Search: null

Catalan Euro MPs ask the EU to intervene if there is “a clear risk” of a military threat against Catalonia

October 23, 2012 01:17 AM | CNA

They say that European legislation foresees the cancellation of the voting rights of an EU Member State if there is “a clear risk of serious […] and persistent breach” of the common values. The four MEPs denounce “the military threats” and “the tone used by the People’s Party and the Spanish Government”. They have sent a formal letter to the European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Viviane Reding. They ask the EU to be vigilant and “to evaluate the real risks of a potential military intervention” by Spanish forces against Catalonia. If such a risk existed, the EU should suspend Spain’s voting rights in the European Council.

Juli Soler, Ferran Adrià’s partner, quits managing elBulliFoundation for health reasons

October 20, 2012 01:16 AM | CNA

Juli Soler has been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease, according to family sources and elBulliFoundation. Soler has been the director of El Bulli since 1981 and was the person who hired a young Ferran Adrià in 1984. Since then, Soler has been Adrià’s partner and co-owner of the restaurant that has transformed the world’s cuisine. El Bulli closed in summer 2011 to be transformed into elBulliFoundation by 2014. The Catalan restaurant was considered for many years to be the best restaurant in the world. It was the culinary temple and lab from where Ferran Adrià in the kitchen and Juli Soler in the dining room and offices launched molecular cuisine.

Judges will not have to know Catalan to work in Catalonia states the Constitutional Court

October 20, 2012 12:51 AM | CNA

Spain’s Constitutional Court has responded to an appeal from the Catalan Parliament dating from 2004. The appeal was against the Judicial Power’s last reform, approved by the Spanish Parliament, in the time of José María Aznar. Now, the Constitutional Court states that the Catalan Government only has competence over the non-judicial staff working in the justice administration, but not over the judges and other judicial staff. This means that the knowledge of Catalan language will not be a condition to work as a judge in Catalonia. Therefore Catalan citizens may not be able to use their mother tongue in their justice procedures or they will have to use interpretation services.

The high-speed train linking Barcelona and Girona to France to finally start running in April 2013

October 19, 2012 01:32 AM | CNA / Marina López / Xavier Pi

The Spanish public company in charge of building and maintaining railway infrastructures, Adif, has confirmed the awaited date. Adif will have all the work finished by the end of this year, including the overhead line set in the tunnels crossing Barcelona and Girona. This will enable the train service linking Barcelona and Girona to the French city of Perpignan to be operational by April 2013. This work, funded and managed by the Spanish Government, has accumulated many years of inexplicable delays before connecting Spain’s high-speed network to Europe.

Iberpotash invests €200 million in digging the longest tunnel in Spain to increase its productivity by 30%

October 19, 2012 12:54 AM | CNA / Estefania Escolà

Catalonia hosts one of the world’s five active potash mines. The company Iberpotash has started to implement its Phoenix Plan, which foresees investing €600 million until 2020. The first phase of the project is the construction of a 4.7 kilometre tunnel to transport the potash mineral extracted from the mine to the treatment plant. The tunnel represents an important environmental improvement, as lorries carrying potash will no longer pass through the town of Súria. They will pass through the tunnel 900 metres under the ground. This first phase will enable the improvement of the mine’s productivity to between 30 and 40%.

The Center of Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona discovers a new path for Parkinson’s potential treatments

October 18, 2012 12:32 AM | CNA

A study developed by researchers from Barcelona’s Center of Regenerative Medicine and California’s Gene Expression Laboratory of the Salk Institute identified a mutation in the nucleus of human neural stem cells that is linked to Parkinson’s, which may help to diagnose the disease and open a new field for targeted treatments. The prestigious journal ‘Nature’ published the study, which could also help to explain why the Parkinson’s disease is often associated with clinical depression and anxiety. The Center of Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona is directed by Juan Carlos Izpisúa, who participated in the study; it is located in the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, next to the Hospital del Mar.

Vueling airline to link Barcelona to 100 destinations in summer 2013

October 17, 2012 05:26 PM | CNA / Josep Ramon Torné

The Catalan company presented its strategic plan for next two years, which fosters its main hub, Barcelona El Prat Airport, by adding 28 new routes from next summer. Vueling plans to transform Barcelona Airport into the main European hub for short and medium distance flights. Currently, it is already the second continental hub in this category. Furthermore Vueling will strengthen its offer to business travellers by unveiling the ‘Excellence’ flying class and direct flights between Barcelona and London-Gatwick or Frankfurt. In addition, the Catalan airline will end 2012 with a profit for the fourth consecutive year.

Almost 30% of Catalans are at risk of social exclusion

October 17, 2012 01:20 AM | CNA / Laura Quintana

29.5% of Catalans are at risk of social exclusion. This is the conclusion of the 2011 survey of living conditions and habits of the population of Catalonia. This percentage is related to the AROPE rate used in the European Union which not only analyses the income poverty level but also looks at severe material deprivation and households with very low work intensity. The results of the survey highlight that Catalonia was in a worse situation in 2011 than Spain (with 26.7% of people at risk of social exclusion) or the European Union (21.6%). Furthermore, 21.9% of Catalans live on an income below the poverty threshold.

Tarragona’s chemical hub represents 25% of Spanish total

October 17, 2012 01:07 AM | CNA / Núria Torres

The chemical industries based in Tarragona, such as BASF, Dow Chemical and Repsol, expect their turnover to increase by 4% in 2012 compared to a year ago. In 2011, they exported 60% of their production, while in 2000 they were only exporting 30% of it. Furthermore, they have requested transport infrastructures to be improved and criticised the increase in energy taxes. About Catalonia’s hypothetical independence, they stated they “will respect what will be decided and will adapt to it”. These companies represent around 7% of Catalonia’s GDP.

The PP excludes any referendum and one of its leaders proposes “facing” Catalan independence as ETA

October 16, 2012 12:58 AM | CNA

The day the United Kingdom and Scotland signed the agreement to organise the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, the Spanish Justice Minister, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, states that the Spanish Government will not agree to organise or even negotiate on a referendum on Catalonia’s independence. Furthermore, the same day, Jaime Mayor Oreja, the leader of the Spanish Euro MPs from the People’s Party (PP), proposed “facing” the Catalan independence movement as was done earlier with ETA’s terrorism. Two weeks ago, Mayor Oreja had already linked the Catalan independence movement with the Basque terrorist group ETA. The Catalan President, Artur Mas, said that if Madrid does not authorise the referendum, Catalonia will appeal to European and international institutions.

Sitges Film Festival’s Best Movie Award goes to ‘Holy Motors’ by the French Director Leos Carax

October 15, 2012 10:56 PM | CNA

The world’s most important international film festival specialising in fantasy and horror films ended its 45th event in the Catalan coastal town of Sitges. Leos Carax wins the Best Director award. ‘Chained’, by Jennifer Lynch, receives the Jury’s Special Prize and the Best Actor Award for Vincent d’Onofrio. Alice Lowe, with ‘Sightseers’, wins the Best Actress Award. The festival has increased spectator figures by 3% compared to last year.