A Catalan tells his most northern city experience in the world

He Svalbard archipelago It is the most northern place in Europe. It is a huge ice cream far away above the Arctic Circle where about 2,500 people They are officially forbidden to die. There, right there, there is a Catalan.

A Catalan? Indeed. Born in Sant Cugat del Vallès 29 years ago, Nil Rodés It has become the head engine of the Department of Geology of the University Center of the Svalbard Islands. And just being Interviewed in Via Lliure de Rac1 where it gives details about how it is to live very (but very) to the north of the polar circle.

“A few months ago it is night,” Rodés said. “Between eleven and one, we now have a blue light (like the end of the day) and, for the month of March, there will be a sun.” It does not carry it very well and, in fact, the Catalan engineer takes advantage of the months of greater darkness to go outside the island.

Of course, the doubt of whether “is something related to the Mediterranean blood” always because, in the five years he has been living in the north, he has met many people who worship the darkness “deep of the Arctic Night.

An island without indigenous … There are no native peoples of the islands because it is too north. And the first stable inhabitants arrived with the mining companies that began to exploit the coal of the islands at the end of the 19th and early twentieth. Before that, there were only small fishermen bases that were used sporadically.

The truth is that, anyway, there are not many natives in strict sense. It is prohibited to be born in the islands. When an advanced stage of pregnancy is reached, mothers have to go to Norway to give birth safely. In the same way, It is forbidden to die (and be buried) on the island. Except for cases of accidental deaths, no one dies there.

… but with many bears. There are about 3,000 bears in the region compared to 2,500 people. 300 of those animals live on the main island (and that means that whenever you leave the settlement you have to be armed with rifles or guns of Bengal). In fact, there is a traffic signal in which the area is indicated in from which the safety of individuals depends on them same.

And what does a “chief engineer” do on such an island? A good part of the activity of the islands has to see with education and research of all kinds (from questions related to climate or geology to studies on fauna and conservation of ecosystems). Do not forget that The “end of the end of the world” is right there. Rodés’s work has to do with the logistics and safety of all projects linked to geological research. As I say, the villages themselves are safe areas, but beyond those limits any unforeseen can be critical.

To the limit of the impossible. According to Rodésthe site must really be overwhelming. A place where in winter it is not clear what is land and what is sea ice (beyond the “llaneza” of the land can give you important clues); and in which, for six months, they can only move with snow motorcycles.

In recent years, the Svalbard Islands have only jumped to the media for the problems that the Ukraine War (and the associated sanctions)) created in the relationship between the capital of the islands (Longyearbyen) and a small Russian settlement (Barentsburg) at 50 kilometers. For the rest, it is a small haven of peace in Miad in one of the areas that more is changing due to climate change.

Image | Janik Rohland

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