Search: null

Barça’s Assistant Manager, Jordi Roura says that Barça will be ambitious against PSG on Wednesday’s second leg game. Roura, who take care of Barça during Tito Vilanova’s absence, notes that only victory would guarantee a spot in the semi-finals of the Champions League. On Messi, Adriano and Pedro's fitness, Barça's assistant manager says that “we have to wait and see how they feel and we especially have to see the results from their latest medical tests”. Nevertheless, Messi trained on Tuesday with the rest of his team-mates, although he has not received the medical all-clear yet.

Dubbing is deeply rooted in Spanish and Catalan television and cinema but it is now dealing with a crisis of demand. At the same time, voices have been raised against dubbing by those defending original language versions of movies. In Catalonia, dubbing is not only a way to access films easier but also to normalise the use of Catalan language. CNA has talked to several members of the dubbing industry in order to understand what it is and to portray how it works.

The ‘Dolmen de Seró’ is a megalith funeral monument dating back to the year 2,800 BC. This megalith tomb is considered a unique piece due to its composition of sedimentary rock and its anthropomorphic motifs. These features make the ‘Dolmen de Seró’ comparable to other European prehistoric monuments. It was discovered accidentally in 2007 during construction work in the western Catalan County of Noguera, near the city of Lleida. Now, the area is being adapted to enable visits.

The Consortium for Advanced Studies of Barcelona (CASB), made up of 9 of the most important universities from the United States and 4 Catalan public universities from Barcelona, is considering implementing international masters degree programmes and summer courses together. 300 American students have already come to Catalonia to study through the CASB. According to the American universities, the Catalan language is not an obstacle but an added value to the cultural and social experience of studying in Barcelona.

Three goals from Cesc Fàbregas and a brace from Alexis gave Barça a 5-0 win over Mallorca in a game that marked the re-appearance of Eric Abidal after being one year out of the pitch due to a liver transplant. Furthermore, Tito Vilanova re-appeared at the Cam Nou bench after returning from New York where he received cancer treatment. The FC Barcelona fans warmly welcomed Vilanova and Abidal, in a true night to remember. So, with Tito back on the bench and Abidal on the pitch, Barça rounded off the perfect preparation for Wednesday night’s Champions League big game against PSG.

The 13th edition of the Festival de Cap Roig will run from the 20th of July until the 16th of August, and it is one of the main milestones of Catalonia’s cultural landscape during the summertime. The music event takes place in the Cap Roig gardens, a green promontory overlooking the sea, located in Calella de Palafrugell, at the centre of the Costa Brava. This year, the budget has been reduced by 20% and the average ticket price will be reduced by 16% due to the economic crisis. The Catalan bands Manel, Gossos, Antònia Font and Blaumut will play at the festival that will be kicked off with a concert by Elton John, making the only stop in Spain of his 'Rocket Man - Greatest Hits Live' tour. Other important artists are Katie Melua, Fito & Fitipaldis, Vicente Amigo, Melendi, Malú, Rosario and Ainhoa Arteta.

The Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES) is one of the 3 centres with the highest scientific production internationally in its field. It is directed by Eudald Carbonell, the palaeontologist who has been directing the Atapuerca site since its discovery. Atapuerca was where the oldest human specimens in Europe were found, the so-called Homo Antecessor. The IPHES started its activities in 2006 but due to its increasing relevance it needed more room. Since last June the institute has moved to a new building in the Sescelades Campus of the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) in southern Catalonia. On Friday the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, officially unveiled the facilities. The new building cost €6 million and it has 3,000 square metres to host 62 members of staff.

Barcelona’s Liceu Opera Theatre aims to attract philanthropic funds from the United States and establish cultural, social and economic links between the institution and American civil society to strengthen the image of the Liceu, one of Europe’s main opera houses. The Liceu Barcelona Opera House Foundation in New York plans to raise $100,000 in the first year. Other European opera houses and festivals such as the Paris National Opera, the Royal Opera House in London get between $200,000 and $700,000 each year. The project is launched by the Gran Teatre del Liceu and Levante Capital Partners with the participation of Baker & McKenzie.

