Search: null

Following the agreement reached last week between the President of the Catalan Government and leader of the governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU, Artur Mas, and the President of the left-wing pro-independence party ERC, Oriol Junqueras, on calling early elections in September as a plebiscite on Catalonia’s independence from Spain, the Catalan Executive’s budget for 2015 is now closer to definitive approval. On Monday, the ERC MPs started to withdraw their full amendments to the different sections of the Catalan Government’s budget. Now, the ERC is asking the CiU and the Government to debate their specific amendments on precise programmes in order to have “a fairer budget” which is less regional and more that of a country in its “national transition”, they said.

Núria Espert, one of the most international and widely recognised theatre actresses in Catalonia, has taken on the role of Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’ at the age of 79. This challenging project also means her return to the Catalan theatre scene after spending the last few years working on the Spanish stage. Lluís Pascual, the Director of the Catalan theatrical adaptation, justified the decision, stating “the best candidate to play King Lear was an actress, not an actor”. This Catalan version of ‘King Lear’ will be running until February 25^th at the Teatre Lliure in Barcelona.

On 17^th of January, horses, ponies and donkeys, along with carriages, take to the streets of many cities in Catalonia to celebrate the ‘Tres Tombs’ parade (which would read as ‘Three Laps’). This tradition is in honor of Saint Anthony Abad, the patron saint of animals. Vilanovai la Geltrú, a coastal town 50km south of Barcelona, is one of the places where this festivity is lived to the fullest by local citizens. Year after year it plays host to the biggest ‘Tres Tombs’ parade in Catalonia. This year, nearly 100 carriages and over 300 horses, ponies and donkeys from all over Catalonia showed up at Vilanova on a sunny winter day and paraded through the packed streets of the city.

Two Catalan drivers made history this weekend at the end of the Dakar Rally 2015. Motorbike rider Marc Coma won his fifth Dakar, equalling the five titles of French drivers Cyril Neveu and Cyril Despres. Coma has become the second driver with the most triumphs in the category, just one victory less than Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel. Rider Laia Sanz finished ninth, the best position for a woman of all time. In addition, Catalonia had a large representation in this edition, with racers in all four categories, especially in motorbikes. Of the 25 Catalan racers that started the Rally on the 4^th of January, almost half made it to Buenos Aires last Saturday, after covering 9,000 kilometres in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. 

The Argentinean scored his second consecutive hat-trick at Deportivo’s Riazor stadium in a 4-0 win – Sidnei putting the ball in his own net for the fourth. Riazor was silenced by yet another stunning display from Leo Messi. Just like he did the last time he visited the Deportivo stadium, the Argentinean found the net three times as Barça collected three hugely important points to maintain the pressure on Spanish league leaders Real Madrid, who won at Getafe earlier in the day.

The Spanish Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, strongly criticised the calling of early elections in Catalonia, announced by the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, for 27 September as a ‘de facto’ plebiscite on independence. Sáenz de Santamaría stated that such a call shows Mas’ “failure” and his “incapacity” to run a government. She also said that the Catalan President is announcing elections 8 months in advance “to hide his ineffectiveness”. Besides this, the Spanish Deputy PM warned Catalan authorities that any measures adopted in the coming months that exceed Catalonia’s self-rule powers will be taken to the Constitutional Court. 

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, insisted on Friday that “a clear absolute majority” will be needed for the pro-independence parties in the early elections scheduled for 27 September to make the world understand that the creation of a new independent state must be negotiated. In a radio interview, Mas explained that the road map towards independence - if there is an electoral majority - is still being negotiated among the different parties and organisations, in order to run separately but with a shared road map in case of victory. This road map would include demanding the start of immediate negotiations with the Spanish Authorities to reach an agreement on Catalonia’s independence from Spain if a majority of citizens vote for this scenario on the 27^th of September. 

The European Commission has warned Spain that 6 Autonomous Communities, including Catalonia, should cancel their tax on large-sized shopping centres because it may represent indirect State aid benefiting smaller shops and therefore damaging free competition. The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, Felip Puig, announced legal actions to defend this tax, which was validated by the Constitutional Court. Catalonia’s shopping model has a great presence of small and local shops, mostly run by families with a small number of employees. In order to protect this model and make it compatible with new shopping malls and large-sized international shops, in 2000 the Catalan Parliament created a tax on shops larger than 2,500 square metres. Currently, it is set at €17 per year per square metre. The revenue collected is devoted to actions promoting local retail.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, who is also leader of the conservative and Spanish nationalist People’s Party (PP), strongly criticised the announcement of early elections made by the Catalan President, Artur Mas, the evening before. Mas announced elections in Catalonia for 27 September this year, transformed into a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence. These elections are the only way Catalans can vote on this issue, taking into account the Spanish Government’s total opposition to even talking about self-determination demands, which were backed by an absolute majority of citizens in the last Catalan elections (held in November 2012) which themselves were already a plebiscite on having a legal vote on independence. However, as opposed to the British Government, Rajoy refused to even discuss these demands, has not made any concessions, and has showed total opposition, which has even involved the criminal prosecution of the Catalan President.

