Shadows here, shadows there

The two teenagers had not been seen before noon all summer. Then, one August morning, they got up at eight and asked to go to the newsstand. They knew exactly what they wanted: the September issue of Elle, which included a makeup product at a quarter of its usual price.

The request quickly turned into a failed shopping trip. The columnist’s regular newsagent said the magazine had sold out, not only there but across the entire area. An influencer had mentioned the offer, triggering a rush that left newsstands with queues resembling ticket offices on Barcelona’s Gran Via and Aribau streets.

The girls eventually found a copy on Wallapop that cost twice the newsstand price. They still considered it worth buying. That small episode becomes the columnist’s way into a broader reflection on a summer dominated by political tension, social-media trends and constant information.

The piece contrasts public arguments over Ceuta and Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s apartment with the quieter scramble for a magazine and a cheap makeup product. It mocks the idea that every event must fit a political explanation, while arguing that social networks simplify complex issues and push people to take sides. There is little time for analysis, the columnist writes, and even less for calm, listening or learning.