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In annual terms, the Catalan economy grew by 3.3% in the third quarter of 2016 according to official data released this week by the Catalan Ministry for Economy and Tax Office and the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (Idescat). This increase is mainly thanks to the boost provided by the services sector, which saw annual growth of 3%, and the acceleration of the industrial sector, whose growth stood at 4.9%, the highest for the last six years. The quarterly growth rate, however, stood at 0.7%, one tenth lower rise than the previous quarter, but four percentage points above the Eurozone average. According to the data, there is a slight slowdown in the expansion of the Catalan economy, as annual growth in the first and second quarter of this year were 3.7% and 3.5%, respectively.  

On the 15th of October 2011 the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games (ICMG) chose Tarragona as the city to host the Games in 2017. In this way Tarragona, in southern Catalonia, culminated its quest for the event, dating back to 2007. An unexpected turn, though, has now obliged the postponement of the Games for a year. The cause of such a measure is, according to the President of the ICMG, Amar Addadi, the “financial implications” deriving from the “10 months of deadlock” over the formation of the Spanish Government, which affected the “sporting activities and the preparation of the Tarragona Games”. The organisation has only received half of the €20 million expected from sponsorship and Spanish Government arrears owed to the project total €12 million. Hence, and in light of the economic climate, the Committee has decided to postpone the event, an unprecedented measure.   

FC Barcelona became the first team to leave the Sánchez Pizjuán with points as goals courtesy of Leo Messi and Luis Suárez after Vitolo’s opener gave the Catalans a precious win. The blaugranes came from behind to earn a 2-1 win at Sevilla on Sunday in a breathless encounter at the ever-intense Sánchez Pizjuán stadium. The Andalusians had won all five of their home league games going into the encounter but Leo Messi’s equaliser just before the break followed by Luis Suárez’s strike on the hour-mark sealed an important victory for the Catalans. “It is a win that strengthens us all as a team and individually”, said Barça’s coach, Luis Enrique. “The Pizjuán is a tough ground, with great pressure from the opponent, but as we showed, we managed the came perfectly”, he added.

The Financial Times report FDi European Cities and Regions of the future 2016/2017, recognised Catalonia as the best Southern European region to invest in for 2016 and 2017. To make the most of this prognosis, the Catalan Minister for Business and Knowledge, Jordi Baiget, visited London this Monday, in the framework of the 'Brexit' plan, which aims to promote foreign investment in Catalonia and strengthen trade relations with the United Kingdom. At a meeting with thirty businessmen and international investors at the headquarters of the newspaper the Financial Times, Baiget explained that that there is "no anxiety" among investors regarding the political process going on in Catalonia, but rather only "interest". Furthermore, the Catalan Minister stressed that investors really value “Catalonia’s assets”, such as its “good communications and trained and qualified people”. 

The Catalan Government Spokeswoman, Neus Munté, expressed this Friday the Catalan Executive’s disapproval of the arrest of the Mayor of Berga, Montse Venturós, for refusing to take down a pro-independence flag from the town hall building. Munté considered it not only “outrageous” but “an aberration both from a political and democratic perspective”. However, the case showed the different in criteria between the Catalan and Spanish institutions. While Munté lamented Spain’s “prosecution” of elected representatives and the “judicialisation of politics”, the Spanish Executive assessed the arrest as “only normal”. In his first appearance as Spanish Government spokesman, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo warned that “whoever fails to adhere to the rules has to accept the consequences”. 

Montse Venturós testified before a judge on Friday morning for not taking down an independence flag from the town hall building. The Mayor of Berga was arrested by police and taken to court after failing to attend voluntarily on two occasions. She is accused of an electoral crime and disobedience for ignoring the Electoral Roll Office’s requests to take down the flag from the façade of the Town Hall on two election days: the 27th of September Catalan election and the 20th of December Spanish general election. Her arrest caused an outcry amongst pro-independence parties and also those in favour of the right of Catalonia to hold a referendum on independence. Talking to journalists after testifying before the judge, Venturós confirmed her commitment to the “popular mandate” towards independence and said that her arrest was “a new attack on the Catalan people” by “an absolutely anti-democratic” Spanish state. The Catalan Government has described the arrest as “outrageous”.

Pro-independence radical left CUP’s Montse Venturós, Mayor of Berga, a small village 80 kilometres from Barcelona, has been arrested this Friday by the Catalan Police, the Mossos d’Esquadra. Venturós will now have to testify before the judge over an alleged electoral crime for refusing to take down pro-independence flags from the façade of the Town Hall on the 27th of September, the day of the Catalan Elections, and on the 20th of December, that of the Spanish Elections. Indeed, Venturós has twice refused to testify before the judge for the same case. CUP have already expressed their disapproval of the arrest and have called on members to demonstrate before Berga’s court in support of Venturós. Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, who has been lately accused of ‘disobedience’ for allowing the pro-independence roadmap to be put to vote in the Catalan Chamber, has also expressed her support for Venturós, via Twitter. “Neither the judicialisation of politics nor the court will impede that Catalans decide their future”, she said. For his part, the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, stressed that “freedom of speech is not a crime”.

