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The ‘Allure of the Seas’, which is currently the largest cruise ship in the world, will operate from 2015 onwards from the Port of Barcelona. Next year, it will offer 25 different routes from or to the Catalan capital. For each trip, the ‘Allure of the Seas’, which belongs to Royal Caribbean, welcomes 6,318 passengers on board. Due to the considerable size of the boat - 361 meters long - passengers will access and exit the facilities through two terminals of Barcelona’s Harbour. Royal Caribbean stated that the 158,000 passengers expected to travel on all 25 routes will bring €17.5 million to Barcelona’s local economy each year. It will be the first time the ‘Allure of the Seas’, which currently operates in the Caribbean, will drop anchor in a European harbour.

A total of 53 companies are present at the ‘Catalonia’ stand that the Catalan Government has set up at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), for “established companies with international sales to newly-created start-ups”. Larger Catalan companies already dispose of their own stand at the MWC, the world’s largest fair in the mobile phone industry, which was launched on Monday in Barcelona for the 9^th consecutive year. Joan Tarradellas, CEO of the public business innovation agency ACCIÓ, highlighted the heterogeneity of the companies present at the ‘Catalonia’ stand, which work on different fields, from developing applications for the biomedical sector to dealing with social networks, urban mobility or ‘smart cities’.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, did not announce any new plan to handle Catalonia’s self-determination claims during the State of the Nation Debate at the Spanish Parliament. On the contrary, Rajoy stiffened his stance on the issue and talked with a stronger tone than usual, saying that he “will not remain indifferent” to the self-determination process. The Spanish PM added he “will fight for Catalans and their progress”, as he will do for “all the Spaniards”. Rajoy repeated once again that Catalonia’s self-determination vote “cannot take place”. He said he is “always open to talk” but “always within the Constitution and the Law”, which are unquestionable red-lines. Two days ago, the European Commission had asked for a “dialogue” without red-lines “to keep Catalonia within Spain”. “Unity is a greater value” than “dialogue”, answered Rajoy. In addition, he pointed out that the Constitution can be modified following the foreseen procedures, although three months ago he completely opposed any modifications.

Within a year, Pope Francis’ Twitter account, @Pontifex, has reached 12 million followers while his tweets are 4 times more re-tweeted than the ones of U.S. President Barack Obama. Indeed, each of Pope Francis’ messages generates an average of 6,637 re-tweets, while Obama’s messages are re-tweeted 2,309 times on average. Such data was unveiled on Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which is the main international event of cell phone related technologies. After analyzing the Pope’s impact on the digital environment, the study ‘The Internet loves Pope Francis’ concludes that Pope Francis is the world leader with the greatest influence in social networks, above the Dalai Lama or Cristina Kirchner.

The Catalan Minister for the Presidency and Spokesperson for the Executive, Francesc Homs, warned that “if a political solution cannot be reached” to keep Catalonia within the EU if it becomes independent from Spain, it would be “the end of Europe as a model for democratic and peaceful integration of the different peoples that form it”. On Monday, in a debate on ‘Catalonia’s political process’ held at the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Law, Homs highlighted the fact that if EU Treaties had been interpreted “literally”, the financial bailouts for Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Greece would not have been possible. However, in this case, the EU reacted “with common sense” and for “the general interest”. Therefore, “since the EU is a project of peace and democracy, a political solution [for Catalonia] will be found, as the EU has ever done in all situations”, he stated.

The premises of Barcelona’s Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, the largest Art-Nouveau structure in Europe, were unveiled on Monday by the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, the Vice President of the European Commission, Viviane Reding, the Spanish Minister of Public Works, Ana Pastor, and the Mayor of Barcelona, ??Xavier Trias. The Hospital was designed by Architect Lluis Domenech i Montaner over a century ago and it was divided in a set of pavilions located in a park. It has treated its very last patient in June 2009, before moving to new facilities. After 5 years of renovation works, the compound has become a centre devoted to research and innovation, now hosting renowned international institutions. The building is also looking to become a major tourist attraction, with 120,000 visitors expected each year. All the politicians present at the unveiling stressed that the rehabilitation was the result of a close collaboration between governments and institutions.

The Spanish Government replies that dialogue can only take place “within the law” and respecting “the national sovereignty”, “two red-lines” that cannot be questioned. The Catalan Government said the Commission should consider Catalonia as “a very good ally to build Europe’s future”. The day before, in Barcelona, Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Justice, had asked the Spanish and Catalan authorities “to talk” with “an open attitude” and “without red-lines” in order to remain “united”. The European Commission broke its supposed neutrality in the political conflict regarding Catalonia’s future within Spain, despite it officially considers the issue to be Spain’s internal affair. The Commissioner for Justice, Citizenship and Fundamental Rights acknowledged “to understand” the Catalan claims, but she refused to say whether citizens should be allowed to hold a self-determination vote. However, she stated that if independence was declared, Catalonia would no longer be part of the EU.

