The Solsona City Council and the Elderly Council have organised more than 20 cultural, sports, and leisure activities for the 22nd Elderly Week in Solsona, central Catalonia. The event will run during the last week of May. Registration for activities with limited capacity starts on 11 May at the municipal Social Services offices.
Most proposals are free, with the exception of the Elderly Tribute Festival dinner on Sunday, 31 May, at the multi-purpose hall. This meal costs €8 for Solsona residents and €22 for non-residents. Tickets must be collected from the council.
New Activities Introduced
This year's programme includes several new additions. One is a photography workshop, “Solsona with a new perspective” (Solsona amb una nova mirada), led by photographer Kàtia Prat on the afternoon of 25 May. This activity involves a photographic walk through the old town, teaching participants to observe calmly and capture often-overlooked street details.
Another highlight is the “Memories that unite us” (Memòries que ens uneixen) exhibition, organised by Càritas Arxiprestal Solsona-Morunys. It opens on 25 May at 6pm at the Xavier Jounou civic and community centre. The exhibition is the result of an intergenerational project that gathered stories from 14 elderly individuals with diverse life experiences. Thirty-one students from Escola Arrels Secundària and Institut Francesc Ribalta also took part. Over several months, they shared interviews and experiences to build a collective memory.
In sports, two new activities have been added in collaboration with the Solsonès Sports Council. These include a bicycle orientation event to locate markers around Solsona on the morning of 25 May, and a walking football session scheduled for late morning on 28 May.
On the afternoon of 29 May, historian Jordi Guixé and local youth Ivet Caballol have organised a Nazi deportation route in Solsona. This itinerary visits the Stolpersteine cobblestones placed in the city last year to honour victims of Nazism. Other new activities include a talk on living with pain and regaining well-being, a dynamic linked to the personal ageing plan, and the workshop “Beyond appearances” (Més enllà de les aparences).
Long-Standing Traditions Continue
The programme also maintains popular activities from previous editions, which form the core of Elderly Week. These include the opening of exhibitions at the civic centre on 25 May, the popular walk on the morning of 27 May, craft workshops in front of the City Council on the afternoon of 30 May, and the Elderly Tribute Festival. This year marks the 45th edition of the festival, which concludes the week.
Maria Moumen, the Social Rights Councillor, said that Elderly Week “shows the city's recognition and gratitude towards older people, and also offers an opportunity to promote active, healthy, and participatory ageing and combat loneliness.” Moumen also noted that these activities “are just a display of the great diversity of proposals that institutions, entities, and private initiatives in the municipality offer to the group throughout the year.”
Programme Distribution and Support
The programme for the 22nd Elderly Week has been distributed to 1,500 homes in Solsona with residents over 65 years old, meaning those born up to 1961. It is also available for digital download from the municipal website.
The Solsona Social Rights Department and the Solsona Elderly Council organise the 22nd Elderly Week. They receive support from the Solsonès Regional Council, the Solsonès Sports Council, and the Lleida Provincial Council. Additionally, around 20 entities and public services collaborate on the event.
