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Paul Allen, who founded Microsoft together with Bill Gates, has invested $40 million in the Barcelona-based Scytl, which is present in 35 countries and is one of the most innovative e-voting companies at world level. Allen will join Scytl's shareholders through his investment fund Vulcan Capital. Vulcan Capital's Manager Abhishek Agrawal will join the Catalan company's Board. Agrawal praised Scytl's "key role" in upgrading electoral processes in cooperation with governments throughout the world. In fact, in the last 10 years the Catalan company has carried out e-voting commissions in the US, Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, France, Norway, Switzerland, Bosnia, India, Iceland and Australia. Since 2006 the company led by Pere Vallès has made profits and grown by 70% each year.

"Days like today are when the world sees what FC Barcelona is and means," says FC Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu. A total of 27,161 (72.36%) Club members backed the New Espai Barça proposal, which means that the project will move forward. The results of the vote were given by President Bartomeu in a press conference that started shortly after 9:00 PM CET. Bartomeu stated: "The support for the New Espai Barça proposal has been extraordinary". FC Barcelona members flocked to the Camp Nou this Saturday to vote on the proposed project. In addition to voting, members enjoyed an array of activities such as games for children, workshops, face painting and musical performances.

FC Barcelona maintained their title challenge this Saturday in a rollercoaster win against a spirited Betis side fighting to avoid the drop.  The visitors provided plenty of nervous moments for the Camp Nou fans and were even on top times, but two goals from Leo Messi plus a Jordi Figueras own goal were enough to keep pace with  Atlético Madrid at the top of La Liga.  The players can now turn their attentions to the Champions League.

Víctor Grífols, the President and part owner of the Catalan pharmaceutical company Grífols – which is one of the world leaders for blood-derivate products – has advised the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas to "go ahead" and "do not flinch", indirectly referring to Catalonia's self-determination process. At a public event to unveil the enlargement of the multinational's campus in Parets del Vallès (Greater Barcelona), Víctor Grífols stated: "When an organization – whatever its nature – has a clear goal to reach, a clear idea of which is the direction to follow in the future, it does not have to fear criticism questioning its strategy or raison d’être". The pharmaceutical firm has built a new plasma fractioning plant, which cost €20 million and will hire 70 new workers.

Spain's Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, did not want to disclose whether he will participate in the Spanish Parliament's debate on transferring referendum powers to the Catalan Government using Article 150.2 of the Constitution. The debate is scheduled for the 8^th of April following a formal petition of the Catalan Parliament, approved with 87 "yes" votes, 43 negative ballots and 3 abstentions. However, Rajoy insisted that the People's Party – which runs the Spanish Government and holds an absolute majority in the Parliament – will defend "common sense". "It is not important who will talk", "but the message and our stance is very clear: [Catalonia's self-determination] aims to deny all Spaniards such a fundamental right as deciding how they want their country to be like", he said. Then he added that "Spain is the oldest nation in Europe" and that "the Catalan people and the rest of Spaniards have mixed themselves and share the same blood".

The FC Barcelona youth academy, called La Masia, is known and respected worldwide for its success with home-grown players such as Pep Guardiola, Leo Messi, Carles Puyol and Andrés Iniesta. The Technical Director of the youth system, former Barça midfielder Guillermo Amor, was also one of the young talents at the academy. A member of Johan Cruyff's Dream Team in the 1990s, Amor knows the place better than anyone. CNA offers an exclusive interview with the Barça legend who told us more about the day-to-day life of the Blaugrana stars of tomorrow…

FC Barcelona has issued an official response to the sanction imposed by the FIFA Disciplinary Commission on the Royal Federation of Spanish Football and the Catalan club for infractions related to the transfer and registration of players under the age of 18. Barça will be presenting an appeal to the FIFA and should it be necessary, it will take the resulting resolution to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The FIFA has banned the Catalan club from signing new players during an entire year. This unusual sanction would leave FC Barcelona without being able to hire a much needed new keeper and centre-back. The Catalan club defends his youth training system, which has given players such as Leo Messi, awarded on many occasions by the FIFA.

At the end of March 2014 there were 39,583 fewer jobseekers in Catalonia than twelve month earlier, which represents a 5.96% drop. It is the sharpest drop since June 2000. In addition, registered unemployment in Catalonia has been decreasing in annual terms for the last 9 consecutive months. On top of this, it is the third consecutive unemployment decline registered in a month of March. After this drop, the total number of people registered as unemployed at the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC) was 624,467 people. In monthly terms, there were 5,119 fewer jobseekers at the end of March than in February. The fall in monthly terms is the sharpest registered in this month of the year since March 2005, before the economic crisis.

