The Weekend Opener
from Andrew Tuck
How an elevated experience moved a Catalan concert hall to tears
In last December’s issue of Monocle we ran a story about a Catalan tradition: the building of castells, or human towers. We sent our writer Julia Webster Ayuso to the city of Tarragona to attend a vast…
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As AI continues to serve up slop, legacy media is back on the menu
Initially, it was quite amusing. I would get tagged in a photo on Instagram by someone keen to congratulate me on my skills with a skillet, the delicacy of my soufflé or the tastiness…
I’ve been talked into a cycling trip – nobody warned me about the wardrobe
I have been persuaded by my friend Chiara to go on a bike ride in the Mallorcan countryside. Not my usual pootle beside the ocean on the trusty electric but rather a jaunt that…
Where to go and who to know when making yourself at home in Mallorca
In 2019 we put down the deposit on an apartment that was being built in Palma, buying off plan. We had been coming to the island for years, had made good friends, felt at…
Travel is transformational – that’s why Monocle always has its sights on the horizon
This morning we begin the 48-hour drive south from London to Palma de Mallorca, dog in tow. The other half was working in New York all week and only got home on Friday morning.…
How a wily fox terrier taught me that old dogs can learn new tricks
The dog is 13. She celebrated her birthday on Friday by going to the vet to get her doggy travel documents. Then, in just a week’s time, she will join us on the drive…
Souvenirs and trinkets are to be celebrated as tickets to the past. But please, say ‘no’ to bald teddy bears
I had an aunt who never married or had children. There were suitors. Tennis partners that had been around for decades. They would often be at her house when we visited, dashing, and with…
Abu Dhabi puts its faith in the power of architecture to bring people together
By the time we finished the final interview at our pop-up Monocle Radio booth at the Abu Dhabi Infrastructure Summit and recorded a special edition of The Urbanist (you can listen in here), it was still only…
For this year’s Quality of Life Survey, Monocle is taking a different tack. Here’s why
What makes a good city? That’s a question that Monocle has grappled with since its launch. Why? Well, in 2007, as we surveyed the multiple city surveys that were already in existence, we were…
Want to improve your city? Buy a plant pot
You can use our mews as a cut through if you are on foot or a bicycle but a strategically placed bollard means that cars can’t. So, apart from the occasional van dropping off…
Industrial design needs to clean up its act and save the rest of us the trouble
When did planes get so filthy? If passengers don’t hand over their garbage to the crew before landing, then all the pressure falls on a cleaning team that’s given just minutes to prepare an…
