mataró

Extraordinary 5th century Early Christian tombstone lid on show, in Mataró, a Coastal town some 30 km north of Barcelona. It is a unique archaeological piece in Spain, which was found in one piece, with a cross in relief at the head. It needed to be restored and is now on show, placed in the old baptistery of Mataró’s Santa Maria Basilica. This piece is one of the first examples of the consolidation of Christianity at a local level after the last Roman period. It was found in 1958, was then exhibited in a local museum, but afterwards it ended up in the church’s crypt and deteriorated.

After one year without the Shakespeare Festival, it has now returned. However, it will take place in a new place and with a new partner: La Perla 29, the theatre production company which is directed by Oriol Broggi. The festival will move from the coastal town of Mataró to Barcelona. The event will take place in spring 2013 in the Biblioteca de Catalunya (Catalonia’s National Library), in the city centre. As the event was unexpectedly cancelled last year, this new edition focuses on the adaptation of the festival to the economic crisis and aims to be projected to Europe and worldwide.

A train has crashed into the end-of-track buffer in Mataró, north of Barcelona. 11 people have been injured; all of them with minor injuries except the driver, whose life is not at risk. The Catalan capital’s suburban train network has witnessed 7 minor accidents in the past year. The Spanish Government is responsible for the railways, including tracks, stations, power supply and navigation systems. Many Catalan citizens have demanded an urgent investment in maintenance services.