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FC Barcelona overcame a plucky Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena to claim three points that ensure they will be joining PSG in the second round of the Champions League. Leo Messi was the man of the moment, scoring a goal in each half to equal Raúl’s all-time record of 71 goals in the competition. Barça and PSG will now fight it out for top spot in Group F. It was a lively game from start to finish, but there was a dearth of real chances for either side in the first half hour. The best chances all fell to Ajax, who actually out-possessed the Catalans in the first 45 minutes, with Lucas Andersen, Schöne and Klaassen all coming close, and Jordi Alba shining above everyone else with a series of last-ditch tackles.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, announced on Wednesday that next Monday he will send a letter to the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, to assess November 9's participatory process and to offer a negotiation for organising a definitive referendum on independence. Mas made such an announcement the day after the Constitutional Court suspended November 9's vote and after the Catalan Government confirmed that the participatory process will still take place on Sunday. The Catalan President emphasised that November 9's vote "is not a referendum to declare independence" and he said that those making these declarations "are lying". Mas emphasised he has respected the suspension of the original consultation vote, launching a citizen participation process instead. "If such a process cannot be carried out in a normal way, then Spanish citizens should think about Spain's democratic quality", he concluded.

More than 200 elected members of the European, Spanish and Catalan Parliaments and municipal councils from Catalonia have presented and started to sign on Wednesday an international complaint against the Spanish Government that will be sent to the United Nations, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council of Europe and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). They are formally accusing the Spanish Government of "violating the right of the Catalan people to decide on its own political future" and "banning the exercise of democracy ". They list reasons of democratic legitimacy, stress the sustained self-determination demands and highlight the manifold Catalan attempts to negotiate and hold a legal vote. They also emphasise the Spanish Government's total blocking attitude and they announce that Catalan representatives "feel legitimate to launch all the necessary political and legal actions". Finally, they also ask those international organisations to act in order "to guarantee that Catalonia's citizenry can democratically decide on its future".

This Wednesday's clash in Amsterdam at 20.45 PM CET is sure to be atypical, as Barça players looking to forget about recent defeats with a victory. FC Barcelona's fourth match in this year's UEFA Champions League group stage is shaping up to be something special. Perhaps most importantly, it is an opportunity for the Catalan team to take home three more points and bring them ever closer to qualifying for the round of 16.

Catalonia’s registered unemployment figures for October have been released by the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security, and while they have increased it is the lowest rise in four years. The number of people registered at the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC) stood at 587,133 people in October, a rise of 1.97% since September, with an increase of 11,321 people. This October increase is the lowest in four years according to the Ministry series, which began in 1996. Compared with October last year, the number of unemployed people in Catalonia decreased by 7.37%, equivalent to 46,699 people. Since July 2013, this represents 16 consecutive months of annual decreases. In the whole of Spain, there were 4,526,804 people unemployed in October, 79,154 more than in September. Across Catalonia, unemployment increased in monthly terms in all four provinces, but decreased throughout in annual terms. The Catalan Government "confirms positive trend" in employment.

On Tuesday, Spain’s Constitutional Court accepted to take into consideration the Spanish Government’s appeal against Catalonia’s participatory process about independence, which has been organised by the Catalan Executive as an alternative to the original consultation vote that was banned by the Spanish authorities five weeks ago. The Constitutional Court has unanimously accepted the Spanish Prime Minister’s new appeal, which brings the automatic and temporary suspension of the object appealed against until a definitive decision is reached. However, the Catalan Government emphasised that the participatory process is still in place, since it is different to the original consultation vote. In addition, it will file a complaint to the Supreme Court against the Spanish Government for not respecting Catalans’ basic rights and freedoms.

On Monday the Catalan Government filed a complaint to the Constitutional Court by which it requested the rejection of the Spanish Executive's appeal against the alternative and non-binding consultation vote on independence scheduled for the 9^th of November. The Catalan Executive accuses the Spanish Government of "abuse of power and abuse of the legal process" since it is filing an appeal instead of filing a mere execution incident in order to force the Court's automatic  suspension of the alternative vote and stop citizens from expressing their opinion. According to the Catalan Minister for the Presidency, Francesc Homs, the Spanish Government cannot argue that Catalan authorities are disobeying the temporary suspension of the original consultation vote and at the same time file a new appeal on this same matter. When the Constitutional Court accepts an appeal from the Spanish Government, the object being appealed against is automatically suspended until a final decision is reached.

On Monday, the 'World Travel Market' (WTM) opened in London and Catalonia is participating with a 300 m² exhibition stand promoting a variety of its tourist destinations and highlighting its uniqueness with areas as diverse as the city of Barcelona, the Costa Brava and the Penedès wine region. The WTM is highly important in the tourism and travel industry, and represents a crucial opportunity for business networking and attractive investment. Catalonia’s participation strengthens its growing importance as a holiday destination for British tourists, who have increased by 4% and represent revenue of €1 billion in the first 10 months of 2014, the second largest after the French. Through the event, Catalan companies will mix with 5,000 other organizations from 200 countries, with an estimated 50,000 professionals from the industry participating.

