Summer 2024 catch-up: What happened in Catalonia and Barcelona

During the first week of September a lot of people go back to work and their regular routines after the summer holidays.  

On vacation, it’s normal to disconnect, lose track of time, and not be up to date with current affairs, so here’s a recap of what happened in Catalonia while you were away. 

Salvador Illa, new president 

After striking deals with pro-independence Esquerra Republicana and left-wing Comuns Sumar, the Socialist leader Salvador Illa became the 133rd president of Catalonia on August 8. 

In his speech during the inauguration ceremony, Illa promised to "govern as well as he can for every Catalan and serve everyone." 

As he presented his new cabinet with 16 ministers, he guaranteed to "bring maximum freedom, prosperity, and equality to Catalonia." 

Illa's investiture marks a significant turning point for Catalan politics. The Socialist is the first president in favor of Spanish unity since 2010, while the chamber no longer has a pro-independence majority as it has for many years. 

However, Salvador Illa leads with a minority government in parliament, as the Socialists have 42 MP seats, with 68 needed for a majority. This means they will have to aim to seek deals for any law they want to pass.  

Former president Puigdemont returned to Catalonia 

Salvador Illa's presidential investiture debate was an eventful one, as on that same day former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont returned to Catalonia for the first time since 2017.  

He appeared in the city center of Barcelona and gave a speech to thousands of supporters at a welcome reception event. After that, he was expected to walk to the Catalan parliament, but when he got off the stage, his whereabouts suddenly became unknown for hours. Puigdemont returned to Waterloo, Belgium, where he has been living for the past seven years.  

He is still wanted by authorities over charges of misuse of public funds for organizing the independence referendum. However, he was not arrested by the police despite the operations organized to detain him. 

Several other pro-independence figures that were residing in Switzerland returned to Catalonia on July 12 after leaving Spain due to their involvement in the independence push and being prosecuted by Spanish authorities. 

After the case against Tsunami Democràtic, a Catalan pro-independence activist group known for organizing mass protests, was shelved due to a procedural error, the political figures could benefit from the amnesty law.  

Protests against mass tourism 

During the summer, thousands of people took to the streets of Barcelona to protest against mass tourism in the city and demanded measures to reduce the flow of visitors in the Catalan capital and in Catalonia.  

Some days after that protest, the Spanish Statistics Institute published data informing that Catalonia welcomed a total of 27.2 million tourists in 2023, triple the number of inhabitants in the territory. 

Record high temperatures 

At the end of July, Barcelona hit a new record high temperature of 40ºC, according to the Fabra Observatory in the Catalan capital, which has accounts of more than 100 years of uninterrupted data. 

In addition, the last three days of July also saw the highest average temperature in Catalonia of the last 20 years. 

In the month of July, Catalonia saw 73 heat-related deaths according to the Carlos III Institute's daily mortality monitoring system.  

Water reservoirs continue to decrease 

The high temperatures in all of Catalonia have contributed to the water levels in reservoirs continuing to drop during the peak summer months, as the historic three-year drought continues.  

Despite some rains during the summer, reservoir levels had fallen to 30.4% at the beginning of September.  

America's Cup begins in Barcelona 

At the end of August, the America's Cup sailing competition kicked off in Barcelona. 

The oldest international sports competition will offer three months of racing off the shores of the Catalan capital. 

The city offers various locations from where to follow the competition that hundreds have already enjoyed.  

European Championships win, Olympic Games 

Earlier this summer, the men's Spanish football team claimed their third European Championship title, as thousands followed the final live across Catalonia supporting Catalan player Lamine Yamal, among others.  

In other sports, Catalan athletes won seven medals in the Paris Olympic Games this summer. 

'A House on Fire' 

The cinema hit of the summer has been Catalan production 'A House On Fire', or 'Casa en flames', as it has gone on to become the second most popular Catalan language film of the past decade, following the success of 'Alcarràs'.