The firm QNORM, located in the Scientific and Technologic Park of the Girona University (UdG), participates in a European project that aims to transform vegetal biomass into plastic. The project, which is called BioConSepT (bio-conversion and separation technology), has a budget of 13 million euros (MEUR), funded by the European Union. The project wants to use vegetal biomass (such as fats, oils and straw) and turn it into plastic in order to reduce the use of petrol.

The President of the Parisian centre, Alain Seban, compared Albert Serra’s work to that of Salvador Dalí, who he said was “another brilliant Catalan”. The Pompidou Centre will show Serra’s films, including his most recent one: ‘The three little pigs’ (2012), which is an experiment on Goethe, Hitler and Fassbinder and lasts 101 hours. ‘Honor de cavalleria’ (‘Knighthood honour’ in English, from 2006) and ‘El cant dels ocells’ (‘Song of the birds’, from 2008) will also be shown. The exhibition will run in the French capital from the 17th of April to the 12th of May. In addition, the Parisian museum will organise debates, such as the one on bullfighting with Serra and the painter Miquel Barceló.

The Spanish Airport Authority (AENA), which owns and manages Barcelona El Prat Airport, has issued the tender to allocate the construction and management of a golf course located between the sea beach and the airfield’s third runway for 30 years. The golf course will be 175,000 square meters and have 9 holes. It will be for the passengers’ use, mostly those who are transferring through El Prat Airport. It should be operational by summer 2014, profiting from some of the infrastructure of a previously existing golf course. The project will come with restaurants and shops, as well as rooms for relaxing or holding meetings. Furthermore, in the future a beach club might also be built. The aim is to raise Barcelona Airport’s attractiveness as an international hub connecting short- and medium-distance flights with intercontinental ones.

Artur Mas, the President of the Catalan Government and leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), is sceptical about the Spanish Executive’s desire to find a negotiated solution regarding Catalonia’s self-determination claims. Asked about the possibility of giving up the self-determination agenda in exchange for more economic resources for the Catalan Executive, Mas stated that “the Spanish Government will not exchange a better fiscal scheme for the self-determination vote”. However, he insisted that public finances are in “an emergency situation”. Therefore, he offered again for the Catalan Independence Party (ERC) and the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) to sit in the Cabinet because “the situation requires adding strength” in order “to guarantee the survival of Catalonia’s self-government”.

Leo Messi will miss the next Spanish League match after his injury in Paris, in the first leg of the Champions League’s quarters with the PSG. However, Messi’s availability after the weekend will depend on his progress and therefore he could be ready by Wednesday to face the PSG at the Camp Nou for the return leg. The last time Messi suffered a similar injury was on March 2008 against Glasgow Celtic and on that occasion he was out for five weeks.

A 94th minute goal from Matuidi gave Paris Saint-Germain a draw after Messi and Mascherano had both come off injured. Barça went ahead in the first half thanks to a goal from Messi, who failed to reappear after the break after picking up a hamstring injury, before Ibrahimovic brought the teams level with ten minutes left to play. Xavi then slotted home a penalty on 88 minutes which appeared to have given Barça a win, only for Bartra to get the slightest of ricochets on a Matuidi shot in the dying seconds and help it past Valdes.

“The United Nations respect self-determination processes” stated the Secretary General of the United Nations when he was asked about Catalonia’s and Scotland’s self-determination processes during his official visit to Andorra, a small independent country in the Pyrenees which has Catalan as its official language. Ban Ki-moon urged all the political leaders to talk and find a negotiated and peaceful solution. “All the pending issues among countries have to be solved via peaceful means and through dialogue, respecting the genuine will of the affected people”, he stated. As opposed to the United Kingdom’s Government, the Spanish Executive currently refuses to even talk about Catalonia’s self-determination claims, which are backed by November’s electoral results and recent opinion polls.