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Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, assured that the sentences against the political figures responsible for the 9-N symbolic vote on independence, which took place in 2014, won’t change the Government’s roadmap. Indeed, he stated that the referendum “which will be carried out between the end of summer and the beginning of autumn” this year will be the absolution of what the Spanish justice system has condemned this Monday. Pro-independence radical left CUP, the main partner of governing cross-party ‘Junts Pel Sí’, declared “dead” the dialogue with the Spanish State regarding the possibility of an agreed referendum. CUP MP, Mireia Boya called for “disobedience” as “the only way to reach independence”.

Former Catalan President, Artur Mas appeared before the press after being sentenced to a two-year ban from holding public office for allowing the 9-N symbolic vote on independence in 2014. “I accept this sentence calmly, but with absolute disconformity” said Mas and announced that he will appeal to the European Court. “We have little hope in the Spanish Constitutional Court” he said, but emphasised that those found guilty will follow the correct procedures for the appeal to reach the European justice system, in which the summonsed “have much more faith”. “The Spanish State prosecutes people due to their ideology”, he said and pointed out that he and former Vice president Joana Ortega and former Education Minister Irene Rigau “have been sentenced for disobeying the Constitutional Court”. “Unfortunately, the law is not the same for everybody in Spain”, he lamented.

Former Catalan President Artur Mas has been sentenced to a two-year ban from holding public office for allowing a non-binding and symbolic vote on Catalan independence in 2014. Barcelona's High Court has found him guilty of “disobedience” and is also asking him to pay a fine of €36,500. Former Vice president Joana Ortega and former Education Minister Irene Rigau have also been banned from taking public office for a period of 1 year and 9 months and 1 year and 6 months. They will have to pay fines of €30,000 and €24,000, respectively. The prosecution was asking for a 10-year ban from public office for the three politicians.

Two Catalan researchers, Gemma Galdon and Isabel Trillas were amongst the finalists at EU Prize for Women Innovators 2017, an initiative promoted by the European Commission's Directorate General for Research and Innovation together with the European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality. Galdon is a policy analyst working on the social, ethical and legal impacts of data-intensive technologies while Trillas is full Professor at the Faculty of Biology at Universitat de Barcelona and developed a pesticide based on a natural microorganism to control crop diseases. The ceremony, held on Women’s International Day at the European Parliament, awarded four European researchers for their outstanding contribution. They were Michela Magas, Petra Wadström, Claudia Gärtner and Kristina Tsvetanova.

All the parties in the Catalan chamber except from governing cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ urged former Catalan President, Artur Mas, to appear before the Parliament over CDC irregular funding. He will have to do so after the main figures accused in the ‘Palau Case’ assured that former CDC, now renamed as the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT), received commissions from Ferrovial construction company in exchange for public contracts and with the intermediation of ‘Palau de la Música’. Indeed, Mas was head of CDC at the time when the alleged corruption took place. Pro-independence radical left CUP consider it “a fiction” to separate CDC from PDeCat and the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) have called for Mas to quit his political career if the accusations over CDC irregular funding prove to be true.

Fèlix Millet and Jordi Montull, the main managers of Palau de la Música concert hall between 1990 and 2009 testified before the judge this week, over one of the biggest corruption scandals affecting former governing party ‘Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya’ (CDC), which ruled in Catalonia in coalition with Christian Democrat Unió for more than 20 years. The so-called ‘Palau Case’ investigates whether CDC received €5.1 million from the construction company Ferrovial through donations made to Barcelona’s Palau de la Música. Both Millet and Montull admitted that Ferrovial paid illegal commissions to CDC in exchange for public contracts and confirmed that they pocketed a significant percentage for themselves. The main accused in the ‘Palau Case’ also pointed to CDC’s former treasures, Daniel Osácar, as the person in charge of gathering the money from Ferrovial and put it at the party’s disposal.

The famous Camp Nou has seen more incredible moments than most, but it will take an almighty effort to top what was witnessed on 8 March 2017. Barça pull off one of the most epic comebacks in the history of the Champions League to get into the quarter-finals, scoring three in the last seven minutes to clinch a 6-5 aggregate win. But if anyone was to achieve the inconceivable, it was always going to be Barça, as the hosts struck thrice late on, with Sergi Roberto clinching a heart-stopping 6-5 aggregate win over PSG. After eventually catching his breath, Luis Enrique was kind enough to share his thoughts on the epic 6-1 win over PSG which seals the team’s passage to the last-eight of the Champions League. “The joy we gave to all Barça fans is dedicated to all those who had faith, who supported us each day, especially in the tough moments, after losing in Paris”, he said. 

