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After years of debate, the new European Union’s Transport Priorities have finally been approved. The European Parliament has approved the Commission’s plan to build 9 major transport corridors connecting the continent from West to East, North to South and in diagonal. The Mediterranean Corridor for freight and passengers is one of these 9 priorities and will link Barcelona and Tarragona to the Gibraltar Straight and Central Europe, connecting major production centres, import/export infrastructures and tourist destinations. The final plan ignores the Spanish Government’s request to include the Centre Pyrenees Corridor as well, a project that was bypassing Catalonia and therefore Barcelona, despite being Spain’s main industrial, export and tourist centre and being geographically attached to France.

The parties supporting Catalonia’s right to self-determination regret the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC)’s decision to step down from giving active support to this political process. Last week the PSC’s leadership decided not to back any initiative in favour of a self-determination vote that has not been agreed in advance with the Spanish Government, which totally rejects the idea and even refuses to talk about it. The President of the Catalan Government and leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), Artur Mas, asked the PSC “not to get off the train”, stressing the party’s tradition of defending Catalan language, culture, identity and self-government. The Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) and the Catalan Green Socialist and Communist Coalition (ICV-EUiA) consider the PSC is now against a self-determination vote.

Barcelona has hosted the CitiSense forum on smart cities on the 17^th and the 18^th of November. Over 250 mayors and representatives from a hundred different countries have shared their knowledge and experience on smart cities, open innovation, energy savings and efficient mobility with 69 experts. Barcelona was chosen because it serves as a laboratory for both innovation and knowledge and also for its proud history among smart cities. By organising this forum, the World Bank was hopeful that other cities with a margin of “smart” growth would take advantage of the experience of more advanced cities in this area such as Barcelona. The CitiSense forum was intentionally launched simultaneously with the Smart City Expo, which takes place in Barcelona and aims at promoting internationally methods and projects in this field.

The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) held this weekend an extraordinary meeting and approved the leadership’s proposal to oppose any initiative backing Catalonia’s self-determination that has not been agreed in advance with the Spanish Government. The PSC leadership wanted to lay the critics to rest but the crisis is far from being resolved. Critical PSC MPs do not rule out supporting a Catalan Parliament’s motion backing self-determination despite the leadership’s stance. The PSC is facing important internal tensions due to Catalonia’s self-determination issue, including tensions with the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) – to which they are federated. After several months of doubts, the PSC leadership decided to prioritise its relationship with the PSOE and distance itself from Catalonia’s right to self-determination, despite its electoral promises.

Researchers from Barcelona’s Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CMRB), the Catalan capital’s Hospital Clínic and the Salk Institute of California have successfully created three-dimensional renal structures which are virtually indistinguishable from embryonic kidneys. They have started creating kidney cells from human stem cells, and ultimately proven that these newly created cells could aggregate in vitro to form a “micro-kidney”. The team led by Juan Carlos Izpisúa, from the CMRB, said that this scientific breakthrough would facilitate the study of kidney diseases and enable scientists to work on new treatments. He added that this achievement was a great step towards developing therapies based on the use of stem cells.

Emin Capital will buy Barcelona’s Torre Agbar, designed by Jean Nouvel, for €150 million. North-American Hyatt will invest a further €35 million to transform the 145-metre-tall building into one of its grand luxe hotels. Grand Hyatt hotels – the US company’s luxury brand – tend to occupy iconic buildings in the world’s main business cities. The Agbar Tower has become one of the most emblematic buildings of the Catalan capital, with its blue and red lightening and bullet shape imitating a flame. Nouvel’s tower was unveiled in 2005 to host the main headquarters of the water distribution multinational Agbar. The Catalan multinational, which owns the 50,000-square-metre tower, will now look for another building in Barcelona to place the 700 people working in its central offices.

Georg Friedrich Händel’s opera ‘Agrippina’ is opening this Friday the season of Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu. In addition, it is the first time ‘Agripina’ will be performed at the Catalan opera house, 300 years after it premiered at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice. This contemporary staging of Händel’s first great opera, with stage direction by David McVicar, is led by Baroque specialist Conductor Harry Bicket.  Mezzo soprano Susan Connolly, soprano Danielle de Niese, and countertenor David Daniels are the lead singers. ‘Agrippina’ will be performed in the Catalan capital until the 29^th November.

The extensive Catalan Police operation against drug trafficking in Barcelona’s Zona Franca quarter and in Sant Adrià de Besós’ (North of Barcelona) ‘La Mina’ neighbourhood resulted in 33 arrests and 29 homes searched. With 300 police officers deployed from 7 different police areas, this operation was the largest-ever made by the Catalan Government’s police corps in terms of officers deployed. Catalan Minister for Home Affairs, Ramon Espadaler, stated that further arrests could still be announced in the following days. The investigation leading to this operation had begun in December 2012.

