Barcelona's libraries have been on an indefinite strike since May 26, although their demands had already begun earlier. This Tuesday, September 1, 33 out of the city's 41 libraries were closed in the morning as a show of strength by the collective, which demands —insists— that Barcelona City Council and the Library Consortium open negotiations. The City Council and the Consortium assure that negotiations are open and issued a statement explaining that a series of things have been offered to the library staff, but one of two things: either it's not quite like that or what is offered does not satisfy the demands of the striking workers (the vast majority of library staff, and of the book sector, are women). What are these demands? Improvement of schedules, salary improvement, and professional recognition. They are sensible claims: many librarians work double shifts of eleven or more hours a day which make family reconciliation impossible and, of course, their remuneration is far below the importance of their task. Hence the need for professional recognition, which naturally must be reflected in the salary they receive.But broad social recognition of their work is also necessary. It is necessary to extend among the citizenry, much more consistently than now, that libraries provide an essential public service for a democratic society that wishes to facilitate access to reading for all citizens —especially children and young people, but for everyone— regardless of their origin, social class, or purchasing power. This must be emphasized. Facilitating citizens' access to reading: this is the task of libraries, and it is not an easy job. They train and update themselves in a highly demanding way to be able to do it. And we must insist on this, because the work of librarians is not that of social assistants, nor of facilitators, nor of technicians in family care. All these jobs are also necessary, but they are not the jobs that a library technician should do. A public library should also not be a climate shelter, nor many other things.A library promotes reading among citizens. This is of enormous importance. To give examples, the work of a librarian is infinitely more important than that of all the First Division footballers, or that of all the "politicians" who do nothing more than repeat what their party orders them to do. Access to reading is a public service as important as that provided by teachers and healthcare professionals, who, incidentally, it is no coincidence that they are also fighting for the dignity of their profession, in both cases. We live in days when the dignity, importance, and viability of public services are sought to be denied: for this very reason, they must be defended more than ever. To go against essential public services —the library is one— is to go against ourselves as citizens.

The scorching summer invites us to delve into the most poetic corner of our personal library: with the Morella Document, by Vicent Andrés Estellés, or The test of the Mallow flower, by Jordi Llavina, I could almost forget about the ultra-international, one of the most reactionary and dangerous operations we have known, now infiltrated in classic liberal and conservative parties, which have believed that they had to approach their frameworks and strategies to retain the electorate.

There is broad institutional and academic agreement that among the main objectives of a fair healthcare system, the concept of equity must be included; that equity, in the field of health, means that people with the same health needs should have the same access to healthcare, and that, on the contrary, people with different health needs, with inequalities, should have unequal access to healthcare, which is nothing more than the application of the Marxist concept of “to each according to their needs”. This is the meaning of the current vision of public health: health policies should not be limited to treating diseases, but should also reduce the social inequalities that generate them. And associated with this vision, the idea of justice.

Since Trump set out to dismantle the National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), the country's public radio and television stations, a two-tiered response has emerged that is managing to keep the service afloat. On the one hand, federal judge Randolph Moss declared Donald Trump's executive order to cut federal funding to these state-level media, which have over a thousand associated radio and television networks operating at the local level, "unconstitutional" this April. However, the judge's ruling has not resulted in the return of the already cut funds, and this has already led to a hundred layoffs at PBS, representing 15% of the total, to which must be added approximately 500 more jobs lost at associated local radio or television stations.

The public systems we have in operation were designed for reasonably predictable societies. Schools, healthcare, employment services, social policies: all of it was built on the premise that there was a majority who had stable links in the family, neighborhood, and workplace, and who followed more or less standard itineraries. And that, on the other hand, there was also a minority who deviated and needed exceptional attention. This premise blew up a long time ago. What was once episodic, such as precariousness, diversity of origins, non-linear life paths, young people's disengagement from institutions, has become increasingly structural. And public systems, designed to manage homogeneity, are increasingly overwhelmed by a reality that does not fit into the expected boxes.

When he was the European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell described Europe as "a garden," in contrast to the "jungle" that is much of the rest of the world. On paper, this supposed garden is based on the security and capacity for citizens to progress economically and materially, guaranteed by a strong state that redistributes wealth through taxes, but above all through basic services. In other words, the defining element of European progress is the so-called welfare state. Despite Borrell's positive words, the viability of this welfare state is being questioned across the continent, doubts that also affect Catalonia and Spain. What future, then, does the welfare state system, on which the Catalan economy is based and on which millions of people depend to a greater or lesser extent, have?

Catalonia is experiencing a rail and road collapse unbecoming of an advanced economy. When commuter trains stop running, freight traffic to Europe grinds to a halt and the AP-7 motorway is closed; when the AVE high-speed train fails to provide effective and reliable service, the country grinds to a halt and the credibility of the government—which has repeatedly promised investments that never materialize—is seriously damaged. Public outrage at this debacle is more than understandable: no one should be held hostage by a failing public transport system without accountability. Every day of logistical chaos inflicts damage on the productive economy and erodes public trust. Catalan infrastructure has long been operating at its limit, and every serious incident has a direct impact on the credibility of institutions and the economy. The five-day closure of the AP-7—a key artery carrying most of the country's freight traffic—has triggered a chain reaction across the entire road network: paralyzing the AP-7 is tantamount to strangling one of Catalonia's main economic arteries. Similarly, the constant breakdowns on the commuter rail network not only frustrate users but also reduce working hours and productivity across the country. This situation is typical of an underdeveloped environment, not the competitive economic engine that Catalonia aspires to be. Companies face increased logistics costs, and workers are not in control of their time. Inadequate infrastructure acts as a drag on economic growth and the quality of life for citizens.