, Catalan, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Mexican, Peruvian, Argentinian cuisine... Even, with a little effort, you can find Ibizan cuisine. What we present here are a couple of proposals (a peasant couple: between two and two dozen) that prioritize local produce and its own gastronomy; in addition, we have also taken into account that the restaurants are open beyond the high season.

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“I’ll go back to studying, you can’t make a living from pétanque”. It’s practically impossible not to have come across this meme online, one of the most recurring of the last decade. If it makes you laugh, it’s because it plays perfectly on the absurd: a young boy appears who admits that making a living professionally from pétanque is very difficult. A game that, as everyone knows, is amateur and is only played by elderly people. Well, if we stick to reality, it shouldn’t amuse us in the slightest: not only are there tens of thousands of young people who play it all over the world, but there are also professionals who dedicate themselves to it, like the Aragonese Jesús Escacho, world champion and four-time European champion of the specialty.

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For those of us who are passionate about traveling, you'll recognize us from afar. We are the ones who save pins on digital maps as if they were treasures, the ones who have folders full of screenshots of exotic corners, and the ones who feel butterflies in our stomachs every time Friday approaches. We love the feeling of adventure, of treading on landscapes that seem from another planet, of filling our eyes with unforgettable places, and of discovering new ways of understanding life. The world is immense, fascinating, and full of places that change your life.

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One more summer, the Illa Roja beach in Begur will head the human chain to defend freedom and respect for nudists in this space. The most recent case for which this cove became known was the conflict that broke out in 2021 between naturists and the owners of a beach bar which, under pressure from naturist associations, had to close. This cove is a space that became a symbol of the nudist movement, and became a sanctuary for international naturism during the Transition, thanks to the drive of pioneers and groups like the Catalan Naturism Club. Although this practice has gone through rather low moments in recent years, and the average age is usually quite high, more and more young people are claiming it as a liberation from aesthetic pressure. 

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La Pedrera: night and day

Besides the Sagrada Família, Casa Milà is, possibly, Gaudí's most emblematic work. In this building, the architect explored the limits of architecture to create a unique residential building. It was the last house Gaudí built and, therefore, it is probably the most unique and personal, as it brings together all the research he did around architecture and art over the years. If you want to escape the heat, you can visit it by taking advantage of the La Pedrera Night Experience, an opportunity to tour the most emblematic spaces of the building with a guided tour that reveals Gaudí's most intimate essence. The visit culminates on the rooftop, with a videomapping show in which images, light, and sound merge with the building's shapes. A very special visit that you will end by having a glass of cava under the stars. And if you're more of an early riser, you can sign up for the La Pedrera Sunrise experience, an opportunity to enjoy the house in peace, just before it opens its doors to the public.

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It doesn't happen very often that dinner time depends on the movements of the sun and the moon. In fact, a great eclipse like the one that is about to happen in our country is not at all common: it is the first in more than a century. For this reason, on August 12, some tables in Catalonia will have more reasons than ever to look towards the sky instead of focusing only on the plate. Restaurants, wineries and hotels have prepared dinners, appetizers, tastings and cocktails conceived around the solar eclipse that will cross the Iberian Peninsula that afternoon. In fact, this combination has turned viewpoints, vineyards, terraces and open spaces into some of the most sought-after places to experience the phenomenon, and gastronomy has joined in with an offer ranging from a tomato bread appetizer and Empordà wine to tasting menus with a Michelin star.

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In the heart of July, the mountain can be a suffocating trap or an inscrutable oasis. The difference, basically, depends on a millennia-old technology that doesn't plug into anything: the tree. We all know the blast of heat when we open a car parked in the sun, and the sigh of relief when we find it under the protection of a good canopy. This same logic of survival, translated on a large scale, turns forests into the planet's most efficient primitive air conditioning.

