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For the last few weeks, the word 'Cruïlla' has been monopolising conversations with my friends. This started to happen since we decided to go to Cruïlla Festival 2015, a relatively young Barcelona music festival taking place from the 10^th to the 12^th of July at Parc del Fòrum (an enormous setup on the seafront). As we are all foreigners not yet proficient in this country's language, for us the word 'Cruïlla' became like a mantra: we kept repeating it, ignoring the fact that it had real meaning by itself. We later found out that it is a Catalan term for 'crossroads'. Indeed, this music event is conceived as a real place of encounter not just among artists coming from all over the world (45 in total this year), but especially among people coming to enjoy the music (46,000 overall). As performances vary greatly in style, very different crowds intermingle, providing the event with a pleasantly eclectic flavour and a tolerant soul.

LATAM Airlines Group will operate from El Prat Airport starting in October with a new route running between Barcelona and Sao Paulo through the TAM airline. Three weekly direct flights will be offered, in hopes of reaching 60,000 passengers a year. According to LATAM Airlines CEO, Rodrigo Contreras, the company chose Barcelona because they consider it "a strategic market in Europe," both for the growth of Catalan tourism in Brazil as well as for the Catalan capital as a tourist destination. In this sense, Contreras said Barcelona is the top Spanish destination chosen by Brazilian travellers and the fifth most popular in Europe for business trips and events. The addition of this flight is a continuation of an upward trend for El Prat, which recorded a 4.8% increase in passengers from January through June compared to the same period in 2014, including a 2.7% rise for the month of June.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, expressed doubts about the latest proposals made regarding the unitary independence electoral list Wednesday. "I'm the only one who can call an election. I will not do anything", he warned, in the event that the movement is not serious enough. In an interview with 8TV, Mas questioned the absence of politicians, the idea of having two consecutive elections and also the option of not investing in a President, as outlined in the CUP proposal for a preliminary election leaving out politicians followed immediately by a constituent election. So far, Mas has emphasised that the proposal from the CUP is an "original idea, which restores unity – something to consider, but also something far from perfect". However, he said he will analyse various proposals at a summit to be convened on Friday with all stakeholders. But CUP deputy and spokesperson David Fernández said Friday that his party would not join the summit, asking for it to be postponed.

According to 'Memòria Econòmica 2014' (an annual analysis promoted by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce), last year the Catalan economy registered its best performance since the start of the economic crisis. In particular, for the first time since 2007, positive net results in terms of employment were recorded. However, current GDP is still 6% below 2007 levels and will remain so until 2016. In addition, if growth continues at the current rate, employment will only reach 2007 levels in seven years, which means in 2021. According to the report's estimates, at the end of 2015, Catalonia will record a 3% GDP growth.

A new tourist route tour dedicated to American writer and Nobel Prize winner Ernst Hemingway will be launched on 24 July in Tortosa, a southern Catalan city located in the Ebre Delta. The opening will take place during the 20th edition of the Renaissance Festival, an annual international event picturing life during the 16th century and attracting tourists from all over the world. The launch of the new route aims at celebrating Hemingway's short stay in the Catalan city in 1938, during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). It also follows the restoration of the largest air-raid shelter in the town and the renaming of the street where it is located after the American author.

The eighth edition of Festival Cruïlla Barcelona will run Friday through Sunday at Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona. The spectacle features an eclectic lineup of 45 artists, 18 of which hail from Spain. In addition to the three nights of music, there will be performances of castellers – a Catalan tradition of building human towers – along with displays by famous graffiti artists and a selection of music documentaries. Among the main acts are Kendrick Lamar, FFS (Franz Ferdinand + Sparks), Ms. Lauryn Hill, Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley and Jamie Cullum.

Mark Demesmaeker, MEP of the Flemish nationalist party N-VA, lamented on Wednesday that the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, had breached his promise to allow MEPs to address the plenary in Catalan. During his intervention in Strasbourg, he said that it is "a shame and a democratic deficit that Catalan - the 13th most spoken language in the EU, with more than 10 million speakers - cannot be used in a house that is supposed to be open and democratic". "I urge you to think that over again and fulfil your promise", concluded Demesmaeker, who was one of the observers of the 9-N non-binding referendum on Catalan independence last year.

