Society

Barcelona’s famous church designed by Antoni Gaudí was attacked on Tuesday morning by a mentally-ill person, who set fire to the crypt's sacristy. No people were injured and the 1,500 people in the church at the time were evacuated immediately for safety reasons. There are no structural damages and in less than a week the area will be completely restored. Security will be strengthened.

The Catalan scientist Jordi Sunyer is developing a research study on how children’s brains are affected by air pollution. The hypothesis is that pollution diminisihes children’s capacities to learn.

The Catalan capital unveils the first fast recharge point for electric cars within Spain and one of the first in Europe. This technology enables recharging 50% of the battery in only ten minutes and costs around 5 euros. This innovative recharge point joins the other 178 already existing in the city.

The doctor who brought to life the first test-tube baby in Spain publishes a book about the evolution of assisted reproduction techniques. She criticizes the “lack of control” of the Spanish Government.

Catalan language is taught abroad, mainly in university. Last year 1,252 applicants took the language tests held in 76 cities throughout 32 countries.

The arrival of 5,000 UK students for a five-day festival has put the Catalan coastal town of Salou back in the spotlight. Last year, ‘Saloufest’ had several episodes of drunken behaviour and wild parties on the streets, which caused major disturbances. An ongoing debate has taken place over the past year over how best to combine the five-day festival with Salou’s reputation of a family tourist resort.

Two hundred patients are already attended by webcam. The number is expected to grow to 500 over next two years.

The first creation factory, called ‘La central del circ’ (Circus HQ), is now open to the public in the city’s Parc del Fòrum, next to the Sant Adrià sports port.

The ‘Viquipèdia’, the Wikipedia version in Catalan language, is currently ranked 10th out of the 272 languages used in this encyclopaedia quality rankings.

The monument was unveiled after a controversy that provoked a location change; catholic organisations did not want it in the surroundings of the Sagrada Família Basilica. The monument honours the victims of the sexual orientation discrimination: lesbian, gay, and transsexual people.

FC Barcelona President, Sandro Rosell, accompanied by the Catalan President Artur Mas and the President of the ‘Fundació Banc dels Aliments’, Antoni Sansalvadó presented today the campaign “Enviem la fam a la porra” – “Sweep Away Hunger with the Sweepstake”.

A study has found that the Catalan language is used less than Spanish in Catalonia. In addition, only 40% of foreigners are able to speak Catalan. In total 95% of Catalan residents understand the language, 77% know how to speak it and 60% can write in it. When it comes to Spanish almost 100% of residents can both read and write in it.

Among Barcelona’s biomedical cluster, a project is comparing the genomes of great apes in order to identify the common structures and differences with human DNA. The aim of the project is to use genomic science to find a cure for human illnesses.

The ‘Taksee’ application, available for Android and iPhone, uses Internet connection to call a cab.

Discovering the optic properties of ‘graphene’, a new material for which the 2010 Physics Nobel Prize was awarded, is one of the institute’s projects. Frank Koopens came from Harvard to Catalonia to work on this project, together with other scientists.