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Last April, Banc Sabadell filed a takeover offer on 100% of the shares of the UK lender TSB, partially owned by LLoyds. On Monday, the Catalan bank announced it had already exceeded the 75% minimum bid of the takeover offer, reaching 81.23% of TSB shares. However, this percentage is still likely to increase in the upcoming days, since there are 14 remaining days till the end of the takeover's acceptance period. In order to fund the transaction, the Catalan corporation will carry out a €1.61 billion capital increase (€1,607 million). Current shareholders have a preference call in this capital increase. Banc Sabadell, is one of the few banks to emerge stronger from a financial crisis that has redrawn Spain’s banking sector. Unlike many of its Spanish rivals, the bank is in good shape reporting a 50% increase in annual profits at the end of 2014 to €371.7 million. Since 2007, it has doubled in size and is now Spain’s 5^th largest bank. It achieved this mainly through an energetic programme of acquisitions in Spain and abroad. 

FC Barcelona are one win away from taking the 2014/15 La Liga title. Barça's win over Real Sociedad, combined with a Real Madrid's 2–2 draw against Valencia, puts Luis Enrique's men four points ahead of Los Blancos and one victory from the Spanish League title. A win against Atlético Madrid next week would mathematically hand Barça the league championship. FC Barcelona will have two chances to be proclaimed champions. The first will be next Sunday at 7.00pm CET when they take on Atlético at Vicente Calderón. A Barça victory — or a tie combined with a Real Madrid draw or loss — will hand the title to Barça. The second chance, if necessary, comes on Saturday 23 May at Camp Nou against Deportivo La Coruña.

The Mies van der Rohe Award is the Catalan capital-based European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, which is among the world's most prestigious awards in this field. It is named after the architect who designed the German Pavilion for the 1929 Barcelona International Exhibition. At each of its biennial editions, two works are awarded: one with the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture and the other with the Emerging Architect Special Mention. For this year, the Philharmonic Hall of Szczecin (Poland) designed by Barcelona-based architects Alberto Veiga (Spain, 1973) and Fabrizio Barozzi (Italy, 1976) has been announced as the prize winner. The work was realised in collaboration with Studio A4. The Catalan ARQUITECTURA-G has obtained the Emerging Architect Award with the work 'Luz House'. The winners were chosen from a list of 420 works from 36 European countries.

Spain's Supreme Court has once again ruled against the Catalan school model, following the individual appeals of a very small group of parents that wanted their children to be schooled in Spanish within Catalonia's public education system. Spain's Supreme Court (TS) has backed the decision of the Catalan Supreme Court (TSJC) to oblige schools in Catalonia to teach "at least 25%" of their subjects in Spanish, including "at least" one core subject. The TS considers such a share to be "reasonable and proportionate". It also admitted that by imposing such a share, the TSJC was "substituting" the role of the Catalan Government and Parliament. However, the TS justified such an invasion of powers because it considers the Catalan Government to have  disobeyed its previous rulings and not changed the school model to make sure that children can also have Spanish as a regular tuition language if parents request this. However, the TS’ decisions are far from reasonable, according to a broad majority of Catalan society, since it breaks social cohesion and a model approved by an extremely broad consensus that perfectly guarantees the knowledge of both Spanish and Catalan.

The German car manufacturer has announced massive investment in two of its factories in Spain: its plant located in Martorell (Greater Barcelona) and its factory in Navarra. In particular, Volkswagen expressed its intention to invest €4.2 billion between 2015 and 2019 in what many newspapers have called "the largest industrial investment ever made in Spain". According to estimates made by the Catalan Business and Employment Minister Felip Puig, it is likely that more than half of the total investment will be concentrated on the plant in Martorell, which builds Seat cars as well as models from other brands of the Volkswagen group such as Audi. In a meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Volkswagen Global Sales Vice President, Javier García Sanz, stated that the two plants that will receive the multibillion investment are among "the best factories of the Group".

The Catalan film director Albert Serra, best known for his film 'Story of my Death' (winner of the Locarno International Film Festival, 2013) will present his latest project 'Singularity' commissioned for the fourth Catalan participation at the major, contemporary art exhibition Venice Biennale. The exhibition represents Catalonia in this 56^th edition of the international exhibit, within the 'Collateral Events' section. The official opening of the event was held on Thursday and is part of an ongoing collaboration between the cinematographer and the curator of the project, Chus Martinez. Catalonia's participation at the Biennale is driven and coordinated by the Institut Ramon Llull (the public body promoting Catalan culture and language abroad), and this year has cost a total of 497, 000 euros.

House sales in Catalonia have recorded a double-digit growth rate in March compared to the same period last year, official data from the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE) has highlighted. The number of house sales was 4,334 units, which represents a 10.2% annual increase over March 2014 figures. So far, Catalonia has accumulated six consecutive months of positive annual rates for house sales, and all its provinces have followed this trend with the exception of Tarragona. In particular, Barcelona Province stands out with an above-the-average 15.66% annual increase. In Spain as a whole, the number of houses sold in March was 27,280 units, a 2.1% increase in annual terms and the 7^th consecutive month of positive annual rates.

