Barça beat Rayo Vallecano in a great game at the Camp Nou on Sunday evening, in which the Messi-Villa combination was the highlight for the hosts. FC Barcelona made a number of changes form the game against AC Milan and Rayo showed they were prepared to go toe to toe with Jordi Roura’s side. The Catalans finished 13 points in front again at the top of the Spanish League’s table.
Martin Schulz, the President of the European Parliament, while in Barcelona, has asked for a greater involvement by the European Union and its members in the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), which has its headquarters in the Catalan Capital. This institution was supposed to be essential in the EU’s foreign relations, building a Euro-Mediterranean cooperation space. However, the reality is that since it was founded in 2008 almost no projects have been developed and very few funds have been allocated. The Israel-Palestine conflict and the institutional instability of the Arab Spring are one cause of the paralysis of the UfM, but the lack of engagement of the European Union is also a contributing factor.
Catalonia’s Supreme Court (TSJC) has announced the indictment of Daniel Fernández, a Member of the Catalan Parliament and Organisation Secretary in the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC). Fernández has resigned from his party and Parliamentary positions, but he will continue to be an MP while waiting to find out whether he will go on trial in the end. The High Court believed there to be signs that Fernández could have committed a felony of influence peddling by participating in the irregular hiring process of a manager in one of Greater Barcelona’s municipalities. The anti-corruption prosecutor and the judges investigating the so-called ‘Mercuri’ case, dealing with municipal corruption in Greater Barcelona mostly affecting members of the PSC, asked for Fernández’s indictment to the TSJC since he is an MP.
Barça have been drawn to play PSG in the last eight of the Champions League. The first leg will be played in Paris’s Parc des Princes on the 2nd of April and the return game will be in Barcelona’s Camp Nou on the 10th of April. The Parisian outfit has made it into the quarter finals for the first time in 19 years after spending 240 million euros in two seasons. The other matches are Real Madrid vs Galatasaray, Bayern Munich vs Juventus and Málaga vs Borussia Dortmund.
UNESCO has declared the Montsec mountain range, located in Western Catalonia, to be one of the world’s six Starlight Tourist Destinations for the excellent qualities of its night sky for astronomic observation. Only six spots in the world hold this distinction; three of them in Spain. The Starlight Foundation has plans for this distinction to be held by up to 15 spots at the most. The Montsec, located between the towns of Balaguer and Tremp, holds one of Southern Europe’s most important astronomic observatories: the Centre d'Observació de l'Univers, cooperating with the NASA. On the 21st of March, the diploma will be presented as well as some recommendations to keep the luminescent qualities and promote the area for astronomic tourism.
Investindustrial, PortAventura’s only shareholder since last November, will invest €75 million in enlarging the park’s facilities within the next five years. The amusement park, located in the Costa Daurada in Southern Catalonia, near Salou and Tarragona, has already been enlarged over the last few years adding the water park Caribe Aquatic next to the beach and several adjacent hotel resorts. Furthermore, the Italian group will change the park’s brand to: ‘PortAventura: European Destination Resort’. Investindustrial aim to reach 5 million visitors per year, half of which will come from abroad. As a start, the Italian group is investing €10 million in new projects for this new season, which will kick off on the 22nd of March.
The Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell has announced that the Catalan Government had a public debt of €50,948 million on the 31st of December, 2012. Catalonia’s debt has increased by €16 billion in only 2 years due to the financial crisis. Furthermore, in 2013, the Catalan Government will have to pay €2.2 billion in interest on the debts – equivalent to 8% of its budget and 1% of Catalonia’s annual GDP. Catalonia has been a net contributor to the European Union for decades and has been paying around 8.5% of its annual GDP – equivalent to €17 billion – every year for services and infrastructure in the rest of Spain. Despite this fact, the Catalan Government does not receive enough money from the Spanish Executive, which raises most of the taxes and distributes revenue among Autonomous Communities.