Following the opening of legal proceedings for alleged tax irregularities relating to the different payments made during the signing of the player Neymar da Silva Santos Jr, the Futbol Club Barcelona Board of Directors met at the club offices. They  unanimously agreed that FC Barcelona was giving €13.55 million to the Spanish Tax Agency in a voluntary action “to cover any potential interpretation made concerning the contracts signed in the transfer process for Neymar”, although the Catalan club “remains convinced that the original tax payment was in line with [their] fiscal obligations”. Furthermore, they insist in the club’s full cooperation with the Law Courts in order to clarify this case.

The International Film Festival of Animation in Catalonia has celebrated its 18^th birthday by presenting 235 pieces under the leitmotif of 'hybrid’. The mix of real images and animation has been the main theme in the 2014 edition. The presence of special guests Czech director Ji?í Barta and British BAFTA nominated Chris Shepherd, Walt Disney’s Alice’s Wonderland, Michel Gondry’s L’écume des jours and a conference by The Amazing World of Gumball's creators have been the main components of this year’s festival, which was organised by Lleida City Council.

Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world’s biggest congress in the mobile phone industry, takes place from today until Thursday in Barcelona. The Catalan capital is hosting this event for the 9th consecutive year. More than 1,800 companies from all over the world showcase their latest products at the event and more than 77,000 visitors are anticipated at the conference centre at Fira Gran Via. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook and new owner of Whatsapp, will follow today’s earlier speech by Whatsapp founder Jan Koum with his highly anticipated keynote talk. Virginia Rometty, IBM´s CEO and recently pronounced most powerful woman in Business, will also appear as a keynote speaker on Wednesday. Leading mobile phone companies such as Samsung, Sony, Nokia, Huawei, HTC and others are expected to launch their new devices at the exhibition.

FC Barcelona are no longer the Spanish League leaders. Barça suffered their third league defeat of the season against Real Sociedad (3-1) on Saturday evening. It was a grim night for Barça, who were chasing the game for most of the 90 minutes and never looked comfortable against a Real Sociedad who were lethal on the break. The defeat leaves Barça three points behind Real Madrid, who top the table. Gerardo Martino made six changes to the team who won in Manchester on Tuesday, with Song playing as the holding midfielder and  Busquets in an inside right role, whilst Xavi and Cesc started on the bench and Montoya, Bartra, Adriano and Neymar were back in the starting line up .

Some 1,900 police officers, both from the Catalan Police Force (called Mossos d’Esquadra), and from the local polices of Barcelona and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Greater Barcelona), will ensure the safety of the 75,000 visitors expected to attend the Mobile World Congress, the main international event of the mobile-phone-related industry. This trade fair and conference takes place each year in Barcelona and the upcoming edition will run from the 24^th to the 27^th of February. With this safety reinforcement plan, plain-clothed police officers will be deployed in the pavilions of the Mobile World Congress, while the number of uniformed-police patrols will be increased to dissuade pickpockets. Furthermore, there will be more private security guards controlling the premises this year and a dedicated police station where attendees can report any loss or theft will be open all day long.

“An independent Scotland would have a right to become a Member of the EU” as “territorially [it] is part of the EU […] and the Scots are European citizens”. Such were the words of Jim Currie, the former European Commission’s Director General for Environment, before a Scottish Parliament Committee on European and External Relations on Thursday. Currie also said that the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso, had given “extremely unwise” and “inaccurate” comments last Sunday, by claiming that it would be “extremely difficult, if not impossible” for a hypothetical independent Scotland to join the EU. Meanwhile, the Chief Executive of the Brussels-based think tank European Policy Centre, Fabian Zuleeg, stated it was “very difficult” to see EU Member States vetoing the application of an independent Scotland to join the Union.

The Director General of Fira de Barcelona and Executive Vice President of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Agustí Cordón, presented on Wednesday the initiative ‘Mobile Ready’, a set of activities that will show citizens and tourists in Barcelona the potential transformations of mobile technology on their daily lives. ‘Mobile Ready’ will travel across the main architectural, commercial and entertainment points of the Catalan capital. Moreover, coinciding with the Mobile World Congress, the Fira de Barcelona facilities in Montjuïc will host the event ‘4 Years From Now’, which will bring together international investors and over 1,000 entrepreneurs in the Information and Communication Technology sector.

The prestigious publication reacted to the speculations on the inclusion of independent Catalonia and Scotland in the EU. “It is wrong to insinuate that newly independent states could never join the EU”, stated ‘The Economist’ in its latest edition. However, the British magazine also stressed that these two cases have no precedents in Europe and therefore warned that it would be “dishonest to pretend that accession would be quick or easy” for the two nations. Indeed, according to the EU officials quoted in the article, “it would take at least four to five years to negotiate and ratify” Catalonia and Scotland’s EU full-right membership. ‘The Economist’ also scolds the President of the European Commission for having compared the “peaceful referendums in western Europe” to the “violent break-up of a Balkan country”.