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Catalonia has a long history with immigration, welcoming foreigners from all over the world has left it with a cosmopolitan and multicultural nature. In more recent years, immigration has been well-documented by the Catalan Government and official statistics, which show various patterns. The first wave of people arriving in Catalonia, especially in the industrial capital of Barcelona, were domestic immigrants from within Spain, while later many came from South America and Northern Africa. The recent economic crisis caused a lull in these figures, but the number of foreign nationals from Asia and Europe (especially Italy and the UK) has increased over more recent years. Conscious of the need for sustainable co-living, Catalonia taken pains to accommodate its diverse population and the ACN spoke to several people about their experience moving to Barcelona.

The flatlands in the counties near the city of Lleida (‘Pla de Lleida’ in Catalan) are probably the least touristy area of Catalonia and are known for having fog during most of the winter. Now this area located in western Catalonia is trying to reverse the negative view that this meteorological phenomenon implies. Tourism entrepreneurs have created a website promoting fog, with the slogan “Think positive, think fog”, and have now organised two walking routes through the countryside, visiting different villages and heritage monuments.

The broadcast of a documentary entitled ‘Ciutat Morta’ (Dead City) has caused great controversy in Barcelona. The film narrates the events of the 4^th of February 2006, when the eviction of a building ended with a policeman being left a quadriplegic and a number of detainees. The film, which has been aired by the main channel of the Catalan Public Television Broadcaster (TV3), uncovers political, judicial and law enforcement irregularities, while at the same time presenting accusations of torture allegedly carried out by two members of the Barcelona local police. The case, which was poorly covered by the mainstream media at that time, has caused outrage in Catalonia almost 9 years after the event because of the serious nature of the accusations and the tragic consequences it had for some of the people involved in it.

In the last few months, the two parties which form the centre-right pro-Catalan State federation CiU, and which have been running together every election since 1979, have been openly arguing about Catalonia's self-determination process and the way to build or not build a state independent from Spain. The Liberal party CDC, which is the largest force within the CiU, has turned towards openly supporting independence, although sometimes not in the most enthusiastic way. However, the Christian-Democrat party UDC seems to be divided on this issue, since its leader Josep-Antoni Duran i Lleida is openly campaigning against independence. But other party leaders and many of its members do support independence. The UDC has agreed on setting an official stance on independence through an internal participation process among its members, which has been finally set for 14 June, after the Municipal Elections of 24 May but before the crucial Catalan Parliament elections of 27 September. 

The 22@ technological and business district of Barcelona, which is located between Glòries and the Fòrum areas and around the streets of Diagonal and Pere IV, grew by 136% more in 2014 than in the previous year. The area has accumulated 88% of the pre-leased offices and has also attracted 34% of operations in the Catalan capital. This huge growth could come to a stop in a year because some experts warn that there will not be enough space available if there is no new construction. The increase in this area of the city is almost three times higher than the average in Barcelona, which grew to 53.76%. The Information and Communications Technology sector leads office acquisition, with 28% of total real estate investment used to set up offices in Barcelona being accounted for by this sector.

Barça did what they had to do in the Basque Country and will go into next week’s Clásico against Real Madrid as Spanish League leaders. Eibar proved to be a highly resilient opponent, but two goals from Leo Messi were enough to secure three crucial points. Dani Alves and Jordi Alba were both suspended for Barça’s first ever fixture away to Eibar, so Luis Enrique opted to field an unfamiliar quartet of Adriano, Bartra, Piqué and Montoya at the back. Sergi Roberto stood in for the injured Busquets in midfield. As expected, the home side concentrated on keeping things tight at the back and look for danger on the counter attack and set pieces, and their tactics worked for the first half hour.

The political parties and the main civil society organisations that support Catalonia's independence from Spain have agreed that the Catalan Parliament will issue a formal declaration to start building a new state and launch a constituent process, which would be put to a citizen vote at a later stage, if they obtain a parliamentary majority in the September elections. They have been holding a series of talks over the past few weeks in order to agree on a road map that sets out the steps to follow in case pro-independence parties obtain an absolute majority in the next Catalan Parliament elections. These elections have been called early and are being presented as a 'de facto' referendum on independence by the parties supporting this option, since they are the only way to hold a legal vote on this issue after years of the Spanish Government's unilateral blocking attitude.

The support for independence is at its lowest ebb of the last two years according to the latest survey from the Catalan Government’s Survey Institute (CEO), published on Friday. 48% of Catalan citizens are against independence from Spain, while 44.1% are in favour of it. The figures confirm the trend observed in the last CEO survey released in December, when the percentage of those opposing independence (45.3%) overtook those in favour (44.5%) for the first time since 2012. During the last months there have been significant quarrels among the pro-independence parties and there was already the general feeling that the movement was losing supports. This also coincides with a greater mobilisation of the 'no' side, which has focused on spreading doubt and uncertainty about the independence project, and the appearance of new parties at Spanish level that are promising to carry out great changes in the democratic and economic systems.

