Filling the Sink

Filling the Sink examines the legacy of Pablo Picasso on the 50th anniversary of his death. Cristina Tomàs White and Cillian Shields join Lorcan Doherty to chat about the artist's formative years in Catalonia. Maria Choya shows us around Barcelona's Picasso Museum. Artist María Llopis discusses Picasso's toxic relationships with women. This week's Catalan phrase is "quatre gats." Literally "four cats," it means "only a few people." 

85 years on from the Bombing of Barcelona, a new photography exhibition aims to shine a light on the air raid shelters that saved so many lives during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Cristina Tomàs White visits one of the bunkers and meets Manel Bachs, a 90-year- old who still remembers fleeing underground when the air raid sirens warned of Franco’s Nationalist forces approaching along with their Nazi German and fascist Italian allies. Gerard Escaich Folch gets a surprise when he talks to Ana Sánchez, the photographer behind the exhibition '1,322 Barcelona air raid shelters' at La Model prison. This week's Catalan phrase is "fer una passa en fals." It means to make a mistake or a false move. Presented by Lorcan Doherty. 

Nestled high in the Pyrenees lies a unique European experiment – Cerdanya Hospital, jointly financed and governed by Catalonia and France, and caring for patients on both sides of the border. Managing director Xavier Conill explains how the hospital operates and the particular challenges it faces, from registering births and deaths in the right country to attracting staff and patients from both jurisdictions. This week's Catalan phrase is "advocat, jutge i doctor, com més lluny millor." It means "lawyer, judge and doctor, the further away, the better." Presented by Lorcan Doherty with Gerard Escaich Folch. 

On March 5, 2023, a cyberattack wreaked havoc on Hospital Clínic, one of Barcelona's leading public hospitals, causing surgery and appointments to be cancelled and forcing staff to work with pen and paper. Marc Torrens of ESADE Business School explains how ransomware attacks like this work. Jordi Hernández of the Autonomous University of Barcelona tells Cristina Tomàs White the lessons they learned after a data breach in 2021. Plus the thoughts of David López, a cybersecurity expert at IPM, and Tomàs Roy, director of the Catalan Cybersecurity Agency. This week's Catalan phrase is "jugar al gat i la rata," to play cat and mouse (or rat, literally). Presented by Lorcan Doherty with Cillian Shields. 

In January 2023 US-born Catalan woman Maria Branyas became the oldest verified living person in the world and on March 4 she celebrated her 116th birthday. To mark the occasion, Guifré Jordan revisits an interview he did with Maria in 2019. Sam Green, an American filmmaker who recently travelled to Catalonia to record with Maria for his documentary The Oldest Person in the World, tells us why he thinks people find the subject so captivating. This week's Catalan phrase is "és de l'any de la picor." Literally "it's from the year of the itch," it refers to a plague in Catalonia in 1471 and is used to describe something very old. Presented by Lorcan Doherty. 

Filling the Sink travels to a SIE center that helps women affected by gender-based violence to hear the story of one survivor and the thoughts of center director Susana Conesa. Tània Verge, Catalan equality and feminism minister, explains what action the government is taking to tackle violence against women. Lorcan Doherty is joined by Cristina Tomàs White and Guifré Jordan to discuss high-profile sexual assault cases involving footballer Dani Alves and journalist Saül Gordillo and the recent controversy over Spain's 'only yes means yes' consent law. This week's Catalan phrase is "estar-ne fins als ovaris," which means I've had it up to my ovaries or I've had it up to here. It's a modern twist on "estar-ne fins als collons," with collons being a slang term for testicles. 

One year on from Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Filling the Sink hears stories from Ukrainian refugees and Russian dissidents who have fled to Catalonia. Fashion designer Ksenia Karpenko talks about the fear of losing people back home and how she has tried to adapt and keep her brand going. Anna Vykhovanets, Tatiana Hulevets and Olena Kol explain why they chose to start working in the Costa Brava hotel where the Red Cross had sent them to stay. Dissidents Anna Shevchenko, Nikita Kazantcev, and Andrei Paniushkin describe their run-ins with the Russian authorities and why they fled to Catalonia.   This week's Catalan phrase is 'no tenir solta ni volta'. A hard one to translate literally, it is used to describe something that does not make any sense. Presented by Lorcan Doherty with Cillian Shields. 

Filling the Sink travels to two coastal towns famous for their carnival shenanigans – Vilanova i la Geltrú and Sitges. Expect food fights and raucous parades! Carnival is a big deal in Catalonia – a hedonistic week of music, dance, dressing up, copious amounts of food and general revelry before Lent. Lorcan Doherty gets the lowdown from Catalan News' very own Carnival King and Queen, Gerard Escaich Folch and Cristina Tomàs White. This week's Catalan phrase is 'Per carnaval tot s'hi val' – For carnival, anything goes!

It's ski season! Wrap up warm, grab your goggles and gloves, this week Filling the Sink heads to the slopes with a guide to skiing in the Catalan Pyrenees. But hold on, with the climate emergency and ongoing drought, does it make sense to be going? Guifré Jordan travels to Cerdanya to hear both sides of the debate, with La Molina's Marta Viver, and Marcel Sangenís, from the Stop the Winter Olympics group. This week's Catalan phrase is 'trencar el gel'. It means 'to break the ice', and is used just like in English. Presented by Lorcan Doherty.   

Lauded by Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro, Barcelona-born J.A. Bayona is the director of movies like The Impossible, A Monster Calls and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. On the red carpet at the 2023 Gaudí Awards, Bayona chats to Filling the Sink about the ups and downs of his career to date, and his upcoming movie, Society of the Snow. Cillian Shields talks to two of his former teachers at ESCAC film school – Jaume Macià and Joan Marimón – to find out if the young Bayona was always destined for success. This week's Catalan phrase is 'ser el dolent de la pel·lícula'. It means 'to be the baddy in the film', but it is used in real life too. Presented by Lorcan Doherty with Gerard Escaich Folch.