"I was born among sheep and the sheep give me freedom". This is how Marina Vilalta, from Ripoll, summarized the spirit that had led her to be the longest-active shepherdess in Catalonia. Born into a very humble family in Solanguit (Ogassa), at the foot of the Taga, almost a century ago, in 1927, she passed away this Sunday night into Monday at 99 years old, as confirmed by her family. Until her final days, she continued to lead her flock of Guirra sheep in the village of Bruguera (Ribes de Freser), on the other side of the Taga, in sun, rain, or snow. In 2022, ARA interviewed her on a rainy autumn day while she was grazing, shortly after she received the Creu de Sant Jordi for being an "example of the importance of work in the rural world, and of the resilience of the people who dedicate themselves to it".

At Can Pastora there is no rush. "After the pandemic we said let's get together for a coffee to talk about making a record," recalls Caïm Riba (Formentera, 1974). "And a year went by before we met up," says Dolo Beltrán (Sant Boi de Llobregat, 1974), who at the time was performing Bonus track at Teatre Lliure. The intention was to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the release of the album Pastora. And it ended up celebrating "25 years". "We can also say we are celebrating Lola's anniversary," adds Riba, referring to the song that catapulted the group to success and with a verse from which they are now playing to title the album 25 años buscando follón (Halley Records, 2026), which they will present this Friday, April 10th, at the Auditori de Girona as part of the Strenes festival program. "That album changed our lives," admits Beltrán.The new album brings together a dozen songs from Pastora's career, but it is not a conventional compilation. Each song features a special guest: Santi Balmes, Pedro Guerra, Macaco, Roger Padrós, María Peláe, Sommeliers, Delafé & las Flores Azules, Marc Parrot, Ladilla Rusa, and Marina Rossell. Too much time had passed since the previous album, Una altra galàxia