Filling the Sink

• Pandemic perspectives - Five years of Covid-19 in Catalonia

  On March 14, 2020, Spain declared a state of alarm in the face of the coronavirus health crisis, placing the nation in lockdown and ordering the population to stay at home. Five years later, we look back on the pandemic and analyze the long term effects of Covid-19 in Catalonia, exploring the ongoing presence of the virus and talking to some of the patients and healthcare professionals involved. We meet Carmen Cabezas, who was public health secretary during the pandemic and who led the vaccination campaign. Host Beth Cohen discusses the evolution of the virus over the past five years and finds out how Catalonia is preparing to deal with possible future health crises. And current health secretary Esteve Fernández analyses the lessons learned and explains the importance of cooperation in effectively managing epidemics. For some patients, Covid-19 continues to take its toll. Reporter Cillian Shields meets some of the patients who are suffering from long Covid to find out how the virus has changed their lives. This week, our Catalan phrase is "Val més curar-se en salut" which is equivalent to the English saying “Prevention is better than cure.” It emphasizes the importance of taking care of your health and preventing problems before they arise.

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• Tech tales - Women sparking change at MWC

  One of the UN's 17 goals for sustainable development is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. To coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8, we dedicate an episode of Filling the Sink to female entrepreneurs, particularly those in traditionally male-dominated fields such as technology. Lea Beliaeva Bander visits the Mobile World Congress at the Fira de Barcelona to meet some of the businesswomen who have created startups in Catalonia. At the 4YFN pavilion, she talks to five female entrepreneurs to gain different perspectives on the challenges faced by women in business in technology. We meet Maja Završnik, CMO and co-founder of the educational platform SheAI, which helps women to learn how to use artificial intelligence in their businesses and to advance their careers. And host Beth Cohen analyses the statistics surrounding female startups in Catalonia and explores the importance of diversity in the business world. Our Catalan phrase of the week is ‘buscar una agulla en un paller’ - to look for a needle in a haystack. Which we felt like, when looking for female founders at the 2025 MWC in Barcelona.

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• MareNostrum and quantum computing - bits, qubits and 314 petaflops

  Located at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, MareNostrum 5 is part of a network of European supercomputers and is used to conduct research in fields such as biomedicine, geophysics, atmosphere, energy, society and economy, providing valuable data to the international scientific community. Gerard Escaich Folch visits the picturesque chapel Torre Girona, where the MareNostrum supercomputer is installed. There, he meets José María Cela Espín, the director of Computer Applications in Science and Engineering at the Barcelona Supercomputer Centre. His department uses the 314 petaflops of MareNostrum 5’s processing power to develop software to efficiently exploit super-computing capabilities through the simulations and modeling. A flop is the unit to define how powerful a computer is, and is based on the number of calculations per second it can make. A standard computer would take 46 years to perform what MareNostrum 5 can achieve in just one hour. Host Beth Cohen learns about the future of computing and we talk to Jan Nogué, a quantum engineer from Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech responsible for building the groundbreaking computer at BSC. We also discuss the cybersecurity risks associated with these new technologies and the measures that the BSC is taking to remain one step ahead of the hackers. This week’s Catalan phrase is ‘Aquí hi ha gat amagat!’ which translates literally as ‘There is a cat shut in here!’. It is used to express suspicion that there is more to something than meets the eye… Rather like the case of Schrödinger’s cat, which can be simultaneously alive and dead, or that of qubits, the unit of measurement used in quantum computing.

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• The purchase of Casa Orsola - groundbreaking housing initiative or dangerous precedent?

  Casa Orsola was built in the early 20th century by Italian businessman Joan Orsola; it is a beautiful modernist apartment building, located in the Eixample district in central Barcelona. However, in recent years it has become a symbol of the housing crisis, as tenants have been priced out by real estate speculation. In an unprecedented move, Barcelona City Council and Hàbitat3 are planning to acquire the building in order to halt the eviction processes and convert the apartments into protected housing. Lea Beliaeva Bander returns to ‘Filling the Sink’ to report on this initiative which has sparked widespread criticism. We talk to Natalia Martínez, Director of Communication and Strategic Alliances at Hàbitat3, about social housing policies and their efficacy in resolving the housing crisis in the long term. Host Beth Cohen explores what the joint purchase of Casa Orsola would mean for the residents and how the project would function on a practical level. Plus we meet Carme Arcarazo, spokesperson from the Tenants’ Union, who analyses the motives behind the purchase and expresses her reservations about the acquisition of private property with public funds. This week’s Catalan phrase is ‘No hi ha pany que tanqui’ meaning ‘There is no lock that closes’. It is used to describe problems that have no easy solution, such as the housing situation in Barcelona.

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• Gaudís and Goyas - New golden age for Catalan cinema

  The Goya awards ceremony held on February 8 was a testimony to the rising success of Catalan cinema, with prizes, applause and a feeling that Catalonia is one of the driving forces of world-class film production. This week on Filling the Sink we put our finger on the pulse of modern Catalan cinema, look back over its history and analyze future trends. Catalan News journalist Lorcan Doherty highlights the results of the recent Goya and Gaudí awards. We speak with ‘El 47’ director Marcel Barrena and Hollywood filmmaker J. A. Bayona on the red carpet on the night of the Gaudí ceremony. We also discover the secrets to the success of Goya’s Best Supporting Actress Clara Segura, Best Directors Pol Rodríguez and Isaki Lacuesta, and Best Original Screenplay winner Eduard Sola for ‘A House on Fire.’ Host Beth Cohen analyzes the reasons behind the boom in Catalan cinema production and explains the key factors which are contributing to the growth of the film industry, including the fundamental role played by Catalonia’s leading film school, ESCAC. This week’s Catalan phrase is ‘I van ser feliços i van menjar anissos’ meaning ‘And they all lived happily ever after’. It sounds like the perfect ending for a film.

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