Filling the Sink

While most people were away on vacation this summer, it was announced that the Catalan Socialists had made a deal with the pro-independence Esquerra Republicana to create a new financing model in Catalonia. If approved, it will be implemented in 2026. The deal would, among other things, give Catalonia more economic independence and create what some call a “fairer” system. Other, more critical voices have characterized it as “poison for the welfare state”. But what exactly does this new proposal entail and how is it different from the current tax system? Lorcan Doherty and Lea Beliaeva Bander explain everything you need to know about the model, from what the changes will mean for Catalonia and Spain to how Spanish and Catalan politicians have reacted. We will also break down concepts such as the “solidarity payment,” and the ranking principle, or “el principi d’ordinalitat”. Núria Bosch and Maite Vilalta, the co-directors of the Fiscal Federalism Observatory at the Barcelona Institute of Economics and professors of economics at the University of Barcelona, explain how the new Catalan model compares to federal taxing systems in other parts of the world. The Catalan phrase of the week is “la clau de la caixa,” which means “the key to the safe”. It not strictly an idiom, but a phrase used often when discussing the new deal. Get in touch with the podcast team: fillingthesink@acn.cat

The Catalan capital on the Mediterranean coast has always been a city that attracts immigration, whether people come in search of a better job, a better life, or just an adventure. Barcelona inhabitants - old and new -  are also known as people who are always ready to fight for their rights. The latest movie, ‘El 47’, tells one of these stories. Set in the late 1970s in the marginalized neighborhood of Torre Baró, on the side of the Collserola mountain range that surrounds the Catalan capital, it centers around Manolo Vital, an immigrant from the southern Spanish region of Extremadura, who came to Barcelona in the 1950s to escape Francoist repression. He and many others bought small plots of land on the outskirts of the city and began building their homes and the neighborhood from the ground up, with little support from local Barcelona authorities. As a result, the residents lacked basic services such as electricity, running water, paved roads, schools, and buses. But one day, Manolo Vital took matters into his own hands. Emma Monrós Rosell joins Lea Beliaeva Bander to talk about the story behind the movie. We also catch up with Marcel Barrena, the director of ‘El 47’, as well as leading actors Eduard Fernández, Zoe Bonafonte, and Carlos Cuevas. We also visit Torre Baró and hear from José Antonio Martínez and José Antonio Romero, who explain some of the current challenges facing the neighborhood. The Catalan phrase of the week is “fer més voltes que un rellotge,” similar to the English “to work around the clock”. Get in touch with the podcast team: fillingthesink@acn.cat. 

This week marks the official back-to-school week in Catalonia. According to official figures, 1.3 million Catalans have started or returned to classrooms, noisy schoolyards, and the routine of heavy backpacks and homework. While the vast majority of Catalan students attend public schools, a growing number are enrolled in private institutions, particularly international schools. Over the past decade, Catalonia has become an international hub, increasing the demand for international schools, which are private institutions where the curriculum differs from the Catalan one. Catalonia is now home to nearly fifty international schools, three of which are in the top ten of Forbes’ 2024 list of the 100 best schools in Spain. Oriol Escudé Macià joins host Lea Beliaeva Bander, to explore the world of international schools - from tuition fees and languages taught to the student body they attract. We also talk to postdoctoral researcher Andrea Sunyol as well as education consultant and founder of My Barcelona School, Anya van der Drift, who shed light on why international schools have become so popular, what they offer, and how they have evolved. The Catalan phrase is “posar-se les piles,” which literally translates to “put in the batteries”, and means to get more active or energetic, sometimes after a long vacation, much like the English phrase “get to work” - appropriate for the back-to-school season.

It’s September - a time that means back to work, school, or the start of something new. This year, the same can be said for Catalan politics, as Salvador Illa has been sworn in as the new president of the Catalan government. For the first time since 2010, the Catalan Socialist Party has taken power, but more importantly, the leadership now rests with a party that opposes Catalan independence. After the former Catalan President, Pere Aragonès, of the pro-independence Esquerra Republicana, failed to secure enough support for the 2024 budget, a snap election was called in May. The socialists, led by Salvador Illa, won in terms of seats and votes, but fell short of an absolute majority, forcing them to seek support from other parties. After months of political wrangling and re-election talks, Illa secured the necessary support from Esquerra Republicana and left-wing Comuns Sumar to be appointed president of Catalonia. However, before Illa could be sworn in, Catalonia was shaken by the return and subsequent mysterious escape of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, who left Catalonia for Belgium after the 2017 independence referendum. On this week’s podcast, Gerard Escaich Folch once again joins Lea Beliava Bander to unpack who the new socialist government is, what the road to the presidency was like, and some of the major challenges facing the new minority government. We will also explore what the future holds for the fragmented pro-independence movement and answer the question: Are we witnessing a paradigm shift in Catalan politics? This week’s Catalan phrase is “Quan una porta es tanca, una altra s'obre,” in English “When one door closes, another one opens.” Get in touch with the podcast team: fillingthesink@acn.cat

Modernism is one of the most important art movements in Catalonia, one that played a crucial role in shaping the cultural identity of Catalonia at the turn of the 20th century. The movement drew clear inspiration from parallel artistic trends throughout Europe, known by different names such as Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, or Modern Style. While the world of painters was very male-dominated, with Catalans Ramon Casas and Santiago Rusiñol responsible for bringing the movement from Paris to Catalonia, a few women also made their mark on the movement in Catalonia, namely Lluïsa Vidal.   Emma Monrós Rosell joins Lea Beliaeva Bander to delve into this pivotal art movement, exploring some of its defining characteristics and motifs, as well as some of its most influential artists. We hear from art historian Elina Norandi, who sheds light on the notable absence of women in this movement, and we share some recommendations for contemporary female Catalan artists to watch. This week’s Catalan phrase is “Una flor no fa estiu, ni dues primavera,” which translates as ”One swallow does not make a summer.” Get in touch with the podcast team: fillingthesink@acn.cat