Re-elected Spanish President, the conservative People’s Party (PP) Mariano Rajoy unveiled this Thursday the names in his new cabinet. Catalan MP Dolors Montserrat has been designated Spanish Minister for Health, Social Services and Equality. Spanish Vice President, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría will keep her role and assume the Territorial Administrations portfolio, which was previously part of the Spanish Finance Ministry. Two of the most controversial and belligerent ministers regarding Catalonia’s pro-independence aspirations, the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, José Manuel García-Margallo and the Spanish Minister for Home Affairs, Jorge Fernández Diaz, will no longer be in Rajoy’s cabinet.

Barcelona’s Chamber of Commerce reported this Thursday that 2015 was the worst year in the historical data series, which dates back to 1997, in the rate of state investment in the transport infrastructure in Catalonia. Specifically, the Spanish Government executed only 59% of the budgeted investment in Catalonia, below the average of all the Spanish Autonomous Communities, which stood at 72%. The president of the Chamber, Miquel Valls, lamented in a press conference that the low degree of implementation of investment occurs on an initial budget which is already relatively small for Catalonia. Last year, the Spanish executive budgeted for the region 9.9% of total state investment in transport infrastructure, despite the Catalan GDP accounting for 18.9% of the state’s overall GDP.

The number of people unemployed and registered as such at the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC) at the end of October increased by 7,325 peoplecompared to the September figures, a growth of 1.62%, according to data released on Monday by the Spanish Ministry for Employment. In total, there were 458,406 individuals who were without a job and were looking for a new one. In the whole of Spain, unemployment increased by 44,685 people in October, which means that the total number of jobseekers registered on the Public Employment Service’s lists reached 3,764,982. Within the last 12 months, unemployment in Spain fell by 411,387individuals, 9.85% less than last year.The construction sector is the only area where unemployment decreased in both Catalonia and Spain. 

The reform for the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) to be able to “suspend from office those public servants, politicians and authorities who don’t comply with its rulings” has been ultimately accepted by 8 of the 11 magistrates in the Court. The reform proposal was announced in September 2015 by the governing People's Party (PP) leader in Catalonia, Xavier García Albiol, and was approved as a matter of urgency with only the PP’s support. Albiol stated then that this amendment to the Constitutional Law would work as a barrier to dissuade “anybody from declaring Catalonia’s independence”. The reform foreseesfines for not adhering to the TC’s rulings that range from 3,000 to 30,000 euros and could ultimately lead to “suspension from office during the period of time required by the TC”.

The Barcelona-based energy company Gas Natural Fenosa, through its subsidiary Global Power Generation (GPG), has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake of 85% in two solar plants in Brazil from Gransolar Group. The operation will involve an investment of €85 million to implement their first power generation project in the Brazilian market. The production of these two facilities will be about 154 GWh a year. With this agreement, and the construction of a 91 MW plant in Australia announced last August, the holding company GPG Gas Natural Fenosa has already exceeded the target of energy production set for 2018 in its strategic plan.

Tensions between the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) over the Spanish investiture will not break their relationship, according to both parties. Seven Catalan Socialist MPs voted last Saturday against Rajoy’s reelection, breaking ranks with the main Spanish party, which abstained, and prompting sanctions against them. However, the PSOE interim leadership expressed on Wednesday its commitment to a “balanced and symmetrical” relation with the Catalan Socialists. The PSC leader, Àngel Ros, stated in similar terms that his party does not plan to change its relationship with the PSOE despite the disciplinary proceedings against the MPs that decided not to abstain. The Catalan Socialist MPs have always argued that they voted ‘no’ to Rajoy “according to their conscience”.

Manchester City staged an exhilarating comeback and beat FC Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday at Etihad Stadium (3-1). Pep Guardiola’s team stole the game and the three points to Barça, who had the opportunity to sentence the first half, but started to feel the pressure six minutes before the interval, after an error by Sergi Roberto, leading to a goal and the resurrection of Manchester players. Ilkay Gundogan was undoubtley Manchester City star, scoring twice. The blaugrana, who were chasing a fourth consecutive win on English soil, did not achieve their objective. The home side desperation to get the three points beat Barça’s desire and marked a sense of urgency in their football.

This Friday’s plenary session at Barcelona City Hall resulted in the reprobation of Mayor Ada Colau. All the parties in the Chamber except from the governing alternative left alliance ‘Barcelona en Comú’ and radical left pro-independence CUP criticised Colau’s “politics of gesture”. “Today your government was defeated, the majority in the chamber censors your way of governing and is telling you that we can’t continue like this”, stated liberal CiU’s spokesman in Barcelona City Hall, Joaquim Forn. Moreover, Forn committed to discussing with all the groups in the Chamber how “to build an alternative majority to the current government”. Colau, a former activist especially committed to fighting evictions, won the local elections in May last year. However, she only obtained 11 seats, just one more than the second most voted list, CiU.