☀️ Good Morning, Barcelona
Clear skies at dawn, crisp 7°C rising to a pleasant 17°C high. Early spring is arriving. Go outside to enjoy! The rest of the week is fine but grey, and Sunday is going to be wet.
📰 Top Stories
Laporta's Back
68% of the vote. 32,934 ballots. Not a close race. Joan Laporta was re-elected as Barça president yesterday at a ceremony held, fittingly, at the newly rebuilt Spotify Camp Nou. Members knew what they were voting for: the man who oversaw the most chaotic financial stretch in the club's history and didn't let it collapse. Whether the worst is actually behind Barça or just temporarily papered over is the question his first press conference should start to answer.
Teachers Are on Strike All Week
March 16–20. Over 30,000 teachers voted for action after pay talks with the Education Department went nowhere. Protests start at Plaça de Lesseps and Poblenou from 7am; midday marches run from Plaça d'Urquinaona toward the Generalitat. If you're in the city centre mid-morning, add time to your commute.
Collserola Park Shut Indefinitely
Barcelona's green lung is closed until further notice. Agriculture Minister Òscar Ordeig announced the indefinite closure of Collserola Natural Park on March 11 after a wild boar tested positive for African swine fever. The closure covers 18 municipalities and has no end date and authorities say it stays shut until the boar numbers are "reduced as much as possible," which is about as open-ended as it sounds. Residents, buses, and school groups can still get through. Everyone else can't.
Tres Xemeneies: Barcelona's Next Neighbourhood
The former Tres Xemeneies power plant in Sant Adrià is finally getting its makeover: 1,783 homes on Barcelona's last uninhabited stretch of coastline, 93,000 m² of public space, a new beach park, and a tram extension with two new stops by 2033. The turbine hall needs to break ground next year to open as Catalunya Media City by end of 2028. This is part of the Generalitat's bid to make Catalunya the leading audiovisual hub in southern Europe, with streaming platforms already in talks to move in.
⚡ Quick Hits
Rodalies are still free — Extended to March 31. Free trains since the Gelida accident in January, which officials have called the worst crisis in the network's history.
Buying is cheaper than renting, technically — A new Idealista report finds monthly mortgage payments are 38% lower than average rents. The catch: you need €103,000 saved to get there. The numbers work on paper. Most people don't have €103k sitting around.
El Prat Airport hit 3.9 million passengers in February — Up 3.8% year on year, freight traffic up 24%. The tourism machine grinds on.
Factorial eyeing €2B valuation — Barcelona's HR software startup is in talks for a ~$200M raise after hitting $100M ARR. Would be Spain's most valuable startup.
Raphinha hat-trick, Barça 5–2 Sevilla — While the election drama was unfolding, Barça also played football. Raphinha demolished Sevilla, Gavi came back from five months out, and the club is four points clear at the top of La Liga. A good Sunday.
🎉 What's On This Week
Bad Gyal — March 20-22 Palau Sant Jordi | 7:00 PM She's from Barcelona. She's playing this weekend. Tickets sold out ages ago for the first two dates, so Sunday is your only shot now if you haven’t secured some.
D'A Festival de Cinema de Barcelona — Mar 19–29 | CCCB and other venues |A week of indie and auteur cinema that more people should know about. Check the programme.
World Poetry Day: "Que venga el sol como una fiesta" — Saturday, March 21 CCCB | 7:00 PM Poetry night at CCCB. Honouring Blai Bonet, Clementina Arderiu & Joan Alcover.
Skill-a-thon Hack Night — Thursday, March 19 | 5:00 PM Build AI agent skills in a room of 50 builders. Show up, build as many as you can (useful, weird, whatever), demo at the end.
📅 This Week in Barcelona History
March 19, 1882 — The Sagrada Família Breaks Ground
This Thursday, 144 years ago, Bishop Urquinaona laid the cornerstone of what was supposed to be a modest expiatory church, funded by a bookseller's association. Gaudí took over a year later, aged 31, and then basically never left. He spent the last 43 years of his life on it, the final 15 living on-site, refusing a salary, eating almost nothing. The building is still being finished. Expected completion: around 2033, give or take a century of ambition.
🍽️ Local Flavour
The Sagrada Família Has Falcons. And You Can Watch Them Live.
In the same week the building turns 144, its most famous squatters are back. For the third year running, a pair of peregrine falcons have nested 85 metres up in one of the Evangelists' towers. They're currently incubating three eggs, taking turns on the nest, and chicks are expected in the first week of April. There's a 24/7 livestream with infrared night vision so you can watch without disturbing them. Sagrada Família
They Found Cannonballs From 1714 Under a Street in El Born
Workers digging at Carrer Antic de Sant Joan, just around the corner from the Born market, hit something they weren't expecting: part of the original La Ribera neighbourhood that Philip V bulldozed after the siege of 1714 to build the Ciutadella fortress. Actual cannonballs from the siege. Walls of 18th-century houses, still standing. A street grid that hasn't appeared on a map in 300 years. The dig covers 163 square metres. It's not unlike what happened at the Born market in 2002, when renovation work turned into one of the biggest archaeological finds in the city's history. The city is now figuring out how much of it can be preserved. Ajuntament de Barcelona
That's all for this week! Short, sharp, and back next Monday.
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Fins aviat,
Barcelona Brief