The $6-billion BCN World has added another top international investor to those developing Europe's premier holiday resort, to be located next to the PortAventura theme park in Catalonia's Costa Daurada. Chinese casino company Melco, Spanish hotel network Melià and UK shopping centre developer Value Retail will build the first resort of the total 6. PortAventura, which will host Ferrari's theme park in Europe, will also build 3,000 additional hotel rooms. However, the company promoting BCN World, Veremonte, was waiting for the legal framework to be adapted in order to close deals with further investors. Last weekend, the Catalan Government and the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) signed an agreement to adapt the rules and this Wednesday, Veremonte announced the Hard Rock deal.  

There were no surprises at the Camp Nou this Tuesday evening - no surprises in the line ups, in the tactics both teams chose, the way Barça had to work hard to breakdown the visitors’ rock solid and tough tackling defence and in the end, after three draws already this season, no surprise in the result. Diego conjured up a wonder strike from nowhere to give Atletico de Madrid the lead on 55 minutes, but Barça dug deep and Neymar’s equaliser leaves it all to play for at the Calderon next week.

More than 300 innovations from the agri-food industry are presented between the 31^st of March and the 3^rd of April in Alimentaria, one of the main trade fairs for this sector in Europe. The 20^th edition of this event, which takes place in the Catalan capital every two years, focuses on innovation and internationalisation. In fact, 40,000 visitors, 30% of the total 140,000 visitors, are foreigners. In addition, as explained by the Director General of Alimentaria, Antoni Valls, this year the organisers have managed to assemble 600 of the world's main international buyers, which is double the number at the previous fair in 2012. These top buyers have already arrived for 8,000 pre-scheduled business meetings with the 3,800 exhibiting companies at the fair, which occupies 94,500 square metres of Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue.

The legal services of the Catalan Government have issued a report analysing last week's Constitutional Court judgement on the Catalan Parliament's Declaration of Sovereignty. The Constitutional Court rejected the idea that Catalonia was a "sovereign political and legal entity", but at the same time it recognised that "Catalan citizens' right to decide" fits into the Constitution. The Court rejected "the right to self-determination" but it recognised self-determination as a legitimate and therefore constitutional "political aspiration". On top of this, the Court urged the political powers to talk and find agreements, and it pointed out that all the parts of the current Constitution can be reformed. As far as the Catalan Government is concerned, the Court is backing a vote to find out the opinion of Catalan citizens as long as it is only a consultation and not a binding self-determination referendum.

Barça and Atlético Madrid, , the two teams on the summit of Spanish football, face off in an exciting Champions League quarter-final tie this Tuesday evening at the Camp Nou (8:45 pm CET) for a spot in the competition's semi-finals. If FC Barcelona wins the challenge, it will have participated in seven consecutive sem-finals. The teams come into the match on form and under the leadership of two key players: Leo Messi and Diego Costa. This season they’ve scored 36 and 33 goals, respectively. Valdés is Barça most important absence, while Raúl García, who is suspended, is Atlético's.

Catalan Government announced its provisional budget deficit for 2013, equivalent to 1.97% of Catalonia’s GDP. The figure is above the 1.58% deficit target imposed by the Spanish Government, although it represents a reduction of €526 million on the 2012 results. In fact, the Spanish Government has praised Catalonia’s “significant” deficit reduction. The Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell, was “satisfied” with the deficit obtained in 2013, since he considers the fiscal consolidation effort imposed on the Autonomous Communities, which exclusively manage around 35% of Spain’s total public spending, “out of proportion”. “It is about time that the Central administration [Spanish Government] gets slimmer”, said Mas-Colell. The Spanish Government, responsible for 50% of Spain’s total public spending, posted a 4.33% deficit, instead of the 3.8% it had granted itself.

The Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) – which runs the Catalan Government – and the opposition Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) - which does not support the self-determination vote – have reached an agreement on the new legal framework to develop the macro-resort BCN World. This project, promoted by Veremonte and located in Salou (Costa Daurada), has already announced some of its international partners, but in order to attract the rest of the investors needed and start construction, the legal framework on gambling and the area’s town planning had to be upgraded. After months of talks, the CiU has finally closed a deal with the PSC, instead of doing it with the Left Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC), with whom it is promoting the self-determination agenda. The $6-billion BCN World will create some 17,000 jobs and will have mega-casinos, hotels, luxury shops, conference centres and beach clubs, among other things.