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The leader of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) says the plans are “illegal and unilateral” but that he could offer a better fiscal settlement to Catalonia. The Catalan President and the Spanish presidential hopeful met on Tuesday in Barcelona in the first of what they hope could be a series of meetings to restart the dialogue between Madrid and Barcelona. The Catalan President thanked Sánchez for his willingness to talk to him, but regretted his comments about a potential “coexistence crisis” in Catalonia.

The Barcelona airport at El Prat de Llobregat registered an increase in almost all aspects in the month of February. Thanks to the Mobile World Congress (MWC), international passengers registered an increase of 22% while the number of domestic passengers rose by 16.9%. These numbers contributed to the 20.4% overall growth in total passengers for the month, along with a 13.3% growth in the number of operations. Compared to the same period in 2015, the amount of cargo and merchandise transported also grew, registering an increase of 18.3% and 18.6% respectively. The Catalan airport also saw an increase in annual terms, with 17.4% more passengers and 9.4% more operations than before.

The Catalan Vice president and Government Spokeswoman, Neus Munté, told CNA that the case against the celebration of the 9-N participatory process should already be “closed”. “It is a political trial”, she criticised after the Catalan Supreme Court decided on Monday to refer the case to the Spanish Supreme Court. The decision was prompted by the fact that one of the public figures being investigated in the trial is current member of the Spanish Congress and former Spokesman of the Catalan Government, Francesc Homs. “Following the law’s logic and democracy, no one should be prosecuted for putting the ballot boxes out there and allowing people to express their voice”, Munté said.

The leader of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and Spanish president hopeful Pedro Sánchez asked the Catalan President to meet in Barcelona to discuss his investiture. The talks will include issues such as the Catalan and the Spanish political situation, a source from the Catalan Government has revealed to CNA. The Socialist leader, who was twice defeated in Congress, wants to present to Puigdemont his government proposal, which includes an agreement with unionist Ciutadans. The Catalan President will defend during the meeting the belief that allowing a referendum in Catalonia is essential to passing the investiture vote. Ciutadans has already warned Sánchez that they will walk away if he grants a referendum to Catalonia.

The Zurich Insurance group will establish its new global data centre in Barcelona, as was divulged by the company CEO Vincente Cancio last Thursday. The opening of the global data centre, which is a two-year project, will establish 200 jobs. These positions will add to the existing 250 which the Zurich Group has already created in Barcelona. The company has over 2,000 employees and more than 130 years of presence in Spain.

Picasso, Manet, Degas, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Courbet and other outstanding names within the Impressionist and Modern Art movement are amongst the prestigious art collection assembled by American collector Duncan Phillips. Now, for the first time, some of their masterpieces will be displayed in Barcelona. ‘Conversations: Impressionist and Modern Masterworks from The Phillips Collection’, which includes around sixty referential works from the 19th century, will be shown at the CaixaForum museum until the 19th of June.

Festival Cruïlla Barcelona has unveiled more artists that will perform at the seventh edition of the celebration, which is to be held on the 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th of July. The newly confirmed artists in the festival´s line-up are Robert Plant, along with The Sensational Space Shifters, Crystal Fighters, Cat Power, Skunk Anansie and Esperanza Spalding, amongst many others. However, one of the most outstanding artists confirmed is Robert Plant, the iconic voice of Led Zeppelin. He will perform the album ‘Lullaby…and the Ceaseless Roar’ for the first time in Spain with the accompaniment of The Sensational Space Shifters. The festival has also announced its daily concert schedule, and that it is keeping its pass price at 90 euros. 

Local gastronomy and wine form the focus of Catalonia’s tourism strategy for this year. Coinciding with its selection as the European Region of Gastronomy 2016, the Catalan Tourism Agency (ACT) is promoting a wide range of routes, mainly designed to do by bike, which combine sport, nature and the main wine denomination of origin areas. ITB Berlin is the biggest tourism fair in Europe and one of the most important in this sector worldwide. “We have to be here”, stated ACT’s President, Xavier Espasa. Regarding the German market, which is the third country of origin in terms of number of tourists, this is “getting more sophisticated” and appreciates Catalonia as a diverse destination, more than just the usual attractions, which reinforces the idea that it goes further than sun, beaches and Barcelona.