Catalonia’s music is one of the highlights of this year’s Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival with a specific programme called ‘Catalan Series’. Barcelona’s Hèctor Parra, who achieved international recognition with pieces performed by KNM Berlin, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, or the National Orchestra of Ile-de-France, is the resident composer. The festival will feature several of Parra’s pieces, notably the world premiere of his latest work, FREC, performed by the composer himself alongside famous Catalan pianist Agustí Fernández. The well-known BCN216 Ensemble will also give a concert within the ‘Catalan Series’ in this year’s festival, which opens this Friday and will run until the 24^th of November.

On Thursday the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) – which is federated to the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) –announced an extraordinary council for next Sunday to discuss Catalonia’s self-determination. Several MPs have protested against the party leadership’s decision not to support a Catalan Parliament petition to organise a legal self-determination vote. They have threatened to break ranks and vote for the petition, as the PSC backed the right to self-determination in last year’s elections. The PSC’s leadership and the PSOE agreed to focus on opposing any initiative in favour of Catalonia’s self-determination that has not been agreed in advance with Madrid. In line with this, the PSC leadership announced that it would oppose the petition asking the Spanish authorities to transfer to Catalonia the powers to call a referendum, following Article 150.2 of the Constitution.

The Catalan Executive says it has the Spanish Government’s commitment to send the €1.76 billion that the Spanish Finance Minister, Cristóbal Montoro, announced in late October would not be transferred. This money corresponds to the loan to fund the Catalan Government’s deficit target increase from 0.7% to 1.58% in 2013 approved in July by the Spanish Executive. However, in late October – 10 weeks before the end of the year, Montoro said that this amount would be deducted from the fund to pay the Catalan Government’s service providers. This meant that Catalonia was missing €1.76 billion to fund public services and departments for the last part of the year. Negotiations during the last 4 weeks have modified Montoro’s October decision.

Writer Luís Goytisolo, who was born in Barcelona in 1935, was awarded on Thursday the 2013 National Prize for Spanish Literature. The € 40,000 prize is awarded each year by the Spanish Ministry of Culture to distinguish the entire literary work of one Spanish author. Luís Goytisolo, the youngest son in a family of writers, was one of the core members of the ‘Generación del 50’ (The 1950 Generation) in Barcelona. This post Spanish Civil War generation of writers, who are considered to be the ‘War’s Children’, have reflected on literature as the ultimate human art form and they have redefined its aesthetics. The Prize’s jury praised this Catalan writer, who writes in Spanish, for his “narrative work and his constant commitment towards expanding literature territory”.

The Argentinean Judiciary is investigating crimes perpetrated under Franco’s dictatorship in Spain, notably the execution of Catalan President Lluís Companys in 1940. Companys was the only incumbent president to have been executed during World War II. A few weeks ago, his political party (ERC) filed a complaint in Argentina in order for his speedy military trial to be declared null and void, as the Spanish institutions have refused to do so on numerous occasions. Spain’s Amnesty Law of 1977, which is still in force to this day, has always prevented Franco crimes from being investigated and from going to trial. In 2010, Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón, who became internationally famous for investigating Argentinean and Chilean dictatorships, was disbarred from office after trying to open a case against Franco crimes. Therefore, the plaintiffs have appealed to universal Justice, seeking restitution in other jurisdictions.

The 2013 winner of the prestigious Hasselblad Foundation Photography Award – which is like the Nobel Prize in this field – has been exploring the “aesthetics of censorship” in texts dating from the 16^th to the 19^th century. The “violent interventions” of censors are revealed in ‘Deletrix’, a series of photographs taken by Catalan Joan Fontcuberta and exhibited at the Santa Mònica Arts Centre of Barcelona. In addition, Fontcuberta also releases a book displaying the artist’s 6 years of delving into archives and libraries. Fonctuberta did not wish to solely condemn censorship and defend freedom of expression.  He also observed that the “violent” and “visceral energy” expressed in these human interventions influenced some contemporary works of art. And therefore, the photographer sought to explore the relationship between art and censorship.

Vueling will launch 14 new routes from Barcelona El Prat Airport in the summer of 2014, reaching a total of 117 destinations from Catalonia’s main airport. Starting next summer, the Barcelona-based airline will favour German and Russian destinations. The company has also bought 7 new aircrafts, to make the total number of Vueling planes based in Barcelona El Prat reach 50. The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, Felip Puig, said these new routes coincided with the Catalan Government’s tourism strategy. Vueling currently holds 34% of the market share of the El Prat Airport and the company wishes to control 50% of this infrastructure’s air traffic within the next 5 years. With a total of 240 routes and 14 million passengers a year, Vueling is expected to become the leading airline in Europe for short- and medium-distance flights.