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Gerardo Martino's side open their Spanish Cup campaign on Friday evening. Barça travel to third tier Cartagena without Piqué, Xavi and Iniesta, whilst Carles Puyol and Jordi Alba return. The latter could return after being out since September. Although Cartegena are on paper the underdogs, Barça will be aware that any slip up could cost them dear and the boss himself insisted yesterday: “it's a very important game” and coming on the back of defeats in Amsterdam and Bilbao, the team need to get back to winning ways.

The People’s Party (PP) – running the Spanish Government, the anti-Catalan nationalism party Ciutadans (C’s) and the Spanish-nationalist party UPyD – with no MPs in Catalonia – participated in a march to support the current Constitution and the unity of Spain. The demonstration was organised by the alliance ‘Som Catalunya, Somos España’ (We are Catalonia [in Catalan], we are Spain [in Spanish]), chaired by the former C’s MP José Domingo. It aimed to be a massive march, as an answer to the demonstrations in favour of Catalan independence that gathered around 1.5 million people each. It was also the second part of the demonstration organised for Spain’s National Day, almost two months ago. Back then, 30,000 people demonstrated for Spanish unity while this Friday there were 5,000 demonstrators according to Barcelona Local Police.

Italian Investindustrial has sold 49.9 % of its stake in PortAventura amusement park to KKR, a US investment fund. With this operation Investindustrial has incorporated a long-term partner in the project, while making sure to be the majority shareholder with 50.1 %. The transaction will be effective in January 2014 and is only awaiting regulatory approvals. In the long-term strategy, PortAventura is looking for other agreements to broaden the range of leisure activities and develop further at international level. A few weeks ago it was made public that Investindustrial would join the BCN World project by building and managing 3,000 hotel rooms. Besides, it has been announced that the Cirque du Soleil would give daily shows in PortAventura from the summer of 2014.

As many other cities around the globe, the Catalan capital will end the year with a vibrant street party for the first time ever. The tradition will start in 2013 and it is aiming to become a significant tourist attraction. New Year’s Eve celebrations will be “out of the ordinary”, stated the President of Barcelona’s Tourism Board, Joan Gaspart, during the presentation of the event. “Barcelona deserves, along with the numerous events it hosts each year, to hold something special for the last day of the year, just like many other cities in the world”, he added. The celebrations will be held at Maria Cristina Avenue, in front of Montjuïc’s Magic Fountain. Catalan theatre group ‘La Fura dels Baus’ will be in charge of the staging, featuring an impressive 15-meter-tall human figure.

Catalan writer Eduardo Mendoza was proclaimed winner of the European Book Prize 2013 in the novel category for An Englishman in Madrid (Riña de gatos, Madrid 1936). Mendoza rose to fame in the late 1970s and the 1980s by publishing several books on his home-town, Barcelona. However, in his latest novel, the writer has decided to explore the political tensions in Madrid at the very beginning of the Spanish Civil War (1936), through the perception of a foreigner, an Englishman. The other finalists were Luciana Castellina for Discovering the World, Vassilis Alexakis for The Greek Child (L’Enfant Grec), and Petros Markaris for Lixiprothesma dania. Furthermore, Arnaud Leparmentier has won in the essay category for Ces Français fossoyeurs de l’euro.

The Temporada Alta Theatre Festival, held each year in Girona and Salt (Northern Catalonia), welcomes back one of its most loyal international companies: Propeller, which is indeed back on stage at the Municipal Theatre of Girona. It is the 6^th time the English troop is performing in this northern Catalan city, and they have claimed to have fallen in love with it. In the past 16 years, Propeller has staged Shakespeare plays in over 22 countries, attracting thousands of people. This year, they are presenting their reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s Classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in both Girona and other cities across Spain. The company is formed only of male actors, in a similar fashion to Elizabethan era theatre troops. Their staging of the play is full of magic and surrealism, creating a variety of different atmospheres and leading to many smiles in the audience.

The Catalan Government wants energy companies not to cut off the domestic power supply to people in financial difficulties who are temporarily unable to pay their bills. The Catalan Ministry of Business and Employment aims to fight so-called ‘energy poverty’: people who are obliged to do without electricity or gas because they simply cannot afford the bills. In the current economic crisis, thousands of Catalan households (around 20%) are facing this problem, which means they cannot use the heating during winter or they have problems cooking meals. In order to achieve this objective, the Catalan Executive is looking at modifying Catalonia’s Consumption Code to include this initiative fighting ‘energy poverty’.