The campaign for the municipal elections in Catalonia, which are to be held on 24May, officially started this Friday in extremely uncertain circumstances after years of economic crisis, budget cuts and corruption scandals. This has seriously damaged the credibility of the main traditional parties, provoking an increase in popularity of alternative groups and a great number of undecided voters. On top of this, there is the political clash regarding Catalonia's potential independence from Spain and the planned early elections for the Catalan Parliament on 27 September, which are expected to become a 'de facto' independence plebiscite. The Municipal Elections come first and they have been presented as a preliminary vote before that in September. Additionally, alternative parties will have to prove whether they are as strong as the polls suggest and are able to be part of local government. In this uncertain scenario, the battle for Barcelona stands out, where polls predict great changes.

Barcelona Bridal Week is both the most important convention of the bridal industry in Europe and an international benchmark. This year, the Catalan capital’s event opened its doors on Tuesday with its bridal dress catwalk, the Paserela Gaudí Novia Fashion Show (5-8 May). On Friday, the international and professional trade fair NoviaEspaña (8-10 May) is opening, with 231 exhibitors participating. The event is held at Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue and is attended by the most famous and trend-setting national and foreign designers in the field. According to the organisers, this 25^th edition of Barcelona Bridal Week will be the most international in its history, with the USA as guest country, bringing together US trends, buyers and retailers.

The 38^th edition of the Barcelona International Motor Show kicked off on Thursday, with a session dedicated to journalists and industry professionals. On the first press day of the event, 11 carmakers unveiled some of their new products. In particular, SEAT – the Barcelona-based car manufacturer which forms part of the Volkswagen group – unveiled the new 2015 models of the Ibiza and Alhambra ranges, two world firsts. The Ibiza's new model retains the exterior design of its predecessor but incorporates state-of-the-art technology to allow smartphone use while driving. The International Motor Show will open its doors to the general public on Saturday 9 May, with 38 international brands – 17 more than two years ago, marking a turning point after the darkest moments of the economic crisis.

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari Formula One Team Driver, together with the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, have set on Thursday the symbolic first stone of the company’s first theme park in Europe, which will be an expansion of PortAventura, the main amusement resort in Catalonia, located on the Costa Daurada and near Tarragona. Ferrari Land is expected to be ready by the end of 2016, after an initial investment of €100 million. It is likely to become PortAventura’s main attraction and is expected to make the Catalan holiday and amusement resort reach 5 million visitors per year. Once Ferrari Land is operational, it will employ about 150 people, in addition to PortAventura’s staff. The project also includes a 5-star hotel themed around the Ferrari brand, but this will be built during a second stage.

The Catalan economy has now accumulated 8 consecutive quarters of economic growth, posting a 0.9% increase in GDP between January and March, according to provisional data released on Thursday by the Catalan Finance Ministry and the Catalan Statistics Institute (Idescat). Regarding inter-annual figures, the Catalan economy had grown by 2.4% by the end of the first quarter of 2015 compared to figures from the same period in 2014. These last figures confirm a strengthening of inter-annual growth, since last December it reached 1.9%, and an overall strengthening of the Catalan economy and its recovery from the crisis of the last years. The recovery of the internal demand and the continuing good performance of the export and tourism sectors are the main engines behind the positive figures from the first quarter of 2015. In addition, the industrial sector has been growing for the last 3 years and construction has started to grow again after almost 7 years of continuous decline.

The Germans held out for 77 minutes, then two goals from Messi and one from Neymar secured a spectacular 3-0 win. It was proving to be a frustrating evening for FC Barcelona, with chance after chance going begging against Pep Guardiola’s well organised defence. But the last quarter of an hour produced a dramatic turn of events. Two fantastic goals from Messi suddenly put the Catalans in command, and a third in injury time from Neymar practically puts Barça on the flight to Berlin. There’s still the Allianz Arena to come next week, but with a 3-0 lead to defend, Barça are very much in pole position!

Spain is home to around 300,000 registered British nationals, 20,000 of whom reside in Catalonia and retain the right to vote in the forthcoming general elections in the UK on the 7^th of May, according to date from the Spanish Statistics Institute given in 2014. The election this year is especially important as polls suggest that no combination of parties will win a stable majority which could be the end of the road for a strong government. Moreover, the election is more important than usual for British nationals living in Spain as in the rest of Europe as Cameron has promised that a Conservative victory will renegotiate Britain’s relations with the EU and put the result to an in/out referendum on membership by the end of 2017. A British exit from Europe could potentially lead to British nationals abroad facing several difficulties in regards to freedom of movement across Europe. On the other hand, May 7th could also mark the point of no return for the troubled union between England and Scotland, due to a surge in support for the secessionist Scottish National Party (SNP).

The Spanish Ministry of Education has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Catalonia (TSJC) to cancel the already-sent enrolment applications for the next school year in order to include the option of choosing Spanish as the language of tuition. Five parties representing 80% of the Catalan Parliament have strongly protested against this "new attack" on a school model that guarantees that pupils master both Spanish and Catalan and has many flexibility measures for newcomers. The model is also backed by an extremely broad majority of Catalan society and only a few dozen families, out of the 1.55 million pupils in Catalonia, had requested education in Spanish. Linguistic immersion in Catalan ensures knowledge of the language by children who are not regularly exposed to it, while the model also ensures knowledge of Spanish. Therefore, equal opportunities and complete bilingualism are ensured. However, the model has been the target of Spanish nationalists for a long time.