On Friday, the Spanish Police Force arrested 8 people in an operation against Jihadist terrorism. Six of the arrests were carried out in Catalonia (in Figueres, Malgrat de Mar, Manlleu, Piera, l'Hospitalet de Llobregat and Terrassa), while the remaining 2 were made in the provinces of Ávila and Ciudad Real. The detainees were allegedly spreading Islamic State propaganda, which was being co-ordinated from Syria and Iraq by the terrorist organisation. In addition, they may have also been in charge of recruiting people to fight in Syria and Iraq and to commit terrorist attacks in Spain. All 8 have Spanish nationality and 5 are of Moroccan origin. The 6 people arrested in Catalonia have been moved from Barcelona to the Madrid-based 'Audiencia Nacional' Court with 3 vans and 7 cars in order to testify and to be put under judicial custody.

Núria Picas was born in Manresa, in central Catalonia, 39 years ago. She considers herself a “daughter of the Montserrat mountain”, where her parents brought her climbing as a child. Since she was little she established a strong bond with nature and is now the ‘number 1’ woman in mountain trail running. Last year she won the Ultra Trail World Tour, a competition with ten races (twelve this year), of at least 100 kilometres each. Last season, Picas ran four of these races winning three times and coming runner-up in the fourth. In 2015, however, her “main goal” goes beyond the running world. She is on cloud nine with her new challenge and will soon be literally closer than ever to the clouds: in the spring she is going to attempt to climb an 8,000-metre peak in the Himalayas.

In February, prices in Catalonia increased by 0.2% in monthly terms but decreased by 0.8% in annual terms, according to figures released on Thursday by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). The inflation rate in Catalonia has been in negative territory for the last 4 months, despite the improvement in February. The monthly increase in fuel prices has been the main factor behind February's positive figures. In Spain as a whole, prices also increased, by 0.2%, over the last month but showed a 1.1% decline in annual terms. Spain's annual inflation rate has been negative for the last 8 months. Therefore, there is a serious risk of deflation, which could represent a threat by making it more difficult to pay back debt.

On Thursday, Barcelona's City Council announced the inclusion of 228 historical and iconic commercial establishments in the new catalogue for protection of the city's urban heritage. However, 161 of the 389 shops initially identified were left out. The aim is to prevent the shops from disappearing due to the pressure of the rental market and therefore being transformed into a multinational franchise. The new catalogue, which will have 3 levels of protection, is part of a special plan for the protection and promotion of urban quality, due to be approved before the end of 2015 (because of May's municipal elections). The plan also identifies a series of areas where limited interventions will be allowed in order to preserve the quality of the urban environment. Among them are Ciutat Vella, Eixample's central area, Sagrada Família and the historical centres of Gràcia, Sant Andreu, Poblenou and Poble-sec.

TSB, which is the seventh-largest bank in the United Kingdom, confirmed on Wednesday that they have received a preliminary takeover bid of £1.7 billion (equivalent to €2.35 billion) filed by Banc Sabadell. The Catalan bank would have offered £3.40 per share (€4.80) and would be ready to buy the entire British financial entity, 50% of which is still owned by Lloyds. Sources from Sabadell have confirmed takeover talks, but they stressed that they are still preliminary in nature. After the news was released, shares of TSB increased by 26.4% while those of Banc Sabadell dropped by 7.5%, causing the Spanish Stock Exchange Authority (CNMV) to temporarily suspend trading in the Catalan bank. When Banc Sabadell returned on the stock market, its shares continued to decrease, dropping by 10.5%, but they partially recovered and ended the day with a 6.6% loss.

Catalonia exported €56.87 billion worth of industrial products last year, which represents a 3.5% increase on 2013’s figures, according to data released on Wednesday by the Catalan Statistics Institute (Idescat). The exports of high-technology products reached €5.58 billion, a 6.1% growth on figures from the previous year. These were also the type of product which experienced the greatest increase in exports during 2014, mostly thanks to sales from outside the European Union, which increased by 10.9%. Such an important boost also meant that sales outside the EU were larger than exports to other European Union Member States. The international sales of medium-high range products reached €28.27 billion, a 2.8% growth on 2013 figures.

The Tate Modern launched on Wednesday 'Albert Serra: Divine Visionaries and Holy Fools', an event series on the Catalan maverick filmmaker. The show will be on until 20 March and will include an exclusive preview of his latest project 'Singularity', which he has been shooting the last few months. This project has been commissioned for the Catalan pavilion at the 56^th International Art Exhibition of the Biennale di Venezia. The Tate Modern-hosted event represents the first major showcase in the UK of Serra's work, a powerful and unique voice in contemporary cinema, as stated in the Tate Modern's presentation at the event. The show begins with the screening of his recent film 'Story of My Death' (2013) but the most awaited event will take place on Friday, when the Catalan director will premiere 'Singularity'.