FC Barcelona Foundation, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympafrica Foundation signed an agreement on Wednesday to extend the ‘FutbolNet’ pilot project in 34 African countries. 100,000 African children will benefit from the project each year. The agreement extends the initiative until at least 2016, after an initial pilot experience that run from April to June 2013. It is the first time that the IOC has ever signed an alliance with a sports club’s foundation. The Olympafrica FutbolNet Cup is a series of football tournaments with values based on the methodology used by the FC Barcelona Foundation.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, said that he is “convinced” that parties will be able to agree on a “clear” question for the self-determination vote. Before the Catalan Parliament, Mas added he believes the question’s formulation will be supported by “a wide majority” of parties. He highlighted the need for a clear question, as in Scotland’s referendum, in order not to “allow different interpretations on the following day”.  Mas pledged the parties to reach a wide consensus on the exact question, date and legal way to organise the self-determination vote, because “a part of Catalonia’s strength lies here”. Parties supporting the organisation of such a vote have publicly stated they were committed to reach an agreement before the end of the year. Mas ratified this announcement last week.

Eight officers of the Catalan Police Force – called Mossos d’Esquadra – and two paramedics of the Catalan Emergency Services (SEM) have been indicted on Wednesday, following the death of a man while he was in custody. Last July, Yassir El Younoussi was arrested in El Vendrell for a threatening-authority felony. After a medical exam, El Younoussi was put into custody at the police station. According to the Catalan Police, due to his violent and agitated behaviour he was tied up with strips and forced to wear a helmet in order not to injure himself. He died a few hours later while still in custody at the police station. This case occurs a few weeks after another person died a few hours after the intervention of the Catalan Police in Barcelona’s Raval neighbourhood. In fact, this Wednesday, a tenth police officer has been indicted for the Raval case.

The ‘Butaca’ Awards have recognised the best Catalan Theatre performed during the 2012/2013 season. Lluís Pasqual, the Director of Barcelona's Lliure Theatre, has been awarded Best Director for his reinterpretation of Carlo Goldini’s The Boors comedy. The play was just as acclaimed as its Director, winning 5 of the 8 prizes it was competing for, including Best Show. Contemporary plays such as Smiley and Barcelona were also distinguished, winning 3 awards each. Albert Triola was presented the Best Actor Award for his part in Smiley while Emma Vilarassau won Best Actress for Barcelona. Famous Actress Rosa Maria Sardà received the honorary award in acknowledgment of her career.

The Spanish Executive has presented a 720-page report in which it proposes 120 measures “to eliminate duplications” and “improve the coordination” between government levels in order to “rationalise” and “increase the efficiency” of the public sector. However, the initiative proposes a true recentralisation of Spain, since almost all the measures point towards transferring powers and services back to the Spanish Government. The Catalan Executive and the non-Spanish-nationalist parties have announced a common front to stop “the pruning” of Catalonia’s self-government. Madrid’s document proposes the direct elimination of several institutions that are defined in the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, approved by citizens through a binding referendum. Furthermore, it cancels pending power devolutions, which had been planned for years but whose effective transfer has been constantly delayed.

Biocat, the organisation responsible for coordinating and promoting the life sciences sector in Catalonia, presented the 2013 Biocat report in Barcelona. Since its creation in 2006, by the Catalan Government and the Barcelona City Council, Biocat has sought to consolidate the life sciences sector by bringing together researchers, companies and other professionals in the field of biotechnology and biomedecine from Catalonia and other countries in the world. With 65 % of its biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical products sold on the international market, the Catalan ‘Bioregion’(biocluster) is amongst the leaders in the sector. The cluster is currently made of 512 companies, meaning twice as many as in 2000, 56 research centers dedicated to life sciences or related disciplines, 17 university hospitals and 11 universities offering training in biosciences. It also relies on numerous other technology poles. This year’s report stressed the significant increase in private funding for the Catalan BioRegion over the last 4 years (€ 5.7 million to € 25.6 million) while highlighting the drop in public aid.

The latest PISA survey shows that pupils in Catalonia perform above the Spanish average in all subjects except Science knowledge. The survey checks the knowledge of 15 year-old students of 34 member countries of the OECD and 31 others associated with this international organization in Reading, Science and Maths. In total, it evaluates up to 300.000 pupils, of which 25.313 are from Spain.

The Catalan President explains in a new book how his determination to let the people of Catalonia decide their future in an independence referendum has affected his personal life. In a very human account, Mas admits he has become “a hated person in some parts of Spain, particularly Madrid”. The leader of Convergència i Unió also rejects in the book the idea of a unilateral declaration of independence, saying that the process should not be “rushed” into and that politicians should trust the people of Catalonia to hold a vote. “If we really believe in the project, it will go ahead”, he says.