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The Spanish Congress has ratified a new austerity package this Thursday with 180 votes from People’s Party (PP), 131 votes against made up by the other parties and one abstention from the Unión del Pueblo Navarro (UPN). The new measures include the suspension of the Christmas bonus for public sector officials, an increase in VAT, and a reduction in unemployment benefit after the sixth month. The Spanish finance minister, Cristóbal Montoro, defended the measures on the grounds that they are "necessary sacrifices" to enable economic recovery and that "giving up is not recommended or possible". Various groups have protested against the measures, with over 80 demonstrations across the country.

In the first half of 2012, more than 37,000 inhabitants have left Catalonia taking into account the balance between immigration and emigration. This figure represents half the state total, having lost 74,000 residents. These figures demonstrate that Catalonia is experiencing the highest emigration rate in Spain, which can be attributed to a number of factors including the growing tendency for graduates to seek employment abroad.

The Minister of Culture, Ferran Mascarell, met in Parliament with representatives from the Catalan cultural sector. In the meeting they discussed how unpopular the new VAT increase is within the cultural sector in Catalonia. Mascarell sent a letter to Spanish Finance Minister, Cristóbal Montoro and Spanish Culture Minister, José Ignacio Wert representing the cultural sector on this issue. The president of the Employers Association of Catalan Cinema, Camilo Tarrazón, said after the meeting "Spain will be the only state to have culture as a luxury good".

The Catalan President in a parliamentary session criticised what he considers to be “acts of disloyalty” by the Spanish government. He said it is unfair that regions have to assume most of the burden of Mariano Rajoy’s adjustment program and emphasised the fact that Madrid has yet to pay much of its debts to Catalonia. Mas accused Rajoy of “lacking respect” for the autonomous regions and said this could lead to a “break down of relations” between administrations.

The Mayor of Barcelona, Xavier Trias has finished a seven-day visit to China. The aim of the trip was to promote Barcelona’s economy and attract new foreign investment in the Catalan capital. The Mayor spoke of the trip in a very positive light, pointing out the economic potential of Barcelona and highlighting the Chinese companies’ appreciation for the opportunity to invest in Barcelona.

Barcelona’s premier guided bus tour is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year after having been in operation since 1987. Described as “the most convenient way to discover Barcelona's most interesting and attractive sights” the popular open-top bus tour has catered for over 21.7 million visitors and sight seers in Barcelona. Over the years it has showcased Barcelona’s most popular locations, monuments and parks as well as opening up the city’s less well known areas to millions of visitors. One of city’s most successful tourism projects now offers city tours, sightseeing tours and a captivating tour of the major floodlit landmarks at night.

The Catalan textile industry accounts for 34% of Spanish fashion exports. A new report by “The Brandery” shows that in 2011, Catalonia was a crucial factor in the success of Spain’s growing fashion industry and emphasises its continuing and growing importance on the international fashion stage. The report was shown at an event this weekend and provides an encouraging insight into Catalonia’s significance in the Spanish fashion sector.

Illegal street sales, colloquially called in Catalonia ‘top manta’, is a daily problem that police and councils face and find difficult to solve. This non authorized business has a turnover of about €100 million per year. Coinciding with the beginning of the tourist season, the Confederation of Commerce of Catalonia (CCC) has started a new campaign called ‘Estirem de la manta’ (‘Pull the blanket’) to deal with this irregular practice. The objective: to raise awareness of the social and economic harm of this illegal activity with tourists and natives in order to tackle the problem. The CCC estimates that there are about 2,500 people currently working in this prohibited business in Catalonia.

The Catalan Government and the Guardia Civil release 500 kilograms of eels – ten times more than in a regular year – seized from traffickers that wanted to export them to Asia, where this species is extremely coveted and where approximately 1300 euros is paid per kilo, way above the average prices that are paid in Europe

The Spanish vice president, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, said the fund is an “extraordinary mechanism” that will force regions that use it to comply with “extraordinary conditions”. The money will come from a €6,000 million loan from the state lottery and the Spanish treasury. The autonomous communities that decide to use the money from the fund will have the responsibility of paying it back and will be subject to a potential intervention by the central government if they do not comply.

The Catalan minister for the Economy, Andreu Mas-Colell, said in an interview that he will ask to speak directly to Brussels if Madrid decides to intervene in Catalonia’s finances. The minister is very disappointed with the results of a meeting between the 17 autonomous communities and the Spanish Minister Cristóbal Montoro. At the summit, Montoro announced a new cut in the regional deficit targets, from 1,1% to 0,5% for 2013 and from 1% to only 0,1% the year after. This could imply a new adjustment of about €650 million on top of the 1,500 million already announced by Catalan President Artur Mas only two months ago. The Catalan government spokesman, Francesc Homs, did not deny the possibility of new cuts in Catalonia in the near future. If they are confirmed, those would be the fourth round of spending cuts implemented in the country since Mas entered office in November 2010. Meanwhile, other autonomous communities still have to start to reduce spending.

Where will the basketball teams stay during the Olympics? How will they travel from the hotel or the Olympic Village to the stadium? Who will help the sailing referees if they have any problems? What will the Cultural Olympics programme look like? Four Catalans can answer all these questions. They are part of the enormous team of people working for the London Olympics 2012. The Catalan News Agency has spoken with four of the Catalan "infiltrators" in the Olympics to find out more about their contribution to the world’s biggest sporting event.

President Artur Mas says Catalonia needs to come out of the crisis stronger and citizens should “come together” in the wake of new austerity measures announced this Wednesday by Spanish president Mariano Rajoy. The Catalan government spokesman, Francesc Homs, celebrated Rajoy’s decision to cut Spanish public workers salaries, several months after the same decision was implemented in Catalonia. However, he criticised the VAT rise. The Catalan minister for the Economy, Andreu Mas-Colell, said Madrid’s plan is “in line” with EU instructions but urged Rajoy to offer “some kind of compensation” to the autonomous communities because their expenditure won’t benefit from the VAT rise.

The Catalan President has made the case for Catalan full fiscal autonomy in a trip to Portugal. Artur Mas has started an international tour to try to explain to foreign leaders why Catalonia wants to have a new fiscal arrangement with Spain. According to the president, the Catalan fiscal deficit caused by the current system is damaging Catalonia, one of the driving forces of the Spanish economy, and therefore is also detrimental to Spain.

New research by the Catalan Government studied more than 20 Catalan cities in different sectors to calculate how Catalan use has increased in schools, hospitals, public administration and media. The study, Ofercat, concludes that more traders and public employees are answering in Catalan despite it not being their usual language.