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The Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell, asked the Spanish Government to set up a temporary short-term loan system if the announced Liquidity Fund for the Autonomies is not in place this September. The Catalan Government has been insisting on the urgent need to define and put into force this financial tool to provide the Autonomous Communities with liquidity now their access to international financial markets is impossible as they face unsustainable interest rates. In addition, Mas-Colell stated that it is very likely that more budget cuts will be needed in 2013 to meet the 0.7% deficit target. He also criticised the Spanish Government for imposing stricter deficit objectives for the Autonomies while Brussels gives Spain greater flexibility.

The first Congress of the different Pirate parties of Europe aims to create a Pirate Party at a European level. The Congress made clear the movement’s recipe to tackle the crisis: freedom of information, more transparency, and greater public participation. Forty representatives from throughout Europe met in Catalonia to discuss the future of the political group.

The world’s main festival celebrating Richard Wagner, Bayreuth Festival (Bayreuther Festspiele), has arrived in the Catalan capital for five days. Barcelona’s Liceu Opera Theatre will show ‘Lohengrin’, ‘Tristan and Isolde’, and ‘The Flying Dutchman’.

The permanent collection of the Can Framis Museum, located in a functionalist venue built three years ago, reopened its doors this Saturday. The museum, run by the Fundació Vila Casas, has restructured its permanent collection of contemporary paintings originating from the 1960’s onwards. The works are by various artists born or living in Catalonia and includes 45 new paintings, 20 of which are new acquisitions.

A wonderful first half goal from the Brazilian full back made it three wins out of three for FC Barcelona. The Catalans are two points clear at the top of the Spanish League table going into September’s international break.

Police estimate that 150 pickpockets operate daily in the Catalan capital’s underground, smart phones being the main target. The way the pickpockets target their victims has changed, no longer operating in large groups meaning that they are more “discreet and difficult to stop”. The police report that pickpockets are mainly “recurrent” and mainly come from South America, North Africa and Romania. The situation is evolving in a positive way, with crime rates in Barcelona’s metro decreasing for the second consecutive year.

The Catalan multinational company will provide Gail, the largest gas distributor in India, around 3 bcm of liquefied natural gas for three years. This quantity represents 10% of Spain’s annual gas consumption. Gas Natural Fenosa refused to disclose the value of the contract, but sources from the sector estimate it would be worth more than €1 billion. This would be the largest contract in Asia for this Barcelona-based company, which has a significant presence in South America.

The Circuit de Catalunya hosts the Formula Student Spain 2012 competition with over 700 participants from nine countries. The competition is designed to test the student’s knowledge and engineering skills over four days, in a competition judged by experts from the automotive industry. The competition is valued by the participants as a valuable experience with the chance to work as an engineer with a Formula 1 team.

The increase of tourism from Russia contrasts with last minute bookings and the drop of the average spending. Hotels on the Central Catalan coast had a 95% occupation rate in August, the same as those on the Costa Daurada. Hotels on the Costa Brava had a 90% occupation rate. The increase of foreign tourism compensated for the drop of local visitors. Camping sites and rural cottages had a bad season, since they are more dependant on local tourism.

The Damm Group, manufacturer of the popular Catalan beer brand Estrella, had a turnover of 421 million in the first six months of 2012, a 8.5% increase in relation to the same period last year. The company is not making any predictions for the second half of the year due to the uncertainty over the VAT increase but has stated that sales over the past weeks have “evolved satisfactorily”.

Barça were placed in Group G in the the Champions League Group Stage along with Benfica from Lisbon, Spartak Moscow and Celtic from Glasgow. Benfica and Barça will face off once again after the 1960/61 Champions League final.

FC Barcelona’s midfielder edged out team-mate Leo Messi and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo for the award that distinguishes him as the best player in Europe.

Until now, the EU was refusing to openly discuss the issue and was stating it was strictly an internal matter to be solved within Spain. The President of the European Commission, José Durao Barroso, admitted that “in the hypothetical case of a secession” of Catalonia “the solution should be found and negotiated within the international legal framework”. In this new scenario, Catalonia would not automatically be a member of the EU but this would be part of the negotiations. Barroso was ambiguous about the future of the European citizenship Catalan citizens currently have and said that “EU citizenship is additional”.

The decision by Spanish Government to restrict access to the public healthcare system could leave 600,000 people in Catalonia (8% of the population) without primary and specialised medical attention. 180,000 of these people would be foreigners. The Catalan Minister for Health, Boi Ruiz, explained that the measure aims to guarantee the universal access to healthcare to all the population, independent of their legal status, but at the same time avoid healthcare tourism.

The 10th edition of the Barcelona International Music Documentary Film Festival will run from October 25th to November 4th this year. To celebrate, the festival will screen the six best films from the last ten years chosen by a public vote in a section named ‘Your 10 Years’. Other initiatives this year include the introduction of the ‘Fan’ ticket which includes extra benefits and the launch of its online platform ‘In-Edit TV’ where it is possible to pay to watch the documentaries online. Alongside this year’s festival is the 3rd edition of the Barcelona International Music Documentary Film Market.