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The Argentine received a total of 49 votes, beating Luis Suárez (3) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2) to the award. The recognition is deserved after an exceptional season for the Barça number 10 in which he scored 58 goals in 57 competitive matches in 2015/16. He scored in the Vicente Calderón against Atlético to hand the blaugranes the league title and he found the net twice in the Copa del Rey final win over Athletic Club. Messi was exceptional in the Champions League final against Juventus, although he was unable to score the goal his performance deserved. Previously, in the semi-finals against Bayern Munich, his two goals were decisive in deciding the tie, one of which has been voted as the best of the Champions League season.

Roger Albinyana was invited to attend a meeting of the Commission of International Affairs of the Latin American country to discuss the independence process in Catalonia, the reasons behind it and what could happen after the 27th of September election. The Catalan Foreign Affairs Secretary appeared before the Commission, despite reported “pressure” from Spanish diplomats to cancel the event. The spokesperson for Liberal CDC in the Spanish Senate, Josep-Lluís Cleries, urged Spanish Minister José Manuel García-Margallo to clarify whether his embassy in Montevideo had tried to cancel the appearance. It’s the third time that a foreign country has convened a debate about the independence process in Catalonia, following similar events in Denmark and Ireland.

The economic crisis might be over in GDP terms, with growth in both Spain and Catalonia, but its social and labour effects still persist. That is according to the two main unions in Catalonia, UGT and CCOO, that warned on Wednesday that much still needs to be done. A report by UGT has suggested that Catalonia needs to create 400,000 new jobs to reach the levels of employment that it had before the economic crisis. The report, which analyses the situation between 2007 and 2015, regrets the fact that there are now more temporary and part-time contracts. The CCOO has said that new street mobilisations will be needed this autumn in order to ask for better working conditions for employees in the country.

The Catalan Film Archive presents this September a season celebrating the career of acclaimed Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, born 100 years ago this year. The ‘Ingrid Bergman Centenary’ will include the projection of 17 of her films, including some from her first years in the acting business in her native Sweden, the successful ‘Casablanca’ and her last movie, also Swedish, ‘Höstsonaten’. Remembered as one of the great stars of Hollywood, Bergman once said that she never “sought success in order to get fame and money”. “It’s the talent and the passion that count in success”, the leading actress from Casablanca added.

Opposition parties have accused the Catalan President of trying to use the chamber for “electoral purposes”, and the PPC has already rejected attending the debate. Artur Mas will address Parliament “probably” on the 2nd of September, just one week before the electoral campaign kicks off, according to the President of the Catalan Chamber, Nuria de Gispert. His aim is to explain why he called early elections for the 27th of September, which are considered by supporters of independence as a ‘de facto’ referendum on separation from Spain. Mas’ appearance before Parliament has the support of his Liberal CDC and the left-wing pro-independence ERC, but has been criticised by all the other opposition parties.

The proportion of investment earmarked for Catalonia in next year’s Spanish budget will be 10.7% of the total, a figure that the Catalan government spokeswoman, Neus Munté, considers totally insufficient. “It is far from the 19.8% Catalan contribution to the Spanish GDP or from the 16% that citizens living in Catalonia represent”, she said on Tuesday after the Spanish government defended the figures in the Spanish Parliament in Madrid. Munté regretted that cultural investment in Catalonia will plummet: the Spanish government will spend three times more money on three museums in Madrid than on all the museums of Catalonia. According to the Spanish Minister of the Treasury, Cristóbal Montoro, the budget is “what Spain, its economy and its citizens need”.

The Catalan capital attracts the interest of some of the most prestigious hotel chains in the world, and has more 5 star establishments than London or Paris. Up to 13% of tourist accommodation in Barcelona is provided by luxury or 5 star establishments, a percentage that is 10% in the British capital and 7.5% in the French one. The new mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, introduced in July a one-year moratorium on new tourist accommodation to regulate the influx of visitors to the city that has affected eight of the eleven new luxury projects in Barcelona. However, neither the number of beds on offer nor the ban have reduced interest from international businesspeople, whom continue to see the Catalan capital as a “very attractive” place to invest, according to experts.

Illegal street trading, known in Catalonia as ‘top manta’, is an old and complex problem in many tourist towns in Catalonia. But councils feel alone and powerless when they try to deal with it. The recent death of Senegalese citizen Mor Sylla in Salou during a police operation against illegal vending has raised the alarms about a phenomenon that has economic, social and security implications. The mayors of Barcelona, Roses, Sitges and El Vendrell, some of the towns most adversely affected by this issue, have urged the Catalan and Spanish governments to intervene because this “is not a local problem” but a national, and even international one.