Catalonia ended 2014 with an annual inflation rate of -0.7%, the lowest rate since 1978, when records for the Spain’s Autonomous Communities began, according to data published on Thursday by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). The previous month, at the end of November, the annual consumer price index registered a rate of -0.3% in Catalonia. In the whole of Spain, the annual inflation rate at the end of December 2014 was -1%. This is the lowest rate registered since December 1961, when comparable data started to be collected. At the end of November, prices were decreasing by -0.4% in annual terms in Spain as a whole. Therefore, both in Catalonia and in Spain overall, last year ended with a significant price drop, mostly due to falling fuel prices.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, has announced early elections to be held on the 27^th of September this year, which will become a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence from Spain. Before then, the Catalan Government and Parliament will continue to develop some basic state structures, such as Catalonia’s own tax administration and Social Security system. The governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU and the opposition left-wing pro-independence party ERC have now “rebuilt” their parliamentary stability pact for the current term after weeks of public disagreements and confusion over the next steps of the self-determination process. After a long meeting on Wednesday evening between Mas, the ERC’s President Oriol Junqueras and representatives from the main civil society organisations supporting independence, they have also agreed on running separately but sharing the same road map to build an independent state from the day after the elections, if a majority of Catalans vote for this option. 

The number of passengers going through Catalonia’s main airport grew by 6.7% in 2014 compared to 2013. In total, some 37,559,044 people travelled through Barcelona El Prat Airport, the first time this has broken the 37 million mark. The number of flights also increased, by 2.7%, with 283,850 involving the Catalan capital’s main airport. Furthermore, the amount of transported goods increased by 2.4%, with more than 102,000 tonnes of cargo. The type of passenger that registered the highest increase was travellers from within the European Union, which grew by 10.5% in 2014. All the markets registered positive figures except European flights from outside the EU and the Schengen Area, due to a drop in Russian tourists. The Asian market grew by 18.4% and those of the Middle East and Africa by 14.8% and 13.8% respectively.

Despite a decrease in Russian visitors, Catalonia increased the number of international tourists it hosted during 2014. Some 16.7 million foreigners travelled to Catalonia last year, which sets a new historic record. In addition, it represents a 7.2% increase on 2013 figures. International visitors spent more than €15 billion during their stay, 6.1% more than in 2013. Therefore, foreign tourism accounted for some 7.5% of Catalonia’s entire GDP during 2014. Each tourist spent an average of €900 during their stay. The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, Felip Puig, presented the figures on Wednesday and emphasised that the objective for future years is not so much to increase the number of tourists but rather to increase the revenue which they bring in. 

The Barcelona-based car manufacturer Seat, which is part of the Volkswagen group, ended 2014 with a 10% growth in sales. During last year, Seat sold 390,500 vehicles worldwide, which are produced in its factory in Martorell (Greater Barcelona). This plant increased production by 13.5%, reaching its highest level for 12 years. The factory has now achieved 5 consecutive years of growth. The company’s shining light during 2014 was the León model, sales of which increased by 50%, reaching 154,100 units sold, breaking its sales record. This type of car has become “the brand’s second pillar” after the Seat Ibiza, stated the company’s President, Jürgen Stackmann. During the last 2 years, Seat global sales have grown by 21.7%, surpassing their 2007 pre-crisis levels.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, assessed on Tuesday the Executive’s work during 2014, which he found to be “positive” overall, although he admitted there are still many people in great need and many social and economic challenges ahead. Referring to the current debate on whether to call early elections transformed into a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence from Spain, Mas promised immediate decisions to be announced on Thursday. Before taking the definitive decision and after weeks of admitted “confusion”, the Catalan President wants to hold a last round of talks with the main civil society organisations supporting independence and the left-wing pro-independence party ERC – with whom the governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU has shared a parliamentary stability agreement for the last 2 years. “I will not slack” in the self-determination process, Mas stated.