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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.

Registered unemployment in Catalonia grew by 6,821 people by the end of January, compared to figures from December. However, it is the lowest increase since 2007 for a month in which many seasonal contracts related to Christmas sales end. Furthermore, more good news comes in the form of the 8.06% drop in annual terms posted in January and the fact that registered unemployment has been decreasing for the last 19 consecutive months in annual terms. However, registered unemployment has also been increasing in monthly terms for the last 3 consecutive months (November, December and January). In the whole of Spain, registered unemployment increased by 77,980 people compared to a month ago, also the lowest increase for this time of year since 2007.

The Catalan Government’s Deputy Minister for External Affairs, Roger Albinyana, announced the Executive’s aim to have a network of “about 50 delegations” throughout the world, representing Catalonia’s political, business and cultural interests abroad. The Catalan Government currently has 7 delegations abroad, after the new representations in Rome and Vienna start to work on Monday, when the representatives were appointed. The 5 others are located in Brussels, London, Paris, Berlin and Washington. In the coming “months and years”, the Catalan Government will continue to open new delegations. Regardless of the hypothetical independence from Spain, the Catalan Executive already has the powers to have its own External Action policy, recognised by the Catalan Statute of Autonomy from 2006, although with many limitations.

José Manuel Lara Bosch, President and partial owner of the Barcelona-based Grupo Planeta – the world’s largest publisher in Spanish language – died on Saturday in the Catalan capital aged 68, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. His funeral was held on Monday in Barcelona and it brought together top representatives from Catalonia’s and Spain’s political, business, media and cultural worlds. Grupo Planeta owns many publishing houses as well as TV channels, radio stations and newspapers. It also grants each year the biggest prize in Spanish literature. In the late 1960s, Lara Bosch started to hold top positions in the family’s publishing house Planeta, founded by his father. In the 1980s, he was behind the business’ expansion, buying many publishing houses. His brother’s early death in 1995 made him become the group’s ‘number 2’ after his father, who passed away in 2003. In the 1990s and 2000s, Bosch transformed Planeta into a multimedia giant.

Barcelona High Court judge Santiago Vidal, along with a team of other law experts, has presented a proposal for a future Catalan Constitution in the event of independence with the aim to steer debate. The draft includes 97 articles according to which Catalonia would become a parliamentary republic with no army. However, this proposal can be changed as a webpage has been created through which citizens can table amendments online. Along with this draft, two other constitution projects have been presented: ‘constitucio.cat’ created by a team of Catalan law experts living abroad, and another constitution draft presented by ‘Lawyers for independence’ from the National Assembly of Catalonia (ANC). Spain’s Judicial Power Council (CGPJ) has called for the expulsion of Santiago Vidal from the Judiciary for his pro-independence initiatives.

This week Barcelona welcomes international figures in fashion and the media for the 15^th edition of the 080 Barcelona Fashion Week, taking place from Monday the 2nd until Thursday the 5th. Over 30 designers will showcase their new Autumn/Winter creations over four days. For the first time, the show will be held in the Maritime Museum of Barcelona (a Gothic building once home to the Royal Shipyard), where both upcoming talent and Catalan favourites like Desigual and Mango are set to own the catwalk. Besides, the Sita Murt brand will present the first collection since the death of the Catalan designer in last December.

‘Rastres de Sàndal’ is named Best Film, ‘10,000 km’ obtains 5 awards and ‘El Niño’ fulfills part of its promise with 7 awards. ‘El Niño’, directed by Daniel Monzón, won the highest number of awards at last night’s Catalan Film Academy Awards, with seven, including for Best Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Music, Sound, Cinematography, Editing and Producer. The film ‘10,000 km’, directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet, surprised everyone by winning five awards including Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actor. However, Maria Ripoll’s movie ‘Rastres de Sàndal’ has been chosen as Best Film in Catalan language. This 7^th edition of the Awards ceremony was also an opportunity to voice claims and complaints concerning the lack of financial help for Catalan cinema, and more widely for Catalan culture.

In what was billed as a major test for two teams that rode into Camp Nou on a wave of impressive results, it was FC Barcelona who had more answers as they came back twice from a goal down to subdue Villarreal and extend their winning streak to eight games in all competitions, their fourth straight in La Liga. As the half hour mark arrived, Villarreal scored its first goal, but Neymar drew just before the break.In the 51st minute, Villarreal went back on top after Piqué misjudged a ball near midfield. However Barça’s reaction was almost immeditate; Rafinha got one goal and two minutes after Messi put the Catalans on top. For Barça, the win showcased their tremendous resilience, a powerful trait to have as they march toward a decisive stretch of the season.

Catalan cinema is getting ready for the 7^th edition of its annual ‘Oscars’ ceremony, the Gaudí Awards. The event, organised by the Catalan Film Academy, will take place next Sunday at the Sant Jordi Club in Barcelona and will be hosted by the Catalan actor and theatre director Àngel Llàcer. ‘El Niño’, the Catalan co-production directed by Daniel Monzón, and ‘Stella Cadente’, directed by Luis Miñarro, compete in the Best Director, Best Film and Best Script categories with 15 and 13 nominations, respectively. They are followed by the horror film ‘[REC]4: Apocalipsis’, with nine nominations, together with ‘10,000km’ and ‘Rastres de Sàndal’, with eight nominations each.  

The Catalan Parliament delivered a petition to the Constitutional Court in order to defend the Catalan law on opening hours for shops, which is more restrictive than the Spanish one. Catalonia is trying to preserve its small urban shops model, where most of the shops are run by families. The Spanish Government passed a reform in 2012 forcing Catalonia to allow longer opening hours. In 2013, the Catalan Executive promoted a new bill to invalidate the Spanish one. The new law was approved with 80% support in the Catalan Parliament in January 2014, but the Spanish Government appealed against it a few months later, and the Constitutional Court suspended the Catalan text in late 2014. 

For the first time in 7 years, in 2014 Catalan shops increased their overall sales figures compared to the previous year, growing by 1.4%. Furthermore, the figures are even more positive looking at the sales in December, which grew by 7.4% compared to the same month in 2013, according to data released on Thursday by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). The Catalan figures are better than the Spanish average, both for 2014’s overall figures and for those from December. In Spain as a whole, retail increased by 0.9% last year and by 5.4% in December. The worst year for Catalonia’s retail sector was 2011, when sales dropped by 6.2% in annual terms. Other years, they stagnated, such as in 2010. 

According to a study by the Professional Association of Economists of Catalonia (Col·legi d’Economistes), an independent Catalonia would obtain a much better grade from rating agencies than it currently gets, taking into account its diversified economy and higher GDP per capita than the European average. Specifically, it would obtain an A+ rating, 7 levels higher than the current BB ‘junk bond’, using Standard&Poor’s classification. The study highlights that without the current fiscal deficit with the rest of Spain, the rating would be “at least” that of the Basque Country and would enable the Catalan Government to access the international financial markets. Catalan taxpayers pay much more to the Spanish Government than the amount they get back in terms of services and infrastructure; a fiscal deficit equivalent to between €13bn and €17.5bn per year.