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The Catalan Government has rejected the Spanish Executive’s initiative to limit public healthcare to foreign nationals without a legalised residence status. The Spanish Government proposed that irregular immigrants would only have access to emergency rooms and obstetrics services, but not to regular treatments and consultations. The Catalan Health Minister, Boi Ruiz, confirmed on Friday that in Catalonia, all foreign residents, independent of their legal status, would have free access to the public health system for “solidarity” principles but also “for public health reasons”. Besides the ethical issue, experts had warned about infectious diseases that could have increased because of having groups of people excluded from the health system.

Punto Blanco has its own network to distribute and sell in 37 countries. The Catalan socks and underwear manufacturer has 16 shops, 15 of them in Spain and another in Portugal. Exports might represent 15% of the companies turnover.

On Europe’s Day, CNA reflects the conference the President of the European Parliament gave in Barcelona last week. The German politician emphasised the importance of the Mediterranean Basin and its great economic potential; the historical moment we are living due to the Arab Revolution; the lack of leadership in Europe and importance of working for a strong European Union in order stay at the forefront of the political scene.

FC Barcelona captain is full of optimism and courage ahead of his knee operation. Carles Puyol regrets missing the Spanish Cup Final and most probably the European Championships, but is just focussed on getting back to 100% fitness.

The Catalan Government has announced a plan against the Spanish Government’s “recentralisation offensive”. One of its actions is taking the education and healthcare reforms adopted by Madrid to the Catalan Council for Constitutional Guarantees, as a first step to bring them to Spain’s Constitutional Court. The Catalan Government believes that some of the measures invade its jurisdiction, as it directly manages education and healthcare. Another measure is issuing a report pointing out the Spanish Government’s duplicities, such as maintaining ministries such as education, healthcare and culture. These policies are managed by the Autonomies. Left-Wing opposition parties have urged the Catalan Government to take further measures, while the PP has accused the Catalan Executive of “lying”.

FC Barcelona was named ‘The World’s Club of the 1st Decade’ by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) this Monday evening. Barça won a total of seven awards during the IFFHS' World Football Gala, which took place in the W Hotel in Barcelona’s Barceloneta beach. Xavi, Messi and Guardiola also won awards.

Last Sunday Socialist candidate François Hollande won the French presidential elections. After 17 years of conservative government the French voted for change including the French community of Catalonia, which had the possibility to express itself in 19 polling stations set up all around Catalonia. Between the first round of voting -two weeks ago- and the second round, the rate of electoral participation in Catalonia increased from 37,5% to 42%. The Franco-Catalan community came out strongly in favour of the Socialist candidate, with 52.79 % for Hollande as against the figure of 42.21% who voted for Sarkozy.

The Summer X Games are expected to bring 140,000 people and generate an income of €70 million. The world’s most important action sports event, arranged by the U.S. sports broadcaster ESPN and ABC network, will be held in Catalonia’s capital between 2013 and 2015. Barcelona will host the Summer X Games, together with 5 other cities worldwide. The Summer X Games have championships in skateboarding, motocross, car rally and BMX.

Catalonia’s exports during last January and February had a total value of €9.24 billion. Catalan imports increased by 0.24% in the same period and have, registering in those two months a total value of €11.22 billion. The European Union received 64.28% of Catalonia’s exports. However, exports to markets such as Switzerland and Russia increased by 69% and 40% respectively.

Until June 3rd, the Joan Miró’s Foundation displays almost 200 photos that show Joaquim Gomis’ particular universe. Gomis innovated in the way of taking photos, which were more surrealist, and the places he photographed: cities, skyscrapers and industrial landscapes were his favorite subjects.

The Federation of Blood Donors in Catalonia wants to reach the young population and to raise the number of donations. Besides, the Catalan pharmaceutical company Grifols asked for a change in the law in order to pay for giving blood. This measure would be an incentive to increase the stock of plasma.

Barcelona City Council is concerned about being able to maintain the current public kindergarten model taking into account the budget cuts announced by the Catalan Government to reduce public spending. While in 2011 the Government contributed €1,600 per child, next year the quantity might be reduced to €1,000.

It was a triumphal send off for Pep Guardiola as Barça Manager, since FC Barcelona won their last game at the Camp Nou under his charge, beating Espanyol 4-0 thanks to four Messi goals.

April was the second consecutive month that experienced a fall in unemployment in Catalonia. Last month there were 2,526 fewer people registered as unemployed in Catalonia. The total number of jobless people was 635,721. In Spain, unemployment decreased by 6,632, a 0.14% drop, totalling 4,744,235 jobless individuals at the end of April. In Catalonia, unemployment decreased in the coastal provinces of Girona and Tarragona.

After a year of trials, Barcelona’s court of first instance number 37 will work only with computer files, eliminating the use of paper. The Catalan Government, in charge of managing the court’s offices in Catalonia, has developed an IT system that will enable court staff but also citizens to carry out every process in a faster and more efficient manner. The plan to develop the system began in 2006 and its development has had a cost of €5 million. The Government’s plan is that by 2019 every court in Catalonia will be fully digital.