Local

The technicians from the Railway Infrastructure Manager (Adif) will install topographic sensors in the apartment blocks of Trinitat Vella that experienced strong vibrations in the early hours of Thursday due to work related to the Montcada undergrounding project. In this way, the project managers will be able to monitor from now on the possible movements that may occur in the homes on Pare Pérez del Pulgar street, which are in a very precarious state and awaiting relocation to much more dignified new public housing.

About 2,500 loaves of bread and 60 kilos of Roncal cheese in portions ‘flew’ this Thursday from the balcony of the hermitage of the Holy Cross of Quel (La Rioja) before about 2,000 people, who gathered to relive a tradition dating back to 1479.

The neighbors of a building on Muntaner Street at the height of Mallorca Street are asking the Barcelona City Council to facilitate as soon as possible the eviction of a home taken over by people with serious drug problems who are making their lives miserable. If the City Council takes action, the recovery of this property could easily be delayed by a year and a half. If the local administration does not take the initiative and the possible heirs of this apartment do not assume any responsibility, the eviction could become even more complicated.

The heavy storms that have started to pour this morning in Catalonia are already causing traffic problems, with road closures and especially railway service disruptions: Rodalies has announced the closure of sections of seven of these lines due to the impact of the storms.

The residents of two apartment blocks in the Trinitat Vella neighborhood of Barcelona were evacuated from their homes last night by the Bombers de Barcelona after feeling their buildings shake.

Neighbors of a building on Muntaner Street at the height of Mallorca Street report that the coming and going of drugged people through their staircase is ruining their lives. Some are already planning to move, others don’t even want to go on vacation. This community has already installed cameras in some common areas, hired a security guard who patrols the landings at dawn, filed a bunch of complaints and reports with the Mossos d’Esquadra and the Barcelona City Council… The RAC1 radio station echoed the laments of these neighbors yesterday.

112 received this first semester of the year in the city of Barcelona, 3,500 calls alerting about incidents related to drugs. A thousand more than the first six months of last year. Those complaints from citizens are just the tip of the iceberg of a problem that the Catalan capital suffers: drugs. Barcelona is a setting where drugs are cultivated, manufactured in laboratories, are within anyone’s reach, and their consumption is protected in cannabis clubs. A vicious circle that generates coexistence, social, security, and public health problems, hence the response cannot be only police-based, it must be transversal. Intensifying the pursuit of dealing and consumption in public spaces will become a priority for the Urban Guard. Yesterday, its leaders presented a new and ambitious anti-drug strategy: plan Druida.

A young man died early this Tuesday very close to Menorca airport after being hit by a taxi. The accident occurred around five in the morning and just a few meters from the terminal, on a curve located next to the bus parking lot, where the victim was lying on the road.

A total of 17 migrants have died trying to reach the coasts of the Balearic Islands by boat after drifting for 15 days, according to the testimony of two occupants of Maghreb origin who were rescued southwest of Mallorca. The migrants were trying to reach the coasts of the archipelago from Algeria on a new migration route that connects this country with the Balearic archipelago.

Now 20 years ago, during a heatwave, dry vegetation due to lack of rain, and a tramontana wind that lasted for two weeks, nearly 2,000 hectares burned in the Empordà in a series of nine fires between August 3 and 7. Most were caused by human activity, as are 90% of the fires recorded in Catalonia. The largest of that 2006 episode, the one that started in Ventalló and burned about a thousand hectares across several municipalities between Alt and Baix Empordà, according to data from the Agents Rurals, was intentional. There were no personal injuries, but there was material damage, and it sparked a debate about improving forest management, restoring the mosaic landscape, and protecting residential areas. These proposals are repeated every time there is a major fire, like the one in early July that burned about 2,200 hectares in the Gavarres massif and has so far become the most significant this summer in Catalonia.