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Catalonia’s Public Prosecutor requested this Monday 10 years of ineligibility for public office for the former Catalan President, Artur Mas, for organising the 9-N symbolic vote on independence in 2014. Judges Francisco Bañeres and Emilio Sánchez Ulled also demanded a 9-year ban for the two other public figures summonsed over the same case, former Vice President Joana Ortega and former Catalan Minister for Education Irene Rigau. According to the judges, the three summonsed were “fully aware” that by preparing the non-binding consultation “they were breaking the mandatory rulings of the Spanish Constitutional Court” which urged the Catalan executive to stop the process four days before the 9-N took place. Mas considered the whole case “a chain of nonsense” and assured that “it is an honour to be sentenced by a Spanish State which doesn’t respect the separation of powers”.

The Catalan Minister for Public Administrations Meritxell Borràs, stated that “in a matter of weeks” the Catalan Parliament will have a bill to “discuss and pass” electronic voting for Catalans abroad. “We just need the political will in order to make electronic voting become a reality for the next Catalan elections”, she stated during the 8^th European Meeting of Catalan Communities, held between the 30^th of September and the 2^nd of October in London. During the last elections, only 7.5% of the nearly 200,000 Catalans living abroad and registered to vote were able to do so and 7,000 ballots that were sent on time weren’t able to reach their destination. “The vote abroad is an authentic odyssey”, said Borràs.  

Barça turned up at Balaídos needing no reminding of the threat that Celta’s speedy attack could pose, having suffered a 4-1 defeat last time they were in town, but few could have expected what took place in the first half this time around. Despite a good start, warning signs of Celta’s growing attacking threat began to appear as the half grew on. And when Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s pass out to Sergio Busquets was a touch wide of the midfield man, Iago Aspas was more than happy to step in and play Pione Sisto through on goal, who made no mistake with a neat finish. A spirited second half display saw FC Barcelona so nearly stage an epic comeback against Celta Vigo, but it turned out to be another unhappy visit to Balaídos in a seven-goal thriller. Three rapid first-half goals from the hosts caught Barça off guard and, while Luis Enrique’s men twice rallied back to reduce the deficit to a solitary goal, they ultimately left empty-handed.

The PSC, the Catalan branch of the Spanish Socialist Party have insisted on their ‘no’ to reinstating current Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy. “We can’t betray our principles”, stated this Monday one of the candidates to lead PSC in the upcoming primary elections, Núria Parlon. In a clear move to differentiate themselves from the overall Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) position, which is to abstain in the upcoming investiture debate and allow the formation of a government in Spain, the PSC emphasised their “commitment to the citizens’ mandate” and their predisposition to offer “an alternative government to that of the Conservative People’s Party (PP)”. The Catalan Socialists expressed their position after the resignation of PSOE’s leader, Pedro Sánchez, who stepped down on Saturday after a week of turmoil within the Spanish Socialist Party.

Current Spanish Vice President, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, responded this Friday to Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont’s request to hold a binding referendum on independence in Catalonia. “National sovereignty doesn’t accept neither comas nor conditions”, she stated. “What Mr Puigdemont is asking for can’t be negotiated, neither by us, the Spanish Congress nor the Senate, because it is not ours but belongs to the 47 million Spaniard”she added, referring to Spain’s sovereignty. Sáenz de Santamaría warned Puigdemont that “he is subject to the law”and that going “further”from his functions “disrespects the national sovereignty”. Thus, Spain’s Vice President closed to the door on the possibility of agreeing a referendum in order to overcome the deadlock in Catalonia, as Puigdemont suggested during his vote of confidence speech. 

Temporada Alta, the renowned performing arts festival which takes place in Girona, reaches this year its 25th birthday. The benchmark festival at national and European level is offering a multidisciplinary programme designed for all audiences. Between this Friday and the 4^th of December, well-known international artists such as Polish theatre director Krystian Lupa, British director Peter Brook and the Belgian-born choreographer Alain Platel will present their creations at the festival. In its 25^th edition, it has programmed 26 international shows, from 17 different countries. However, there will also be room for Catalan productions and, indeed, Catalan director Lluís Pasqual has been given the responsibility of raising the curtain on the festival with ‘In memoriam - La quinta del biberón’, a work that has grown out of testaments from witnesses to the Battle of the Ebro. 

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont received this Thursday during the last phase of the vote of confidence the support of the majority of the Parliament. The 72 pro-independence MPs in the 135-seat Catalan Chamber,  that is to say governing cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and their partner radical left CUP, voted ‘yes’ in the vote of confidence. Spanish Unionist ‘Ciutadans’, the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) and Conservatives the People’s Party (PP) voted ‘no’, amounting to 63 votes. Thus, the pro-independence roadmap of this term of office, which started in January and was due to last 18 months from that moment on, remains stable. “We either have to make the most of this opportunity or reject it, but we are at the final stage of a very difficult challenge which we don’t want to shun”, stated Puigdemont in his last intervention before the vote took place. “I’ve come here to ask for confidence and stability, so that we don’t damage this process from within”, added the Catalan President.

