Filling the Sink

All across Europe, farmers are protesting, stopping traffic with their tractors to sound the alarm on what many feel is the slow death of the agricultural sector. On February 6, Catalan farmers drove their tractors out of the fields, draped them with slogans such as “La nostra fi, la vostra fam”, or “Our end, your hunger” and marched slowly but determinedly toward Barcelona in one of the largest coordinated protests in years.  We hear from 12 farmers who took part in the protests about the disappointments, demands, and dreams of a sector that feels neglected as it deals with everything from environmental regulations to rising production costs, excessive red tape, and a lack of drought relief, just to mention a few.  Lea Beliaeva Bander is joined by Oriol Escudé Macià, who sheds light on the farmers' protests and explains what lies ahead.  This week's Catalan phrase is 'picar pedra'. Literally, 'to crush stone', it means to work hard at something without necessarily achieving a gain in the end.

Viquipèdia, the Catalan version of the free, collaborative online encyclopedia, is a real success story, with almost 750,000 articles and over 1,000 active editors. Wikipedians Xavier Dengra and Àlex Hinojo explain what drives them to volunteer their free time and contribute their knowledge to the project. Lea Beliaeva chats to Núria Ribas, president of Amical Wikipedia, and Carme Fenoll, a wikipedian and librarian, about gender bias on the website and how Viquipèdia is trying to increase diversity, in terms of contributors and content. This week's Catalan phrase is 'ser un setciències'. Literally, 'to be a seven-sciences', it means 'to be a know-it-all'.  Presented by Lorcan Doherty. 

Record stores and listening bars are popping up everywhere in Barcelona. Vinyl sales in Catalonia surpassed CD sales in 2023 for the first time since the 1980s. Why has this old, impractical way of listening to music gained popularity in a time when everyone can access whatever music they want on their phones? Lorcan Doherty joins Lea Beliaeva Bander to chat about the vinyl revival. Carlos from Surco and Marc from Wah Wah explain how it is affecting two of the city's older record stores. David Ayllón from the cultural association Salvadiscos talks about the social side of sharing music. This week's Catalan phrase is 'com un disc ratllat'. Literally, 'like a scratched record', it's used like the English phrase 'like a broken record'. 

Catalonia's number one football team has always been FC Barcelona, until now! Tiny Girona FC are making it big, battling it out at the top of La Liga in just their fourth season ever in Spain's top division. Cillian Shields joins Lorcan Doherty to chat about the players and manager making the miracles happen. Pepe Sierra, a Girona fanatic and president of the federation of Girona supporters' clubs, and Eduard Solà, a journalist at Catalunya Ràdio who has covered Girona for many years, talk about what the club and this season means to them. This week's Catalan phrase is 'deixar-hi la pell' – you could say Girona FC are playing out of their skin. 

Filling the Sink turns the spotlight on education after Catalonia finished almost bottom of the class in Spain in the latest PISA international tests, sat by students around the world in reading, maths, and science. The results have raised questions for Catalan schools: what's behind the decline, and what can be done about it? Have changes in education gone too far, or not far enough? Oriol Escudé joins Lorcan Doherty to discuss the issues and hear the views of Mònica Nadal, research director of the Fundació Bofill, Xavier Massó, a secondary school teacher and general secretary of the Professors de Secundària union, and Toni Pedragosa, a secondary school teacher and member of the Clam Educatiu platform. This week's Catalan phrase is 'Fer mans i mànigues'. It means to make a big effort to achieve something. 

The Museum of Forbidden Art is the first of its kind in the world, displaying art pieces that were censored or banned at some point in history and in various different countries. Whether the reason was political, social or religious, these works have now found a new home in Barcelona. In this episode, we’ll hear from the people behind the museum and look back at the history of censorship under Francisco Franco's dictatorship. The Catalan phrase of the week is: "Caure la cara de vergonya," which translates to "Shame on you." Presented by Lucía Benavides with Lea Beliaeva and Oriol Escudé.

Romani is the main language of the Roma community, and one of the biggest minority languages in Europe - estimated to be spoken by millions of people. But because the Roma people have been persecuted for centuries, their language and culture have suffered tremendously. In this episode, we're going to talk about the origins of the Romani language and where it stands today. We're also going to hear from two Roma activists, who are spreading awareness about their history, culture and language. The phrase of the week is in Romani: "Ma krisaren i pustik Katar o ucharni," which translates to "Don't judge a book by its cover." Presented by Lucía Benavides with Lea Beliaeva.

Reporter Lorcan Doherty joins Lucía Benavides to take a look back at this year's top Catalan news. There were local and national elections, a new amnesty law for Catalan pro-independence leaders, the ongoing drought that's left reservoirs at 18 percent full. And there were also big-name celebrity break-ups and cultural heritage celebrations across the territory.  The Catalan phrase of the week is: "Fer campana," which translates literally to "Do a bell," and is used when referring to skipping school or work.

Architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner is best known for designing Barcelona’s famous Palau de la Música Catalana and the Sant Pau Hospital, both of which are UNESCO World Heritage sites. But he was also a renowned professor, with big-name students like Antoni Gaudí, and a key figure in Catalan politics. This week marks a hundred years since his death on December 27, 1923. The Catalan phrase of the week is: "Alt com un Sant Pau," which translates literally to "Tall like Saint Paul," and is used when referring to a very tall person. Presented by Lucía Benavides with Lea Beliaeva. 

This week marks 100 years since the birth of one of Catalonia's most renowned artists of the 20th century: Antoni Tàpies. He's best known for his abstract art and avant-garde works, which experimented with materials such as wood, marble dust, chairs and socks. In this episode, we’ll hear from museum curators on why Tàpies’ work is still relevant today and get an intimate look into the artist’s home life from Tàpies’ very own son. The Catalan quote of the week was said by Antoni Tàpies in 1990: "My illusion is to have something to transmit. If I can't change the world, at least I want to change the way people look at it." Presented by Lucía Benavides with Cillian Shields.