The Popular Legislative Initiative promoted by the Platform is pending debate in the Spanish Parliament. The Mortgage Platform was founded in Barcelona in 2009. Over recent years, it has worked intensively to prevent and ultimately stop people from being evicted from their own homes. Subprime mortgages, very common during the first decade of this century, were one of the main consequences of the property bubble in Spain and have resulted in more than 400,000 foreclosures in the whole of Spain since 2007. This situation is aggravated due to the economic crisis, which increases social inequality and has placed evictions among the first concerns on the political agenda.
The Catalan Parliament has approved the same declaration that the Spanish Parliament rejected 2 weeks ago with 104 votes out of the 135 MPs. The text urges the Spanish and Catalan governments to talk and agree on the organisation of a legal self-determination vote in Catalonia. The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) presented the proposal, which also received the votes from the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) – which runs the Catalan Executive, the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) and the Catalan Green Socialist and Communist Coalition (ICV-EUiA). The radical left-wing and independence party (CUP) abstained. The People’s Party (PP), which runs the Spanish Government, and the anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans (C’s) opposed the vote.
Complaints regarding prostitution in Barcelona have decreased in 2012 but the penalties for drinking on the street and street vending have increased. The Local Police filed 1,091 complaints for offering, asking for or having sexual relations on the street in Barcelona, a 39% decrease compared to 2011 figures. Furthermore, there was a 7.7% decrease in noise-related incidents; 16.6% in public spaces. The number of fines issued for drinking on the street increased by 2.26%.
Two first half goals from Leo Messi (2) and two more from David Villa and Jordi Alba cancelled out AC Milan’s two-goal head start. Things looked bleak after the 2-0 reverse at the San Siro, but AC Milan were simply no match for the Catalans on Tuesday. Barça thus gain spectacular revenge for the 4-0 defeat in the Athens final of 1994 and go into Friday’s Champions League quarter finals draw.
A few hours earlier, the Swiss bank Lombard Odier stated that the Catalan presidents Artur Mas and Jordi Pujol do not have any relationship with the company. The Spanish nationalist newspaper ‘El Mundo’ published a report 9 days before the Catalan elections, with the official stamp of the Spanish Police on it, accusing the incumbent President of the Catalan Government, and candidate for re-election from the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), Artur Mas, of having secret accounts in Switzerland. The fake report also incriminated Mas’ family, the former Catalan President Jordi Pujol and two of Pujol’s sons. The report completely altered the election campaign. Now, four months after the report was issued, the Catalan Government has demanded a public rectification since some Spanish Ministers and leading members of the People’s Party validated the report at the time.
Barça aim for a historic fight back against AC Milan to stay in the Champions League. The Catalans attempt to turn around the 2-0 defeat in Milan and earn a place in the last eight of the competition. This generation of FC Barcelona players have won everything in the game, with few records left to beat and just one big challenge ahead of them – to come back from a losing position in a European tie. Xavi Hernàndez is Barça’s main doubt for the game.
Andreu Mas-Colell, the Catalan Government’s Finance Minister, emphasised that a 0.7% deficit objective means implementing an additional budget adjustment of €4.4 billion. This amount represents around 15% of the Catalan Executive’s budget for last year, which had already been reduced over the previous two years. Furthermore, expected revenue will decrease by 1% despite increases in tax, debt interest will grow by €300 million and the amount of spread payments will also increase by €150 million. In such circumstances a €4.4 billion one-year adjustment would blow up public services in Catalonia. Therefore, Mas-Colell urged the Spanish Government to find an agreement, as otherwise no one wants PM Rajoy to act “as the viceroy of Catalonia”.
Since the 2-0 result in Milan’s San Siro stadium, both sides have faced some tough games, but they come into the Champions League match on the back of league wins: the Catalans defeated Deportivo and the Italians, Genova. FC Barcelona need a three-goal-distance win on Tuesday evening to pass through the next Champions League tie. AC Milan have already arrived at the Catalan capital and, despite the first leg result, they are being cautious and refuse the favourite role considering Barça’s potential.