Difficult. Very, very difficult. But not impossible. At the club and all around the city there is a shared belief that the team can turn around the 4-0 deficit. What's certain is that Barça will not be going out without a fight... No team has ever managed to turn around a four-goal deficit in UCL knockout history, but after seeing some glorious football in the last two games at the Camp Nou, there is a very strong belief among both players and fans that on Wednesday night from 8.45 CET, we could be about to see one of the most remarkable comebacks in sporting history. Barça boss Luis Enrique knows full well what a difficult task lies ahead, but like his players, knows that if they give it their best shot, anything might happen. “We have to score a lot of goals, which we have done plenty of times before” he told a packed pressroom on Tuesday. “But let’s not get crazy, tomorrow we have nothing to lose and everything to win.”

The British Parliament has registered an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) to discuss the political situation in Catalonia. The initiative will be made official on the 14th of March in London and includes 20 MPs from the main British parties, from Conservatives to Labour, all the way up to the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Welsh Plaid Cymru. Indeed, SNP MP George Kerevan was one of the main promoters of the group. Kerevan repeatedly expressed in favour of Catalonia’s right to decide its political future and criticised the prosecution of the Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, for allowing a debate on Catalonia’s independence in the Catalan chamber. The group is due to meet at least twice per year and will be open for other MPs to join.

35% of the total patent applications in Spain in 2016 were submitted in Catalonia, totalling 547. This figure is 5.5% higher than that registered in 2015, according to the last European Patent Office (EPO) report. Madrid ranked second with 321 applications, 11% less than the previous year. The three main entities which submitted patent applications in Barcelona were Esteve Laboratory, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and the Almirall pharmaceutical company. The number of patent Applications in the whole of Spain totalled 1,558 in 2016, contributing only 1% to the world total, which is led by the United States. If Catalonia were a country, it would be number 23 in the world ranking, ahead of Norway, Turkey, Luxembourg and Singapore amongst others.

The Italian Democratic Party MP, Marco Miccoli expressed in favour of finding “a political solution which meets Catalans’ demands” to overcome the current political deadlock between Catalonia and Spain. In an interview with CNA, Miccoli pointed out that the judicial way “doesn’t solve the problem from a political or historic point of view” but “only puts if off”, he said referring to the Spanish Government’s use of the court to stop Catalonia’s democratic demands. Miccoli also added that the EU “has a fundamental duty” regarding political conflicts such as that growing between Catalonia and the Spanish State and considered that an eventual intervention would have to be carried out with an “appropriate approach” aimed at “solving problems rather than throwing a spanner in the works”.

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, commented on the Council of Statutory Guarantees’ resolution which approved the allocation to call a referendum this September but denied the Government’s competence on this matter. “The allocation has been absolutely backed and the referendum will be carried out”, he said and guaranteed that city halls throughout Catalonia “are ready”. However, he refused to comment on the 31^st additional provision of the budget, which establishes that the Government is responsible for guaranteeing this allocation and therefore calling the referendum. Indeed, this section has been considered unconstitutional by the Council. According to the body, calling a referendum is not an attributed competence of the Government and therefore this authorisation can’t be foreseen in the budget.

The Council for Statutory Guarantees, the body responsible for checking whether the Catalan Government’s regulations comply with the Catalan Statute of Autonomy and the Spanish Constitution, approved the additional allocation included in the budget for 2017 in order to call a referendum on independence in September. In particular, the bill establishes €5 million for electoral processes and €0.8 million for participation. However, it has found unconstitutional the 31^st additional provision of the draft, which establishes that the Government has to allocate the spending to carry out the vote. Despite being unanimous, the resolution of the Council for Statutory Guarantees is not binding, since it is an advisory body. However it has already postponed the passing of the bill, which was due to be put to vote last February.

The 2017 edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) registered a record participation of 108,000 visitors from 203 countries worldwide, 7% more than last year’s edition, according to figures released this Thursday by the event organisers GSMA. Those who passed through the MWC’s main venues at L’Hospitalet Gran Via and Fira de Montjuic were mostly senior executives, including 6,100 CEOs. The economic impact in Barcelona and its metropolitan area is estimated to reach €465 million and over 13,200 temporary jobs have been created due to the MWC. 2,300 international companies, which went beyond just the mobile phone industry, including firms from the automotive, financial and health sectors, presented their novelties at the world’s most important cell-phone and internet-related exhibition. 

'RCR' Arquitectes, a studio based in the small village of Olot, 100 kilometres north of Barcelona, has been awarded the 2017 Pritzker Architecture Prize. The three locally-based architects, Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta are the first to share the prize, which is known internationally as architecture’s highest honour. “This is a dream we would have never dared to dream of”, stated Pigem. During its 30-year history, 'RCR Arquitectes' has carried out more than 60 singular projects, mainly in Catalonia but also in France and Belgium. Tom Pritzker, Chairman of the Hyatt Foundation, considered the winners’ work to have “had an impact on the discipline far beyond their immediate area” with projects ranging from public and private spaces to cultural venues and educational institutions. “They’ve demonstrated that unity of material can lend such incredible strength and simplicity to a building,” said Glenn Murcutt, Jury Chair.