So-called nanosecond finances, or high-frequency trading, makes it increasingly difficult to control key economic variables. This acceleration is leading to a growing disconnect between economic dynamics – marked by the frenzied pace of financial markets – and the political sphere, which is increasingly unable to keep events under control. Barcelona Metròpolis takes a closer look at all these time-pressure variables with leading experts: Carl Honoré, Xosé Carlos Arias, José Ignacio Conde-Ruiz, María Álvarez, Marta Junqué, Imma Cortès Franch, Dolors Comas d’Argemir and Jorge Moruno. The editorial Taking control of our time, by the magazine’s director,Milagros Pérez Oliva, warns that “we have a lot to reflect on with regard to time for care, time for leisure, productive time and political time. And, in all these areas, the city has a lot to do”.

Carl Honoré is a well-known author of books about the surprising power of slow, published in 36 languages.  In his article on breaking the hurry habit, he explains that “all over the world, people, institutions and organisations are embracing the slow philosophy, a less hurried approach to life, which extends to various areas from food to sport, mobility or childhood”.

Xosé Carlos Arias, professor of Economic Policy and author of the book El tiempo es oro (Time is Gold), suggest that “technological accelerationism, the philosophy of urgency which for some time has been imposed in Silicon Valley, has taken hold in the United States. The second Trump administration considers the slow pace of democratic politics as a hindrance to innovation and efficiency.

In his article “La promesa incomplerta de Keynes” (Keynes’ Unfulfilled Promise), José Ignacio Conde-Ruiz, doctor of Economics, analyses the famous 1930 speech in which John Maynard Keynes predicted that, by 2030, wealth would have grown so much that a 15-hour working week would be sufficient to meet all personal needs.  While productivity has risen more sharply than Keynes ever anticipated, why has his prediction about the working week not come to fruition?

For her part, businesswoman and activist María Álvarez talks about a four-day working week, based on the enlightening results of an experience carried out at Valencia City Council. “It has confirmed what may urban theories already pointed to, that free time is not a threat to a city’s productivity”.

Marta Junqué, director of the European association Time Use Initiative, explains that Barcelona was the first city in Spain to have a councillor’s office for time use, and is now at the forefront of this debate at European level. “In the context of a changing workplace culture and advances in artificial intelligence, we need to go further”, she asserts.

Another aspect that needs to be considered through the prism of time is health. Imma Cortès Franch, head of the Health and Work Service at the Barcelona Public Health Agency, warns that “we should not forget that, as well as gender the way working time is organised is intrinsically linked to other aspects of inequality, such as social class, ethnicity and migration status”.

Dolors Comas d’Argemir, social anthropologist who has conducted extensive studies on ageing, care and dependency, talks about time for self-care and caring for others. “The time on a clock is measurable, linear and interchangeable. Care time is different, because biological rhythms require unpredictable, fragmented and flexible time”, she explains.

Closing the dossier is sociologist Jorge Moruno, who talks about “Time, work and freedom”. Author of the book No tengo tiempo (I don’t have time) assures that “today, precariousness means that personal time is becoming work time and here the so-called collaborative economy operates as a spearhead. New technologies, far from freeing society from work, make us even more dependent and are blurring the lines between personal and work time”.

Interviews with Isabel Coixet and Mama Dousha

The interviews in this edition offer reflections on cinema and music. Writer and producer Jacobo Bergareche has a relaxed conversation with Isabel Coixet, who had just landed in Barcelona after directing a series in Paris and a film in Rome. “I always think my characters are better people than I am, and I’m perfectly fine with that”, says the director.

Mama Dousha, the alter ego of Bruno de Fabriziis, from Poblenou, is interviewed by Carla Mallol Güell following the release of his latest LP La Criolla. The musician argues for the use of non-standard Catalan to connect with audiences and break down cultural barriers: “If singers only used strictly correct Catalan, maybe fewer people would actually listen to music in Catalan””.

In the section Urban Visions, Meritxell M. Pauné explores the different projects that form part of Montjuïc’s major transformation, from the new Fira de Barcelona to the redevelopment of Plaça d’Espanya and the makeover of the Magic Fountain, and measures to improve mobility on the ring road, metro and bus routes. Despite the scale and ambition of the measures, Pauné insists that “Montjuïc still calls for further efforts. Work still needs to be done on the Morrot area.”

For her part, Esther Paniagua looks at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) as a key driver of urban transformation:  “The creation of one of Europe’s seven Artificial Intelligence Factories (AI Factories) and the launch of Spain’s first quantum computer will impact Barcelona far beyond the confines of server racks and cables, and promises to drive talent and economic growth”.

Irish writer Colm Tóibín, who is in Barcelona to present the re-release of Homenatge a Barcelona / Homage to Barcelona, a book he wrote more than thirty years ago, talks to journalist Àlex Vicente explaining that: “Even though he only lived here for three years, his link to the city has never been broken, a city he now views without nostalgia.”

This edition’s Open Data is dedicated to an important anniversary, 100 years of the Barcelona metro, which was launched on 30 December 1924 with a line that connected Plaça Catalunya with Lesseps. The pages of this graphic report by Oriol Pàmies and Carles Javierre reveal a whole host of interesting facts.

In the Culture Folder, the Debate focuses on adaptations of theatrical classics. Led by Andreu Gomila, nine experts ask whether it is permissible to adapt the works of Shakespeare, Guimerà, Molière and Chekhov. “Directors who are honest about their intentions when they thoroughly rework a play, take the risk of changing the title, making it clear to audiences that what they’re about to see is a production “inspired by” the original”. Those who are less upfront – or simply afraid – rely on the pull of a familiar name to spark the audience’s curiosity”, says Gomila.

The Culture Folder also includes a surprising report by Judith Vives Bellalta about book clubs, a pastime that has been revamped and adapted to new formats. In the book section, Joan Ferrarons presents the new series “Barcelona en la Literatura Universal (Barcelona in Universal Literature)”, published by Barcelona City Council, which introduces readers to writers from other literatures who have written about our city. For his part, Pau Subirós discusses La passió dels estranys [The Passion of Strangers], a book written by Marina Garcés. The exhibition pages are dedicated to La poesia tot just ha començat. 50 anys de la Miró (Poetry has just begun. 50 years of the Miró) , an exhibition that commemorates half a century of the Joan Miró Foundation and which is showing until the start of April 2026.

The magazine concludes with the story Dolls’ House, written by Maria Guasch. The illustrations for this story, the front cover and the dossier are the work of Riki Blanco, while the protagonist of the photographic insert is Rosa Codina, with a work titled Au plein air.