Cities to live

As is being usual at present times, unsustainable and unrestrained development is the rule in urban areas. This has created unhealthy and stressful cities; a costly nightmare of traffic and pollution. It must therefore follow that proper measures must be taken in order to improve the quality of live in our cities, making them more comfortable and healthy, that is, a better place to live. And not to mention that the urgent global change begins locally.

In this context, a key measure to be introduced in most large cities is pedestrianisation and cycle paths. This goes directly to reduce the negative effects of traffic congestion, which is incredibly time and money consuming; and the main source of pollution, noise and accidents.

Although it would need a further development, given below are some of the measures that we have considered to be more relevant:

1.- The first step is to create an extended cycle paths net throughout the cities, connecting the most busy locations. It must include all the necessary traffic regulations in order to make the paths and the crossing points absolutely safe.

2.- A bikes-for-rent scheme must be available, thus citizens and tourists could get and leave the bike throughout the city. There should be a bonus scheme depending on periods of time.

3.- This measures should be accompanied by an improvement in public transports, and traffic restrictions, so that the city centre keeps predominantly free of traffic.

4.- As much as possible, the city centre must be pedestrianised.

5.- Last but not least, all this course of action would be useless without what I think is the most important measure: carry out an intense public awareness campaign. People must be encouraged to avoid the use of the car, and they should be conscious that doing this, they will save a considerable amount of money and time, and that all could have better cities to live.

Describing a painting

In relation with our last task, I am going to describe briefly this painting, which won the first prize in the II Ramon Portillo National Painting Contest, in 2007.

The painting depicts a marine scene, which occupies the full space of the canvas. Thus, all is in blue, except for the fishing vessel centrally placed on the right side. This element fix the viewer attention, but the picture is seen from a certain distant, so that it wisely creates a sensation of depth and vastness.

Its most remarkable points are the nuances of lights and shadows, and the delightful blue scale, which properly captures the daylight and the still waters. And it is the accurate use of these techniques, what gives a startling and evocative character to this simple scenery.

It is a kind of impressionist composition, which transmits serenity and peace, and has the ability to take the spectator into the scene, so that it seems as if you could feel the ocean fresh air.


In this link, you can find some descriptions and talks about paintings, exhibitions, and other matters, about Museo Reina Sofía, the most important spanish museum of modern arts. There are videos in Spanish, and videos in English with Spanish subtitles.

Link: Museo Reina Sofía