For centuries, Catalans have enjoyed “la hora del vermut,” or in English “the vermouth hour”, a time during the day when people slow down and sip a cool glass of vermouth while catching up on life. But what exactly is vermouth, where does it come from, and is it difficult to make yourself? Cillian Shields joins Lea Beliaeva Bander to chat about all things vermut, and together with the Catalan News team we visit the self-proclaimed Land of vermouth, Les Vermudes, located in the Sant Antoni neighborhood of Barcelona, where our vermouth professor Elena tells us all about this versatile drink, its origins, and how it got its name. And as if that weren’t enough, we also got to make our own. This week we couldn’t decide on just one Catalan phrase, so we came up with two: Fer el vermut, which literally means to make a vermouth, and refers to the ritual of catching up with friends with or without a glass of vermouth. The second Catalan phrase is “Reus, Londres i París”, or “Reus, London and Paris”. To hear the story behind the second saying, check out this week’s episode.  Get in touch with the podcast team: fillingthesink@acn.cat

Catalan literary agent Carmen Balcells considered a revolutionary in the publishing industry, was single-handedly responsible for turning it on its head. She dignified the writing profession by banning lifetime contracts and ensuring writers could make a living from their craft and negotiate their terms. Through her literary agency, which she founded during the Franco dictatorship in Spain, she played a pivotal role in the Latin American literary boom of the 1960s, discovering and publishing future bestselling authors, such as Gabriel García Márquez and Isabel Allende. She passed away in 2015, and August 9th would have been her 94th birthday. Cillian Shields joins Lea Beliaeva Bander to celebrate Balcells’ birthday by delving into her life and legacy. Maribel Luque, the director of the Carmen Balcells Literary Agency, and Laura Palomares, the granddaughter of Balcells will help us understand who this icon was personally and professionally. Instead of a Catalan phrase, this week we've chosen a quote from the legend herself, saying that “Anyone can write a good first book - it’s in the second novel that writers prove themselves”. Get in touch with the podcast team: fillingthesink@acn.cat

Barcelona is the city in the world with the most extensive history of barricade fights. These words come from philosopher Friedrich Engels, and many other thinkers have pointed to Barcelona as the city of revolutions. 115 years ago, on July 25, 1909, the Catalan capital witnessed one of the first popular uprisings of the century, known as the Tragic Week or La Setmana Tràgica in Catalan.  What began as an anti-war movement opposing the conscription for the colonial war in Morroco, soon turned into an anti-clerical revolt. And it left a striking image: the Barcelona sky filled with smoke, as more than 80 churches were set on fire. Oriol Escudé Macià joins Lea Beliaeva Bander to revisit the uprising and explain the meaning behind Barcelona’s nickname ‘Rose of Fire’ or Rosa de Foc. We hear from historian Josep Pich from the University of Pompeu Fabra, who argues that the events should be renamed as the Revolution of 1909.  We also catch up with historian Salvador Lou, one of the guides of the Barcelona Rebelde tours, who explains how Barcelona became the capital of revolutionary movements. The Catalan phrase of the week is “jugar amb foc,” which means to play with fire.  Get in touch with the podcast team: fillingthesink@acn.cat

Every year in Catalonia, the LGBTI+ community celebrates Pride, an almost month-long celebration of events, talks, demonstrations, and more, culminating in the big Pride demonstration or Parade in Barcelona, on Saturday, July 20th. Barcelona Pride Month is not only a celebration of the freedom to be yourself but also a moment when the community reminds everyone of the work that still needs to be done by focusing on one specific theme. This year, the main theme of Barcelona Pride is LGBTI+ education, under the title “Education in Sexual and Gender Diversity: A pending subject”. Organizers and activists are calling for a more inclusive school curriculum, diversity training for teachers, and for schools to function as safer spaces. Lorcan Doherty joins host Lea Beliaeva Bander to chat about the need for diversity-focused education in the classroom. We hear from Katy Pallàs, a longtime queer activist and former teacher about the PEER project, which stands for ‘Programa Educatiu Escoles Rainbow,’ an initiative that seeks to make schools more inclusive. We also talk to Olga Sánchez, a teacher at the Sant Felip Neri School, one of Barcelona’s Rainbow Schools, about her work, and Teo Pardo, a biology teacher and trans man about him using his own lived experience as part of teaching diversity. This week’s Catalan phrase is “paper mullat”, which literally translates to “wet paper” and means useless or not worth the paper it’s written on.  Get in touch with the podcast team: fillingthesink@acn.ca

On July 12th, 1984, the first baby was born through assisted reproduction in Barcelona and all of Spain, but the path to motherhood is not always as linear and easy as it is portrayed. Fertility treatment is becoming more and more common throughout the world, and in Spain, one in every ten children in the Spanish state is born thanks to this technology. This is due in particular to three factors: increasing infertility rates, a higher age for having a first child, and the access to reproductive assistance for single parents and queer couples. But despite all of this, there is still a lot of stigma, secrecy, and sometimes shame associated with this way of having children. On this week’s podcast, Cillian Shields and Lea Beliaeva Bander talk to Paula, Montserrat, Marta, and Violeta, four women who have all undergone assisted reproduction in Catalonia, about the ups and downs of fertility treatment, breaking stigmas, creating new family structures and much more. The Catalan phrase of the week is “A poc a poc i amb bona lletra” which means that things have to be done with calm and patience to work out Get in touch with the podcast team: fillingthesink@acn.cat