The Museum of Wine Culture of Catalonia (VINSEUM) is exporting the enotourism model of its Penedès region to the Uruguayan towns of Montevideo and Canelones. The museum is coordinating a collaboration project with these Latin American cities in order to boost their wine industry. The strategy is to mirror the steps taken by cellars in Catalonia’s Penedès region, one of the oldest and most renowned wine-producing regions in the Iberian Peninsula, especially well-known for Cava, a Catalan sparkling wine. The project, which includes visits by Uruguayan producers to Catalonia, is also an opportunity for the Penedès region to boost its reputation in Latin America.

Luis Suárez’s textbook left-footed volley nine minutes into the second half was all Barça needed to open their league season with a 1–0 victory over Athletic Club on Sunday afternoon in Bilbao. The bang-bang goal came after an equally impressive cross of the same ilk from the boot of Jordi Alba.A trio of big names — two for Barça, one for Athletic — were forced to abandon the pitch with injuries in a game that had all the features of a battle of attrition. Blaugrana starters Dani Alves and Sergio Busquets left the game on either side of halftime courtesy of a pair of hard knocks from Athletic striker Aritz Aduriz, neither of which were deemed foul-worthy.

The Secretary General of the Diplocat, Albert Royo, expects the European Union and Spain to embark on discussions about Catalonia’s independence and its membership of the EU and the Eurozone if pro-independence groups win a “democratic mandate” in the next election, to be held on the 27th of September. During a conference at the Catalan Summer University in Prada, Royo warned that “it’s in no one’s interest” for Catalonia to be expelled from the EU. The diplomat emphasised that Catalonia represents 2.1% of the European GDP, “more than Finland or Greece”, so its expulsion could potentially lead to “the collapse of the euro”.

The Catalan bank Sabadell has completed the process of compulsory acquisition of all TSB Banking Group (TSB) shares, thereby taking ownership of 100% of this British entity’s share capital. The move completes the takeover started last spring, when TSB accepted the 1.7bn-pound offer made by Banc Sabadell. Through buying TSB, Banc Sabadell has expanded its international presence, with its percentage of foreign assets growing from 5% to 22%. TSB has 631 branches, 4.6 million customers and 8,600 employees in the United Kingdom.

Catalonia is experiencing a very positive tourism season. The number of foreign tourists visiting the country last month rose by 9.12% in comparison to July 2014 and totalled 2,340,299, the highest number since statistics from the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism started. Gaudí, the magical beaches of the Costa Brava and the rural settings of the Pyrenees are attracting an increasing number of international tourists, whom are boosting business. Catalonia is, once again, the most visited Autonomous Community, attracting 26.6% of the total number of tourists visiting Spain.

Catalan companies sold abroad some €31,899.9 million worth of goods and services between January and June this year, which represents a 7.16% increase on the figures from the first six months of 2014, according to information released on Tuesday by the Spanish Ministry for the Economy and Competitiveness. Catalan exports have never before reached such a high sales volume for a six-month period. Not only this, the level of international sales registered during June alone also broke all previous records for this month, coming in at €5,662.1 million. Indeed, almost month after month Catalonia's export records were broken during the first half of this year and the Catalan economy has seen exports rocket during the last 3 years. In Spain as a whole, international sales have also broken all previous records in the first half of 2015, reaching 125,122.9 million, a 4.9% growth on figures from the first 6 months of 2014. Thus, the Catalan economy generated 25.49% of Spain's total exports, while representing 19% of its GDP and 16% of its population.

By 21 August thousands of people are expected to have attended Gràcia’s local street festival, organised around its Patron Saint’s day. The programme of 'Festes de Gràcia' includes Catalan traditional human towers (called 'castells'), live music, exhibitions, activities for kids and much more. However, one of the most popular traditions in Gràcia during this festival is the street decoration. Indeed, most public spaces are included in an amateur competition where groups of neighbours embellish their own streets and squares so that many spots in the neighbourhood are thematically decorated. Although locals play a very important role in the festival, each year thousands of visitors, from the rest of Barcelona, but also from all over the world, come to the neighbourhood and take part in the celebration, which is gaining popularity worldwide.