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Government Spokesman Francesc Homs has stated that Catalan President Artur Mas’ hearing in Parliament “cannot convince” the parties that accused him of misconduct “without any proof”. “If the one accusing doesn’t bring any evidence and expects to be convinced by the testimony of someone by whom he doesn’t want to be convinced...we find ourselves in an impossible situation”, Homs argued after parties such as the PP said Mas’ explanations in the Anti-Corruption Commission on Monday were not enough.

Catalan motor cycle rider Marc Márquez has received the 2014 Sportsman of the Year award by the Barcelona sports daily ‘Mundo Deportivo’. The youngest rider to win the MotoGP World Championship defended his title last year, winning his second Championship thanks to a record-breaking 13 victories. In the female category, Sportswoman of the Year went to Catalan swimmer Mireia Belmonte, who won four gold medals at the Short Pool World Championship as well as breaking the world record in two different categories. This is the third consecutive year that the Catalan swimmer has been awarded with this prize. The prizes have been given at the 67th edition of the 'Mundo Deportivo' Gala. Apart from rewarding the top sportspeople of the year, the Gala also recognizes the work of some sports organizations as well as people related to sport in the social field.

Nearly 40,000 fashion enthusiasts of all ages visited the Maritime Museum of Barcelona last week for the 15th edition of the 080 Fashion week. The 4-day fashion event drew to a satisfying end after hosting shows from prestigious brands, with the likes of Desigual and Custo taking to the crowded catwalk. Most of the fun was found in the open area, with free refreshments and make-overs for all, thanks to a tagged Instagram post as the key to receiving these treats. As well as a host of celebrities and well-known fashion bloggers in the front rows, big names in the modelling world such as Jon Kortajarena and Andres Velencoso showcased the most popular collections for Autumn/Winter 2015.

Barcelona’s office rental sector is improving after years of decline. Real estate company Inmobiliaria Colonial has set the tone by releasing 23 million new shares. Colonial is one of Europe’s leading companies in the office rental market and besides the new shares, they have also bought the main office of food multinational company Gallina Blanca. The property, positioned on L’Hopitalet del Llobregat’s Plaça Europa, one of Greater Barcelona’s business districts, has an area of almost 5,000 square metres and has been sold for €10.4 million. The shares and the purchase both belong to a new strategy to recover from the crisis and get the market back on track.

The multinational Catalan fragrance company Puig has won its perfume imitation lawsuit against Saphir, a company from Zaragoza dedicated to commercialising imitations of known fragrances. The Trademark Court from Alicante found Saphire guilty of “unfair competition” and ordered the Zaragozan company to remove its products from the market and destroy them. Puig accused Saphir of selling brands called ‘Saphir’, ‘Caravan’ and ‘IAP’ specifying that they were imitations of Carolina Herrera, Paco Rabanne and Nina Ricci, international brands run by Puig.

This year the Catalan Government wants to highlight a number of important events and personalities and its goal is to promote them internationally. One of the most important figures is Catalan writer Ramon Llull, who died 700 years ago. Ramon Llull was an important writer rom Mallorca, who is credited with writing the first major work of Catalan literature. Furthermore, he was one of the greatest thinkers and writers of the Middle-Ages in Europe and North Africa. Catalonia’s institute for culture and language promotion abroad is named after him.

A FC Barcelona delegation led by President Josep Maria Bartomeu was in the Vatican City on Thursday to sign an agreement between the Catalan club’s Foundation and the Scholas Occurrentes charity - network of schools being promoted by the pontiff – to set up joint educational actions to promote values. Barça is the first sports club in the world to make such a deal. FC Barcelona was also represented by vice-president Jordi Cardoner, the vice-presidents of the Foundation, Ramon Pont and Ramon Cierco and director Pau Vilanova.

Another positive figure has emerged to confirm the economic recovery after years of crisis. Catalonia’s GDP grew by 1.2% over the course of 2014, which are the best figures since 2007, before the financial crisis, according to early data released on Thursday by the Catalan Statistics Institute (Idescat) and the Catalan Finance Ministry. The figure is higher than the 0.9% economic growth foreseen in the Catalan Government’s budget for 2014 (approved in late 2013) but is lower than an early forecast made in March, when a 1.5% growth was predicted. Besides this growth in the Catalan economy, in Spain as a whole, the economy grew by 1.4%, according to early data released by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). Furthermore, the Catalan economy grew by 0.4% in the last quarter of 2014 compared to September figures and by 1.5% in annual terms. In the first, second, and third quarters it grew by 0.5%, 0.4%, and 0.3% respectively (in quarterly terms).

