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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.

15 days of top-level piano competition are coming up in March in Barcelona. To promote one of the world’s most prestigious international piano competitions, organised in Barcelona since 1954, 10 grand pianos were installed last Saturday in the middle of the street, on the Catalan capital’s Passeig de Gracia boulevard. The pianos could be tried by the pedestrians for free. In addition, a huge variety of concerts in different places all over Barcelona are being held. 91 pianists from 26 countries are participating in the 2013 Maria Canals International Music Competition. The winner will be known in two weekends from now.

FC Barcelona got back to winning ways following the two painful defeats to Real Madrid, with a 2-0 victory over Deportivo. The three points bring the Spanish League title closer to the Camp Nou, with 11 games still to play this season. Goals from Alexis and Messi give Barça three important points ahead of next Tuesday’s AC Milan game, when the Catalans need a clear victory to continue their Champions League campaign.

The Hasselblad Foundation has awarded its 2013 prize to the Catalan photographer Joan Fontcuberta. The jury highlighted the fact that Fontcuberta “is one of the most imaginative contemporary photographers” today. This is the most prestigious award at international level in the field of photography. It comes with 1 million Swedish crowns (around €110,000). The award ceremony took place in Barcelona on Thursday evening. In October, Gothenburg’s Art Museum will hold an exhibition on Fontcuberta’s work. His creations “adopt original and playful conceptual perspectives, which particularly explore photography conventions, means of representation and claims to truth”, stated the jury.