Set in the Gothic district, the museum is designed to explain to its visitors the secrets of marihuana and in fact it clearly advocates for the legalization of this drug. In the inauguration day, Duch businessman Ben Dronkers was joined by Virgin owner Richard Branson, who thinks that marihuana can help the country out of the crisis
Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona will appear in a remake of that unforgettable final of 2009, this time at the Vicente Calderón stadium in Madrid, in what will be Pep Guardiola’s last ever match on Barça’s bench. Without Alves, Puyol, Villa, Abidal or Fontàs, Barça have problems at the back.
The death of a Guinean intern in the Immigrant Internment Centre (CIE) in Barcelona last January, plus the recent prohibition by the Spanish Government’s Delegate in Catalonia to allow the Catalan Ombudsman to visit the facilities of the centre, a month ago, has increased the feeling of distrust towards this type of institutions where immigrants without their residence permit are preventively held until they are sent back to their original countries.
From May 17th to June 2nd video art invades over 150 spaces in Barcelona during the 10th edition of the Loop Fair and the Screen Festival. The first showcases the latest ideas in International video art. The second, Screen, offers close contact with audiovisual creative practices including the brightest ideas and latest developments, all in very different places. Moreover, this year’s new addition is the first ever Screen Forum Pro, an International Symposium under the slogan: “What about production?” The annual video art festival attracts numerous professionals from the world of art, including representatives of leading museums, artists and galleries worldwide, as well as an audience eager to discover the latest trends in video art.
Unicef has released a study revealing that children and youngsters are some of the most vulnerable people hit by the crisis. The study stresses that they are the future of any society. Between 2008 and 2010, child poverty in Catalonia increased by more than 5 percentage points. In Spain as a whole, child poverty jumped from 24% to 26.2% in the same period.
The logistics company might invest €40 million in the next two years. Since the late 1990s, the Belgian company has had a large warehouse in Constantí, next to Tarragona, in which €60 million has already been invested. In the last number of years, the company has invested an additional €10 million to build the new terminal. The new facilities demonstrate Katoen Natie commitment to operate from Tarragona, near Spain’s main chemical pole, railways, highways, an airport, and an important sea port.
The bus, which will accompany the first team when Barça play away from the Camp Nou, is FC Barcelona's new mobile store for official Barça products. The FCBotiga Mobile Bus was unveiled at the Catalan club sports city.
UAE’s airline Emirates has announced it will link the Catalan capital with its main operations base in the Persian Gulf, Dubai. Emirates has emphasised that the new service will ease the access of Catalan companies to Asian markets and vice-versa as it will facilitate and increase the arrival of foreign investors and tourists coming from Asia to Barcelona.
Using its absolute majority, the People’s Party (PP) has approved the Spanish Government’s budget for the current year refusing 3,100 amendments from the opposition. Only 3 minor amendments from the opposition parties have been accepted. The budget does not respect the current legislation, which obliges to guarantee a minimum investment percentage to be made in Catalonia in order to compensate for an historical lack of money being put into the Autonomous Community. According to Catalan law, approved by the Spanish Parliament, Catalonia should receive at least 18.66% of all the territorial investment made throughout Spain; however it only receives 11.04%.
The decision represents the creation of 700 direct and indirect jobs. Car manufacturer Nissan has confirmed it will build the new ‘e-NV200’, a totally electric van at its Zona Franca plant from next year. The plant is located in Barcelona, next to the city’s port and airport. From there, the new van will be distributed worldwide. Barcelona competed with other Nissan plants in China, Japan and Mexico. In addition, Nissan managers were confident that Barcelona’s plant could produce other models in the future.
Esperanza Aguirre, one of the main representative from Spanish Nationalism, has asked to postpone the game or playing it in an empty stadium in order to avoid supporters whistling and booing the Spanish National anthem and Prince Felipe, as was the case in 2009. This season’s Spanish Cup Final will be decided in Madrid between FC Barcelona and Athletic Club of Bilbao, a Catalan and a Basque team. Catalan politicians have criticised Aguirre for mixing football and politics. CiU and the PSC have coincided in pointing out that Aguirre is ready to talk about the Cup Final but not about Madrid’s public deficit deviation. Besides, an extreme-right demonstration in Madrid organised on the same day has been authorised.
FC Barcelona and Nike have presented the new first team shirt, with the brand new feature of the famous stripes being blurred. The new Barça second kit for the 2012/13 is orange and yellow, a veritable array of vibrant colours to celebrate the team’s dazzling football.
Teachers, administrative staff, students and parents have protested against budget cuts by the Spanish and Catalan Governments affecting primary, secondary and university education. The protest was organised throughout Spain. In Barcelona, 25,000 people according to the police and 150,000 people according to the organisers demonstrated through the city centre. Protests were also organised in other Catalan cities, such as Girona, Lleida and Tarragona.
The Catalan pharmaceutical company Grífols, third worldwide company in plasma derivatives, has signed a cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Blood Bank. The agreement, which strengthens the presence of the Catalan company in China, promotes blood genotyping research. The Chinese institution will use the Grifols’ genetic test BLOODchip in transfusion compatibility studies. Shanghai Blood Bank serves over 20 million people and receives more than 300.000 donations per year. In 2011, Grifols sales in China grew by 30%.
From May 21st to 25th the First International Congress about Management and Disclosure of Protected Volcanic Landscapes, Volcandpark, is taking place in Olot, in Central Catalonia. The event will project the Garrotxa Natural Park's Volcanic Zone.