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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Years ago, houses used to be the most common refuges to protect oneself from the heat. Far are those times when grandma would prepare you a cold infusion of water with mint or place a bucket of ice in front of the fan as home remedies when you came back all sweaty from playing in the neighborhood square. Today the situation is quite the opposite. Now these home recipes fall rather short in the face of premature and record-breaking summers that force us to seek refuges everywhere. Before summer arrives, children and the elderly fill the squares, libraries, and neighborhood centers to try to alleviate the stifling heat. The idyllic postcard of a neighborhood network contrasts with the image of sweaty neighbors leaning between the bars and ledges of windows, especially in the poorest neighborhoods of Catalonia, where nearly 30% of vulnerable people cannot afford air conditioning. Inequalities are increasing, and the capacity of certain sectors of society to cope with heatwaves is becoming increasingly limited.

Everything has gone up a lot. It is a mantra that we keep repeating to ourselves with any purchase we make: food, petrol, clothes, and leisure. Like a damned magic wand, inflation has once again multiplied prices and endangered holidays in many Catalan homes, many of them paralyzed by these increases. Precisely because of this, an unprecedented move in the industry took place in the last weeks of spring, when hotels, travel agencies, and tour operators began to adjust rates in the main destinations due to the slowdown in bookings for the high season, with decreases in places like Mojácar, Mallorca, Tenerife, Menorca, and Gran Canaria. Now, on the eve of the month with the highest spending of the year, it is worth considering that not everything is exactly prohibitive: there are destinations that are careful enough not to make a killing with travelers, either for competitiveness or conviction. This year, according to Juan Ignacio Pulido, director of the Tourism Analysis and Innovation Laboratory, there is a moderation of prices by type of destination. "Inland destinations, medium-sized cities, well-connected rural areas, and some less internationalized coastal holiday destinations are containing prices better," he explains. According to Pulido, this is due to demand being more price-sensitive, greater competition among accommodations, and less occupancy pressure. Indeed, many entrepreneurs have understood that continuing to pass costs on to the final price "could slow down bookings, especially in national and family tourism," while in other cases the decrease simply occurs because "when occupancy does not accompany, the price adjusts." And here is a remarkable and significant fact, and that is that not all the market accepts automatic increases as in the years immediately after the pandemic. "We are facing a normalization after several years of very intense increases," he clarifies, given that the forecast this year is to receive more international tourists and more spending. Thus, to look for cheap destinations, one must look for places with some common traits: less saturation, a more diversified offer, and demand that depends less on high-spending international tourists. At the other extreme, destinations with limited supply, high occupancy, and a very consolidated brand continue to have the capacity to raise prices, as is the case with some island locations, major capitals, and premium coastal destinations. For his part, the expert in the tourism field and founding partner of ReiniziaT and ObservaTUR, Marcos Franco, points out that the underlying idea is that this summer is a year of readjustment regarding prices and destinations, in which spending and the desire to travel are maintained. "Financing for holidays is another of the items that has also increased in 2026," he assures.

Heat waves don't just affect humans. High temperatures, humidity, and tropical nights can also take a toll on our pets, which is why it's important to adapt their environment and daily activities so they can get through the summer in the best possible way. As veterinarian Jaume Martínez, from the El Masnou Veterinary Center, explains, who has been dedicated to looking after the health of pets for nearly forty years, heat, "if they didn't live with us, they would experience it very well, because they would be still during the day, they wouldn't do anything, they would be in the shade, in a cool place. And even more so for cats, who are specialists in finding the coolest place to shelter". As Martínez reflects, they would spend the day resting, trying to hydrate themselves when they could, "and it's at night that they would be more active: they would go to eat, they would go hunting, they wouldn't be making useless efforts". With us it's different: "Things change because we, obviously thinking of dogs, take them for walks in places that can be asphalted or with surfaces that get very hot, and this makes them suffer from the heat in a very different way".

When the holidays are over and routine begins to set in, that bitter feeling of farewell often appears. But some have found a different way to extend the summer: looking up and being amazed by the birds crossing the sky. What once seemed like a hobby Reserved for ornithologists with notebooks and binoculars, it can be a leisure activity accessible to all audiences. And the last days of August and the beginning of September are ideal for delving into this world.

Getting water in your ears isn't serious, this is the first thing Fran Fernández Segura, a family doctor at the CAP la Paz in Barcelona, ​​makes clear, but it can be annoying. "The external ear is like a tube, and when water gets in it at the beach or in the pool, it will come out naturally," he explains. If it takes a while or bothers us, we can use a towel to dry the ear or move our head. However, under no circumstances should the ear be manipulated by inserting objects or cotton swabs "because it can become inflamed and we can introduce bacteria."

Activity 1: Outing. Take photos of the countryside together. The location doesn't matter. You can choose one of your shared apartments or a room and make it look like a paradise island, or you can choose a paradise island. But share vacation days. You'll get extra points for every laugh you let out when Antoniu, on duty, tells you: "And you'll have to put up with it, so many women together all these days?" Take photos of yourselves drinking daiquiris with or without alcohol. Send them fifty-three times "by mistake" to all these narrow-minded Antoniuses. Don't apologize.

The weather is nice, and going for a run early in the morning to take care of yourself is appealing. In summer, the streets, trails, and beaches fill with people who want to take advantage of the cool hours of the day to get active and enjoy the outdoors. Among the runners, hikers and cyclists, there is a group that has gone a step further. These are practitioners of plogging, people who combine exercise with waste collection, a practice that has found its best showcase on social media.