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In recent months, references to convents, liturgies, religious symbols, and spiritual experiences have found a place in films, novels, podcasts, and albums. Rosalía's Lux Tour is perhaps the most obvious example. Songs like Dios es un stalker or Mio Cristo piange diamanti have reopened the debate about the renewed interest in religious imagery in popular culture. But her new album is not the only cultural product that has turned its gaze towards the monastic universe and mystical experience. Alauda Ruiz de Azúa has also done so with Los domingos, about the decision of a teenager to enter a cloistered convent, or Carmen Urbita and Ana Garriga with Instrucción de novicias, the book that originated from the podcast Las hijas de Felipe, which recovers the voices of nuns from the 16th and 17th centuries to demonstrate that, as they themselves say, "everything that happens to you has already happened to a nun". For the anthropologist Joan Prat i Carós, however, it is not a completely new phenomenon, but rather a change of perspective. "The possibility of meditating, being silent, and finding yourself has always existed. There are moments when these ideals emerge and others when they remain more hidden," he explains. According to him, spiritual needs have not disappeared, they simply adopt new forms and languages. Things shed their skin, but what lies beneath the skin is the same. Far from idealizing convent life, Urbita and Garriga acknowledge that it is not surprising that, in a world saturated with screens and noise, the idea of the convent – with its own rhythms and its promise of tranquility – can be aspirational. A perception also shared by Anna Castellano i Tresserra, director of the Royal Monastery Museum of Santa Maria de Pedralbes (ICUB). "Current society has undergone accelerated changes in the way we live and relate to each other, and this has caused a feeling of unease and the need to stop and think about where we want to go," she states. In this context, she adds, "the silence of the cloisters and the architecture of the monasteries offer an experience that contrasts with the acceleration and anxiety of current life".Perhaps that is why the new luxury consists of walking through these uncrowded spaces where it is still possible to stop and listen to the stories that their walls preserve and tell. "Monasteries are no longer sought only as cultural resources, but as spaces that allow for a more complete experience, linked to the territory, history, and this current need to pause," explains Mireia Bonet Sendra, head of the Tourism Service and coordinator of the Cister Route Management Office.In fact, the extensive network of monasteries in Catalonia has known how to interpret this interest and today not only preserves its legacy, but also opens its doors to the public with an extensive cultural program: guided tours, exhibitions, and music festivals that this summer will once again fill the cloisters of some of the most important cenobiums in the territory with life.

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What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of August? Surely holidays! For decades, August has established itself as the month of holidays par excellence. Because of the worship given to sun and beach, as well as because the school or work calendar forces a break. In recent times, however, August's holiday hegemony is being blurred by societal evolution. Progressive aging, not having children, and changes in customs – teleworking or the desire to avoid heatwaves, seek lower prices or less crowding – mean that more and more people are not forced to take their holidays in August.How the tourists arriving in Catalonia are distributed throughout the year is a paradigm of this change. According to data provided by the Catalan Tourism Agency, the two most touristy months of the year – in Catalonia's case, July and August – with which the seasonality of a destination is calculated, have lost momentum since the pandemic was overcome. In 2020 – the most atypical year due to covid – these two months accounted for 28.98% of tourists and in 2021, 29.04%, but since then the concentration has progressively fallen to 23.74% in 2025, when 12.3% of tourists arrived in August and 11.4% in July.If we delve into the 2025 data, the transformation experienced in national tourism stands out. While among foreign tourists, August (12.8%) and July (11.8%) still lead by a significant margin as the months with the most visits, the fact is that among Catalans, June (12.6%) has made the overtaking in August (12.4%) and in the case of tourists from the rest of Spain, July (10.4%) and June (10.3%) have also positioned themselves ahead of August (9.5%). Furthermore, January, February and March are also gaining attractiveness for tourists from all origins, even though for decades sun and beach in the summer has been one of the main attractions for visiting Catalonia and the rest of Spain.So, if August stops being the month for making money with tourism, does the expression 'fer l'agost' (making August) applied to the tourism sector risk becoming history? It is difficult for such a radical change to occur, for beaches to suddenly empty in August as happens in the colder months, because summer – and August in particular – are strongly linked with the idea of taking holidays, highlights Saida Palou Rubio, who is a doctor in social and cultural anthropology and an aggregate professor in the Department of History and Art History at the UdG. Nevertheless, the circumstances are such that little by little, tourism will not be as concentrated in August as before.

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Beyond the tourist market of Encants in Plaça de les Glòries or the already historic Camello in Portaferrissa, Catalonia is full of small and large fairs of antique dealers, opportunities and collectibles to visit this summer throughout the most diverse towns on the coast and inland, with special abundance in the towns of Girona, and to vary a little from the (also) routine of looking for a spot on the beach for the umbrella and towel. These types of fairs are, moreover, spaces for discovering treasures: antique plates, historical photographs that could well inspire a novel or chandeliers of the kind not sold at Ikea are some of their great attractions. They also bring the pleasure of haggling in the heart of 21st century Catalonia, exchanging trading cards, looking for old typewriters, accordion cameras, postcards of the first Coca-Cola ads, iconic siphons or Playmobil figures and enjoying the satisfaction and good prices of second-hand items, which also contribute to the circular economy. In Catalonia there are true marchés aux puces to choose from, like the most ambitious ones in France or the rastros most emblematic of the late last century where you can waste time rummaging until you find a unique and singular treasure at a bargain price.

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