The Catalan self-determination process and the 27-S elections' plebiscitary character were debated on Tuesday afternoon in the Irish Parliament (Oireachtas). The session took place in Dublin's Leinster House, introduced by the Chairman of the Commission for European Affairs of the Irish Parliament, the Labour Party’s Dominic Hannigan. The Catalan Government’s Secretary for External Affairs, Roger Albinyana, and the Secretary-General of Diplocat, Albert Royo, spoke about the Catalan self-determination process to members of the Irish Congress (Dáil) and Senate (Seanad), representing the majority of the political parties. The session was also attended by the Catalan Government’s delegate to the United Kingdom and Ireland, Josep Suàrez Iborra.

The Civil Guard arrested an alleged jihadist at El Prat Airport in Barcelona Tuesday morning. The man was wanted by Belgium for alleged membership in the Islamic State, as confirmed by sources close to the investigation. International authorities sought the individual for having fought with the Islamic State in the Syrian conflict. The man had lived in Belgium before leaving to join the Islamic State, and Belgian authorities had put out an order for his search and arrest after he had allegedly committed crimes of terrorism in the Syrian conflict. He was stopping over at El Prat Airport from Algeria en route to going to another European country, according to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior.

On Tuesday, Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, Chairman of the Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (UDC) governing committee, said that the EU finds "a bit odd" the proposal of an electoral list without politicians for the 27-S elections. Speaking to the press from the European Parliament in Strasbourg, he said it is hard to "understand" how Catalonia will be governed."Although the post 27-S Executive's only goal will be Catalan independence, health care and education will need to be managed", he highlighted. UDC Secretary General, Ramon Espadaler, added that "UDC received the support of European Christian Democratic party leaders to run alone in the 27-S elections". In June, due to their differences on Catalonia's independence, UDC split from Artur Mas’ Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC), after running together in every election since 1978 and having forged a political "federation" between them.

The Catalan National Assembly (ANC) has overwhelmingly voted 'yes' to the internal consultation on its participation in the negotiations aimed at shaping a highly transversal electoral proposal for the 27-S elections. On Monday, the President of the ANC, Jordi Sànchez said that in the coming days his organisation will talk with all the stakeholders involved in trying to reach the best agreement for Catalan independence, remaining open to different options. However, if a deal is not reached by 20 July, the ANC will leave the negotiation process that – according to Sànchez – will have to be completely public. In January, Mas' original proposal was to have a single list with political parties and civil society organisations but parties such as ERC rejected the idea, arguing for the need to have both right-wing and left-wing pro-independence options. In June, Mas' second proposal was to have a unitary list led by pro-independence organisations that – according to their will – could invite politicians on board.

Partner and director of El Bulli restaurant for over 30 years, Juli Soler, died Monday morning, Ferran Adrià confirmed with ACN. He was 66. Soler suffered from a neurodegenerative disease for over two years that forced him to abandon the BulliFoundation project to focus on his recovery. Doctors diagnosed the disease in October 2012. Soler was the person who hired the chef Ferran Adrià in the early '80s before El Bulli became the best restaurant in the world. Both always worked closely together and shared the executive direction of BulliFoundation from its inception.

The month of July started with the strengthening of Catalonia's business and economic relations with China. On Wednesday, China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) - the second largest bank in the world by market capitalisation (207.9 billion U.S. dollars) - opened its first Spanish branch in the Catalan capital with an official ceremony at the Palace of Pedralbes. The same day, the Catalan Government signed an agreement with the Chinese Province of Fujian, aimed at expanding export opportunities for Catalan agricultural products and promoting the exchange of market and legal information between the two partners.

A "no" vote is favoured by 50% of the population, according to the latest barometer by the Centre for Opinion Studies (CEO), which was made public Friday. The unionist option grew 2 points compared to March, the same amount the "yes" option lost, which stands at 42.9%. "The distance between the two options is considerable", said the director of the CEO, Jordi Argelaguet. Until now, they had stayed "neck and neck" in the most recent barometers; although for months the "no" vote maintained an upward trend. When the options were expanded beyond the plebiscite, an independent state was the top choice (37.6%), ahead of becoming an autonomous region (29.3%) and a federal state (24%).

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, said Wednesday that his June proposal for civil society groups to lead a unitary electoral list "does not at all break" the pact made in January between the CDC and ERC to run separately in the 27-S elections. The leader of the centre-right CDC argued that if civil society groups accept his proposal, civil society "won´t just invite the CDC and Mr. Mas" but "whomever they want" because the list would be "transversal". After Mas made these comments, the President of the centre-left ERC said if civil society groups drafted an electoral list excluding politicians altogether, the ERC would be the "first to accept" their proposal, as long as other independence parties also decide not to run for election. "We will never be an obstacle", Junqueras remarked.