The European Parliament has approved a new Port Services Regulation (PSR) which grants each port the legislative power to regulate its own rates and internal structure. This new regulation could end the “hypercentralism” of the Puertos del Estado, the government-run sector which controls the ports in Spain. As the Port of Barcelona has seen more and more traffic in the last few years, this could allow for it to truly ¨thrive”, by allowing it to lower its rates to more competitive prices, and opening it to becoming a European port for international commerce. The conservative People’s Party (PP), the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), and Unionist Ciutadans all voted against the legislation. 

The National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) reviewed what its 2016 exhibitions would consist of, although the showings unofficially begun in December of 2015. The star exhibition of the season will be ´Picasso and Romanesque Art´, a joint venture with the Picasso Museum in Paris. Besides this, other exhibition centred onLuis “el Divino” Morales, Renaissance painting, 20^th century photography and features on several Catalan artists, such as Lluïsa Vidal and Ismael Smith, will complete the MNAC’s agenda for 2016. The MNAC’s director, Pepe Serra, celebrated that the museum is finally “starting to have a normal planning rhythm for a museum of its size” which will allow the MNAC’s calendar to synchronise with “other international museums”.

The committee designed to study the constitutive process which has to put in place the basis of a future Catalan Republic has set to work. This Monday, pro-independence cross party ‘Junts Pel Sí’ MP Lluís Llach took responsibility at the head of the committee, after his predecessor, Muriel Casals, died from a head injury after suffering an accident in the beginning of February. The pro-independence parties in the Parliament considered it “indispensable” to set up a debate on the future Catalan constitution. “It will never be prohibited”, stated alternative left coalition ‘Catalunya Sí que es Pot’ MP Joan Coscubiela. The committee starts its work amid warnings from the Spanish executive, which ultimately took this committee before the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) to evaluate its legality and potential future suspension.

Dr. Jaume Pauné of the Universitat Politècninca de Catalunya has devised a new type of progressive contact lens, the first of its kind. These contact lenses actually slow the onset of myopia, or near-sightedness, by as much as 43%. Wearing the lenses, which have already been tested and are available for purchase, brings about a decrease of three to five dioptres in the user. This technology is especially recommended for children and youths, as the progression of myopia manifests itself primarily between the ages of nine and 30. However, wearing the contact lenses would be beneficial to any adults suffering from progressive myopia. These lenses are unique in that they influence one´s peripheral vision as well as their central vision, and they do not function using a bifocal system as conventional lenses do. 

International tourists spent €713 million in Catalonia this past January, which represents nearly 18% more than what they spent in the same period last year. In Spain as a whole, international tourists spent more than €3.712 billion in January, which despite representing a 3.6% increase compared to the same month last year, is much lower than the rise registered in Catalonia. In fact, according to data released by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE), Catalonia is the only region in Spain in which the average spend per person grew in the first month of the year. The average spend registered in January totalled 958 euros per person, 1.3% more than in January last year, while the daily spend per tourist was 159 euros, 16.7% more than in the previous January.

The former Catalan Minister for the Presidency and Catalan coalition ‘Democràcia i Llibertat’s current leader in the Spanish Parliament, Francesc Homs, has voluntarily testified to Catalonia’s Supreme Court (TSJC) regarding the celebration of the 9-N symbolic vote on independence in 2014. Homs, who was President Mas’ right hand man at the time the vote took place, assured that the TSJC has “political” intentions regarding this case and that it is at the Spanish government’s service. Last October, the TSJC also summonsed former Catalan President, Artur Mas, former Vice-President Joana Ortega and Catalan Minister of Education Irene Rigau for having authorised and co-organised the non-binding and symbolic vote.

Spanish Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez was rejected again this Friday by the Spanish Parliament. The Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE)’s candidate to form a new government in Spain got only 131 votes in favour, from the 350-seat Spanish Parliament. As opposed to in the first round of the investiture debate, the MP from the Canarian Coalition (CC) voted in favour of Sánchez rather than abstaining. The other parties in the Spanish Parliament, the current governing party, the conservative People’s Party (PP), alternative left Podemos and Catalan pro-independence parties ERC and ‘Democràcia i Llibertat’ voted against his investiture, totalling 219 votes. Now it will be time for Spain’s King, Philip VII, to decide the further steps to be taken.