"We live in a state of modern dissociation, as if we were physically present but mentally absent." The reflection of Julia Pascual, a health psychologist specializing in Brief Strategic Therapy, is devastating and gives a name to a collective feeling: hyperconnectivity is stealing our lives. According to Gabriela Paoli, general health psychologist, expert in technological addictions and author of the book Digital Health, a third of Spaniards look at their mobile phones more than 100 times a day, a habit that has direct effects on mental health. "The cost of hyperconnectivity is devastating and affects all our health plans," he says while drawing a precise map of the consequences: in the mental sphere, it generates anxiety and burnout; physically, it encourages a sedentary lifestyle and disrupts sleep; and on a social level, it causes isolation. "We are trapped in a black hole that absorbs our time and well-being," he says. The problem, Pascual warns, goes beyond screen time; it's a "deeply existential crisis of meaning." The mobile phone has become a refuge to avoid discomfort, an emotional crutch that anesthetizes us. "The more we use it as a refuge, the more we isolate ourselves from real life," he says.

Introduction. Welcome to the club of those who defend that two plus two equals four. Most of us women belong to this club, and have for a long time. We're glad you're here. The more men there are who embrace the word feminist, but not to tie and look good, but de facto, there will be fewer who embrace the word sexist, to flirt and... whatever. So, go ahead, and now I could tell you, sit down and get comfortable, but no. No one here is yours, we have jobs, and as you've already seen, we didn't come here to be comfortable either. And you'll say, dude, and what's the club's advantage? Infinite. Not looking like Elon Musk. Or Donald Trump. Or Margaret Thatcher, or Ayuso, or Abascal. Or Koldo and Ábalos. Or Dani Alves. Or Errejón. Or Bertín Osborne. Or Rubiales. Or Saúl Gordillo. And also being more free. If that's not enough, go to the complementary activity you'll find at the end.

Putting up an umbrella, spreading out a towel, and jumping into the water has long been one of the best remedies for the heat. The persistent heatwaves may be putting things in question, and now another question arises from the continued rise in sea levels: Is Catalonia ready to maintain its beaches? The most optimistic projections for climate change predict a sea level rise of between 30 and 50 centimeters by 2100, but experts are increasingly inclined to consider more pessimistic scenarios. The most common prediction is that the increase will be more than 80 centimeters. Given this, traditional prescriptions are becoming obsolete, and scientists are designing innovative solutions to protect the beaches.

Witches certainly existed in Tiurana, a small municipality in the far east of Noguera, bordering the borders with Alt Urgell. This is confirmed by its own toponymy, which has identified the town for decades.Witches' era, a place very close to the hermitage of Sant Ermengol. In this era, experts say, one can find a wide variety of medicinal plants, the same ones that wise women used in ancient times to prepare their medicines.

Not all summers are the same. Some force us to adapt to a new personal reality and leave behind the habits we've had until then. One of these situations occurs when, after a recent separation, we face the first summer without our children or the family life we've built over the past few years. These circumstances aren't always easy, and emotions often run high. Acting wisely in moments like these can be a real challenge—but it's by no means impossible.

Rising temperatures in the context of a climate emergency, faster than scientists had predicted, are triggering a race to adapt cities. One of the challenges is to create the maximum number of climate shelters, mostly public spaces (libraries, museums, community centers, community centers) designed to protect the most vulnerable during times of extreme heat. As shelters, they must maintain a maximum temperature of 27 degrees, be easily accessible, have chairs or benches for sitting, and provide free water. However, they do not offer medical care, a service guaranteed only in health centers.

Although sports and physical activity have been a growing trend since the pandemic, more and more people are also adopting routines that lead to a sedentary lifestyle, such as teleworking or screen addiction. Ander Martirena, a graduate in physiotherapy and physical activity sciences (CAFE), is passionate about combating bad habits and the benefits of living an active life. So, what is a sedentary lifestyle? "If a person spends eight hours sitting in front of a screen, no matter how much exercise they do afterward, they also have a routine marked by bad habits." Thus, as the physiotherapist and personal trainer explains, the human body "is made to move, not to sit or stay in static positions." It's important to break these dynamics. "I always recommend that people who work eight hours in front of a computer at least once an hour stop whatever they're doing and, at least, go drink some water," he says. posture".

The ancient Roman philosopher, writer, and politician Seneca was very clear about this: leisure time is not just a respite from obligations; it's an almost sacred space that serves to cultivate the soul and reason. He captured this in his work. From Otio, a philosophical treatise in which he argues that moments dedicated to leisure and contemplative life are the most valuable moments of our lives. A declaration of intent that placed free time on the same level of importance as time dedicated to work. Almost 2,000 years later, Seneca's reflections remain valid and should resonate with us more often, notes Marcel Cano, professor of philosophy at the University of Barcelona (UB), who recalls the Roman philosopher's words as "necessary" in a time of constant acceleration in our society. "Even leisure time has accelerated and has been invaded by the idea that it is necessary to fill all our time with activities," he warns. "Capitalism is not an economic system, it's a way of life, and it has convinced us that when we are doing nothing, not producing, we are wasting time," he points out. "Nowadays, work is the central part of human life, but this has also transferred to leisure time, to the point that our free time must be filled with activities, because otherwise, we experience it as a failure."