Barcelona battled back from a goal down and scored twice in the second half to beat hosts Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1 in their Champions League Group C match on Wednesday. The victory is Barça’s second in as many games in the group stage. The Catalans continue to lead Group C, and have now scored nine goals and conceded just one in the two games combined. Despite the absence of the injured Lionel Messi, Arda Turan and Gerard Piqué gave the Catalans their second win in two group matches to top the standings, after their opening 7-0 demolition of Celtic. The late heroics snapped Borussia's 11-game home winning streak and gave goalkeeper Mark-André ter Stegen — who was facing the club where he spent his entire life, from age four until he joined Barça in the summer of 2014 — a homecoming to remember.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, insisted on the Government’s will “to collaborate with a Spanish State which would allow Catalans to vote”, but warned that the offer to hold a binding referendum on Catalonia’s independence “doesn’t expire, but [it] won’t paralyse us either”.“It’s either a referendum or a referendum”, he stated before the Parliament during the first phase of the vote of confidence and forecast that the vote will take place “in the second half of September”. The Catalan President called on MPs to start “a chain of confidence which will not end tomorrow [when the vote of confidence will take place] but continue until Catalonia becomes an independent country”. In this sense, he warned those who won’t support the budget for 2017 not to support him on Thursday and “avoid further wasting of time”. Although Puigdemont assured that he was “not afraid” of the vote of confidence result, he also insisted that he will call new elections if he doesn’t obtain enough votes.

More than 120 media outlets will cover the 26th edition of the Castells Competition, taking place this weekend at the Tàrraco Arena Place, an old bullring located in Tarragona, southern Catalonia. This year’s edition will become an international window for Catalan culture as 380 journalists from China, Australia, United Kingdom, America and all around the globe have been accredited and will witness the event. 32 human tower groups (‘colles’) will perform, one of them from China: the Children of Hangzhou. Tarragona’s Mayor, Josep Fèlix Ballesteros, stated that this international media presence proves that the impact of castells “goes beyond our territory and is global”. More than 25,000 people will attend the competition this weekend, in an edition that is expected to be the most international and historic one, due to the high level of the human tower groups. 

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, will face this Wednesday the first phase of a vote of confidence. First he will hold a speech during which he is expected to call for an agreed referendum in order to culminate Catalonia’s pro-independence process. On Thursday, the different groups in the Catalan Chamber will decide whether to renew their support in the President or not. For Puigdemont to pass the vote he needs a simple majority, that is to say more ‘yeses’ than ‘noes’.  Puigdemont announced in June that he will submit to a vote of confidence this September, after CUP’s veto of the budget for 2016. He considered then that the Government, led by pro-independence cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ with the support of CUP, didn’t have “guaranteed stability” and therefore couldn’t rule.

The representatives of pro-independence radical left CUP in Barcelona’s City Hall, CUP-Capgirem Barcelona, will ask for the removal of the iconic statue of Christopher Columbus, located at the end of the Rambla street, close to Barcelona’s port. They feel that the 60-metre-high monument, which was installed in the Catalan capital in 1888 to coincide with the Universal Exposition, “praises the conquest of America”. The three representatives from CUP-Capgirem Barcelona will suggest changing the Columbus monument for a memorial to the indigenous peoples of the Americas and the slaves brought to that continent, and their resistance in the face of “imperialism, oppression and segregation”. Liberal ‘Convergència’ have already opposed the removal of the monument and left wing pro-independence ERC said they will study CUP-Capgirem’s proposal, which will be discussed during a plenary session this Friday.

This Thursday is the first anniversary of the Catalan Elections of the 27th of September 2015, which led to the first pro-independence majority in the Parliament. Cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’, which gathered together representatives from civil society and politicians such as left wing ERC’s leader, Oriol Junqueras, former MEP Raül Romeva and former President Mas, amongst others, won the elections, obtaining 62 MPs in the 135-seat Catalan Chamber. However, they didn’t obtain an absolute majority and negotiated with radical left pro-independence CUP, who got 10 MPs, in order to have a majority in favour of independence in the Catalan Chamber. After Mas failed twice to be invested as President, since CUP repeatedly refused to support him, former Mayor of Girona and President of the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI), Carles Puigdemont, emerged as the candidate of consensus. Then, a term of office defined as ‘exceptional’ started, with the aim of launching a pro-independence roadmap and putting in place the basis for the future Catalan Republic.

Barcelona’s battle against illegal apartment rentals has recently taken a new turn.The European Holiday Home Association (EHHA) filed last Thursday a formal complaint with the European Commission against the “restrictions” on the renting of apartments for tourists in Barcelona. The city launchedlast July an action plan against illegal tourist accommodations. Residents consider them to be the main cause for the presence of tourists in quiet neighbourhoods and the disruption of neighbours’ tranquillity. Up to 30 million people visit Barcelona each year. Although tourism represents a significant revenue stream, the increasing number of reported incidents of noise, public urination and nudity in some spots is too much to handle. Barcelona’s action plan aims at detecting illegal sublets as well as denouncing platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway for offering them on their platforms. The City Council has threatened to fine the websites €600,000 each, despite Airbnb contributing €740 million to Barcelona´s revenue in 2015. 

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, will face a vote of confidence this Wednesday to decide whether the Parliament renews the confidence in the current Government or new elections are called. Although radical left pro-independence CUP has already announced that they will support Puigdemont, former liberal party ‘Convergència’ now the Catalan Democratic Party (PDC) warned that the call for a unilateral referendum cannot be a red line to renew the confidence in the President. Moreover, the party asked the CUP to show "a sense of state, loyalty and unity" to complete the process towards independence. On the contrary, the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) warned the PDC that if the vote is orientated towards the pro-independence roadmap, they will not renew their confidence in Puigdemont.