Search: null

The 37^th annual Grec Festival is to close on Wednesday with an expected increase of 1,000 tickets sold compared to last year’s edition. Festival Director, Ramon Simó, assured that the festival has been a success and that ticket targets have been achieved. With regards to the attendance by genre, theatre events were the most popular with 38,878 viewers watching 40 shows (at 44% capacity). 14,362 people watched 14 live concerts (63% capacity), 10,652 spectators watched the 8 dance shows on offer (70% capacity), while the 4 circus productions received 5,574 viewers (86% capacity). The average attendance to the festival was 52%, which considering the crisis in the performing arts sector is a significant figure according to Simó.

Barça will take on Lechia Gdansk on Tuesday evening for the third match of the 2013/14 preseason. It should have been the first, but the match was postponed due to the news about Tito Vilanova’s departure from the team. Neymar could make his debut as a Blaugrana. Now, Barça are in Poland with a new manager, Tata Martino, who just started training the team this week.

The Spanish National Police has allocated more than half of its recently graduated agents to be sent to Catalonia. Of the 418 that passed the police training this year, 231 are destined to work in Catalonia, a figure which represents 55% of the total. The Director General of the Spanish Police, Ignacio Cosidó, stated how these figures show that the force “has a strong willingness to remain in Catalonia”. He also added that the Spanish Government prioritises security within Catalonia. However, the Catalan Police, called the Mossos d’Esquadra, has the majority of police power in Catalonia, except customs control and the fight against international and organised crime. In the rest of Spain – except the Basque Country – Spanish Police does the majority of the police work.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, is expecting an answer from the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, to the letter sent on Friday which formally asked for a self-determination vote to take place in Catalonia. “I think Rajoy will answer the letter, but we will see when and how he does so”, stated Mas on Monday. The letter was sent in order to formalise in an explicit manner the willingness of the majority of the Catalan people to hold a self-determination referendum to decide on Catalonia’s collective future and its hypothetical independence from Spain. The formal request was part of the parliamentary stability agreement between the governing Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) and the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC).

Barça cruised to victory against Valerenga in the second game of the 2013/14 preseason. FC Barcelona’s seven goals were scored by Alexis, Tello, Messi, Dos Santos, Dongou (2) and Joan Román. The Catalan team’s new manager Tata Martino was watching from the stands in the Ullevaal Stadium. Barça got off to a storming start. After just thirteen minutes they had already found the Valerenga net three times. All three goals involved Leo Messi.

The Catalan bank, which is the highest financial entity within the Spanish market, obtained a net profit of €408 million between January and June. This figure is 2.45 times higher than that of last year for the same period thanks to the integration of Banca Cívica and Banc de València. The bank which is owned by La Caixa and chaired by Isidre Fainé increased its reserves to €5.38 billion, a rise of 44% on last year. In the presentation of the results, CaixaBank’s CEO, Joan Maria Nin, confirmed the Catalan banking giant will “have a look” at the conditions of the auctions of Catalunya Banc and Nova Caixa Galicia. Nin also recognised that the funding system for SMEs in Spain can be significantly “improved”.

During the first six months of 2013, foreign tourists spent 10.5% more in Catalonia than they did during the same period of 2012, according to the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism. In total, foreign tourists spent €5.73 billion in Catalonia between January and June, which represents 23.5% of the total amount spent in the whole of Spain. The average expenditure per visitor in Catalonia is €860, up 2.2% on last year. During the month of June, tourists in Catalonia spent €1.54 billion, which is up 9% from 2012.

For the first 6 months of 2013 the Catalan company Abertis has made a profit of €293, a 62% reduction on last year, according to a report issued by the company to the Spanish Stock Market Authority (CNMV). This year the company has increased its market share in Brazil and Chile and has received part of its income through the sale of its stake in Eutelsat. In spite of the reduction of net profit, the company’s EBITDA is up 23% on last year to €1.43 billion. Abertis specialises in three business areas: airports, toll roads and telecommunication infrastructures. 65% of the firms’ revenue comes from outside Spain.

The new Barça Manager has signed his two-year contract this Friday morning and has hold his press conference as the Catalan team coach. Tata Martino feels maintaining the team’s hunger to win is the key to ensuring the success continues. “At Barça, the shirt alone is enough to motivate”, said the Argentinean when asked to describe his feelings about the challenges ahead. Tata also spoke about the players he is taking over. “If Messi and Neymar can’t work together, that’s because the coach has a problem, not the players” he said.

The winner of the 25^th Premi Internacional Catalunya, Gro Harlem Brundtland has explained how receiving the award with Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai is “special as both are fighting for women’s rights”. The former Prime Minister of Norway and ex Secretary General of the World Health Organisation also stated how it would be “very strange” if Catalonia were to leave the EU in the event of a hypothetical independence from Spain. Brundtland also encourages Catalonia to invest and establish renewable energy systems as well as gender equality quotas in both politics and business.

Barcelona-based telecommunications company has bought 16.42% of Hispasat, which added to its previous shares means that Abertis now controls 57.05% of the satellite operator. The Catalan company has bought the shares from the Spanish Ministry of Defence, paying €172.5 million.  The deal included €153.5million to buy the shares, as well as €19million more to take full control of the operator. The transaction now has to be approved by the Spanish Government and the competition regulation authorities. According to a press release by Abertis, the company pledges to “develop the full potential for growth and value” of the satellite operator. In total, Abertis has invested €475million to obtain its current stake in Hispasat. In 2013, Hispasat is expected to generate €200million in revenue and it has a strategic importance for Spain and Spanish-speaking countries.

By the end of June, there were 873,000 people in Catalonia without work and looking for employment, according to the latest Active Population Survey (EPA). This represents 29,300 fewer individuals than 3 months ago, which is the highest unemployment reduction in the second quarter of the year since 2002. However, employment levels have only increased by 11,800 people, which means that this year Catalonia has experienced the lowest increase in job creation for this period of the year since 1998. The Catalan unemployment rate is now 23.85%, while the Spanish average is 26.6%. In the whole of Spain, the number of people unemployed decreased by 225,200, which means that the total number of unemployed people is now below the psychological landmark of 6 million individuals (5,977,500).

Christian Brander is a researcher at the IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute and Scientific Director of HIVACAT, the programme for the development of a HIV vaccine. He graduated from the University of Bern in 1994 with a PhD in Immunology and has spent 13 years at Harvard University focusing on cellular immunity to viral infections.

The Joan Miró Foundation, located in the Catalan capital, is to hold an exhibition in the 2013-14 season that will focus on the horizon as a concept in modern painting. Works on show will explore the development of the horizon in art from the 19^th century to the present day. Among the temporary exhibitions that take place during next season, the museum will also show a selection of prints and lithographs from Joan Miró himself that will examine the experimentalism of the internationally renowned Catalan artist between the 1930s and 1960s. The museum will also have an exhibit of American artist Roni Horn.

Barça 2013/14 started the preseason with defeat to Guardiola’s Bayern at the Allianz Arena. They couldn’t have had a more daunting task in their first game back from the break, and under the circumstances it was a fine performance from the Catalans. Lahm (min 13) and Mandzukic (min 86) scored against a side that had clearly had more time to prepare. There are plenty of conclusions to be drawn from a game packed with curiosities, including the reencounter with Pep Guardiola and Thiago and the first game in the shirt based on the colours of the Catalan flag.