The second day of the 080 Barcelona Fashion Week gathered together young designers and big brands. Desigual closed out the day, as Mango did on Monday, by showing its exclusive menswear collection. Kristina Pimenova, the 9 year old girl named as the most beautiful child in the world, failed to appear on the catwalk due to bureaucratic problems. Sporting looks combined with wool and silk were the dominant styles of the day. Not only did politicians, actors and Spanish celebrities descend upon the event, but also bloggers and instagrammers who now have a reserved seat at the shows. 

The brand Sita Murt showed that, despite the recent death of renowned designer Sita Murt, they are still able to present a remarkable collection and will continue her work with exclusive designs for women, sold throughout the world. The collection presented women’s trends for the Fall/Winter season 2015/2016. The catwalk took place in the Catalan capital’s Maritime Museum, which is hosting the 15^th edition of the 080 Barcelona Fashion Week. Isabel Esteve Murt, head designer of the brand, stated that she is implementing Sita Murt’s way of adding details. Isabel is Sita Murt’s daughter and has taken her mother’s place by taking over control of the brand. She claimed in an interview that the collection had a British influence that could be seen in the shoes, trousers and colours.

Gas Gas, a motorcycle manufacturer from Girona Province, has ceased production after a creditors meeting at the Mercantile Court.  The company says it has to interrupt the production chain due to difficulties in restructuring a €20 million debt. Gas Gas confirms that, after seven months of failed negotiations with banks in order to restructure the debt and get additional funds, last week it seemed that progress was being made in the hope of reaching an agreement. Meanwhile, the Catalan company has filed a pre-bankruptcy request and has ceased production, but they hope to reach an agreement soon and get back to business once again.

Some roads have been blocked for a few hours and thousands of children had their schools shut down for the day. These have been the main effects of a small snowstorm that covered most of Catalonia during Wednesday morning. Catalonia has a wide diversity of landscapes, combining alpine mountains with river deltas, flat agricultural plains with rocky coasts, hills covered by forests with sandy beaches. This diversity is concentrated in an area the size of Belgium, which results in a wide diversity of climates. In the Pyrenees, snow is present for most of the winter, but this is not the case for the rest of Catalonia. In the flatlands around Lleida or in hilly areas of Girona or the northern part of Barcelona Province, it tends to snow at least once per year, but not in the rest of the country, where it only snows once every 4 or 5 years. Therefore, when snow arrives, transport problems and other issues tend to be also present.

The 080 Barcelona Fashion Week of 2015 is being held in the Catalan capital, showcasing the winter collections of new talent. Its first day ended with the blossoming summer creations by the Catalan multinational retail Mango. This year, all the vibrant catwalks are developed within Barcelona’s Maritime Museum, located within a striking Gothic building that was the former Royal Shipyard during the Middle-Ages (known as the Drassanes Reials). This week, more than thirty brands and designers, from Catalonia, Spain and throughout the world, exhibit their Fall/Winter 2015 collections until the 5^th of February.

Spain’s National Court, a Madrid-based high court in charge of investigating and ruling on transnational felonies, announced on Tuesday the indictment of FC Barcelona – as a legal person – and its President, Josep Maria Bartomeu, for alleged fiscal fraud regarding Neymar Jr’s transfer and signing for the Catalan club. The judge considers there to be enough evidence to suggest that the Catalan club and Bartomeu could have committed fiscal felony in the tax declarations for the signing of the Brazilian star. Bartomeu will have to testify with his lawyers before the Madrid-based judge on 13 February. FC Barcelona issued a press statement in which it expresses its “surprise, indignation and disagreement”. Furthermore the Catalan club announced that it shall act determinedly to defend its interests and honour.

The conservative Spanish nationalist People’s Party (PP), which runs the Spanish Government, has appealed against the Catalan Executive’s 2015 budget bill, which will delay its definitive approval and implementation by up to one month. The new budget was supposed to be approved this week by the Catalan Parliament, after months of negotiations between the governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU and the left-wing Catalan independence party ERC. The new bill will increase social spending and also increase funds for Catalonia’s own tax administration and for the launch of a Catalan Social Security agency. The Catalan Government accused the PP of “parliamentary filibusterism” and warned them that the appeal “will not stop the [self-determination] process” nor the creation of “state structures”. However, it will damage families in need, as it will delay the implementation of new social programmes.