In Barcelona, Russian and Ukrainian exiles cross paths at the baths: 'We don't talk about the war, not even at the banya'

For the past year, traditional steam baths from Eastern Europe and Russia have been springing up across the Catalan capital. Popular with both Russians and Ukrainians – who arrived by the thousands on the Costa Brava at the start of the war in 2022 – the establishments have become an unexpected place for the two communities to coexist.