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Argentinian activist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, both of whom were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, as well as UK film-maker Ken Loach, Dutch sociologist Saskia Sassen, UK historian Paul Preston, American sociologist Richard Sennett, US writer Harold Bloom, Portuguese writer António Lobo Antunes, Irish activist Bill Shipsey and US former ambassador Ambler Moss have issued the 'Let Catalans Vote' manifesto. "A majority of Catalans have repeatedly expressed in different ways the wish to exercise their democratic right to vote on their political future" the document starts. Mentioning the positive examples of Quebec and Scotland, the signers stress that "to prevent the Catalans from voting seems to contradict the principles that inspire democratic societies". Finally, they urge the Spanish and Catalan governments to agree on a vote and "to negotiate in good faith based on the result".

FC Barcelona wanted desperately to get back to winning and Lionel Messi was looking to make history at Camp Nou, but excellent goalkeeping from Celta’s Sergio Álvarez and some unlucky breaks saw the Catalans surrender their lead at the top of the Spanish League table. The Catalan team hit crossbar 4 times, lose second straight in La Liga. Celta win to stay unbeaten on the road this season. The first half ended without any scoring from either side, although several chances either just missed or were thwarted with solid goalkeeping at both ends of the pitch. The second half opened with Neymar hitting the bar yet again. Then just a couple of minutes later, Celta silenced the Camp Nou crowd.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, reacted on Friday evening to the Spanish Executive's appeal against November 9's alternative consultation vote on independence. Mas guaranteed that the vote will take place because "it cannot be stopped" as it is run by volunteers. In addition, he has accused the Spanish Government of "abuse of power and abuse of legal process", since "it is using the Constitutional Court to solve its problems" and is using "the appeal to hide its lack of political capacity". Furthermore, he emphasised that the Spanish Executive had at first been "downplaying" and "mocking about" the alternative vote, but "two weeks later" it considers it to be a great threat to democracy and it appeals against it. By doing this, the Spanish Government "has crossed the line of becoming ridiculous", he added.

The 20^th edition of the Manga Fair is taking place between Thursday 30^th October and Sunday 2^nd November at the Fira de Barcelona's Montjuic exhibition space. The Manga Fair is an annual event that celebrates the popular Japanese anime, bringing together fans from all around the world, through a series of exhibitions and activities in Barcelona. This year, the space has increased to 50,000m², and the opening times will be extended. There will be a variety of special guests attending, including the author Kengo Hanazawa, artist Takeshi Obata from Japan, and Ken Niimura, a Spanish author of Japanese descent. There will also be a number of musicians participating, such as the Japanese pop group Loverin Tamburin. The programme features various exhibitions on Japanese authors and illustrators. On the catering side, the event will feature Michelin-star chefs including Ricardo Sanz and Jordi Roca.

On Friday, the Swiss bank UBS issued a certificate stating that Xavier Trias, Mayor of Barcelona, does not and has never had any account with them, contradicting the accusations launched at him by Spanish nationalist newspaper 'El Mundo' on Monday which mentioned sources from the Spanish Home Affairs Ministry. Trias, who supports Catalan independence from Spain, strongly rejected the accusations of having €12.9 million in a secret bank account in Switzerland on the very first day they were published and he cautioned against dirty tricks from the Spanish Government. In addition, the Mayor also announced a judicial complaint against the newspaper and he said he would ask for such a certificate. On Tuesday, 'El Mundo' insisted on the accusations and it even published the UBS bank account number on its front page, while Trias filed the judicial complaint. Now, after UBS guaranteed that he has never had and does not have a bank account with them, Trias is asking for the resignation of the Spanish Home Affair Minister.

Early afternoon on Friday, the Spanish Government filed the appeal to the Constitutional Court against the alternative participatory process that the Catalan Government is organising for the 9^th of November. According to the Spanish Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, the appeal's objective is to avoid "an abuse of the legal framework" and "to protect democracy" from the "perversion" represented by the Catalan participatory process. In addition, the appeal also aims "to protect civil servants", emphasised the Deputy PM. Furthermore, she considered that the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, "is taking another step outside of the Constitution" and that he "wants to violate the rights of citizens". This time, the Constitutional Court has not rushed to accept the Spanish Government's appeal, as it did on the 29^th of September, and it is likely to do so on Tuesday 4^th of November, in its next scheduled plenary. If the Court accepts the appeal, as it is expected, the participatory process would be automatically suspended, awaiting the final decision, which can take months or years.

According to a poll by the Centre of Opinion Studies (CEO), run by the Catalan Government, 49.4% of Catalans would vote "yes" to both parts of the question "Do you want Catalonia to become a State? If yes, do you want to become an independent State?" In addition, 12.6% would vote "yes" to the first part and "no" to the second, meaning they would back a Catalan State within a federal or confederated Spain. Finally, 19.7% would vote "no", meaning they back the current 'status quo' or they want recentralisation. Therefore, 32.3% of citizens would be against independence. However, such a poll cannot be used to predict results for November 9's alternative consultation vote, stated the CEO, since the census is not the same and many people from the "no" side are expected not to vote in the alternative participatory process.