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.
The project, which aims to restore a historic viewing point of the city of Barcelona, was carried out by a group of Catalan architects in 2011. The prize is shared with the project to renovate the banks of the River Ljubljanica, in Ljubljana (Slovenia).
Despite initial fears of violent incidents the European Central Bank’s Governing Council meeting has been held peacefully. 8,000 police officers guarded the event by literally occupying the city. Besides, the ‘indignados’ movement demobilized their forces, and no anti-system protests took place.
The current FC Barcelona Manager, Pep Guardiola, will be sitting on the Camp Nou bench for the very last time on Saturday, but believes the derby with Espanyol is far more important than his farewell.
Thousands of students protested in Barcelona against the reduction in the university budget and the increase in tuition fees. The demonstration was peaceful and was observed by the police, in order to prevent any possible incidents, since it coincided with the European Central Bank Governing Council, being held in the Catalan capital.
The President of the European Central Bank, whose Governing Council met in Barcelona on May 3rd, praised the Spanish Government’s “significant effort” made in a “very short period of time” to approve structural reforms. However, Mario Draghi, asked Spain “to persevere” in the strategy based on austerity and accomplish further reforms. The ECB’s President emphasised Europe’s need to adopt measures strengthening economic growth but without abandoning the principles of austerity. Draghi recommended continuing to reduce public spending in order to control the deficit. As expected, the ECB is maintaining the interest rate at 1%.
The People's Republic of China is this year’s special guest at the 30th edition of the Barcelona International Comic Fair, which runs from May 3rd to 6th at the Fira de Barcelona. An exhibition will showcase the most important works in the history of Chinese comics. Furthermore, this edition is turning the spotlight on robots, dedicating its main exhibition both to entertaining and exploring the relationship between robots and comics, cinema and literature.
The Spanish boss of public prosecutors, Eduardo Torres-Dulce, says it is crucial to analyse if current procedural tools are enough to guarantee fundamental rights and public order. Therefore, he asked not to make legal changes in the heat of the moment.
A goal from Puyol and a hat trick from Leo Messi, which served to take him past Gerd Muller’s previous record strikes in a European season, gave Guardiola, cheered all night by the crowd, another win at the Camp Nou. Two hours later, Real Madrid was winning the Spanish League title in San Mamés.
Coinciding with the European Central Bank Governing Council organised in Barcelona, the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, met with Mario Draghi and other members of the ECB Governing Council. Mas took the opportunity to explain to the ECB the Catalan Government’s austerity measures and its efforts to reduce Catalonia’s public deficit. He also spoke of his party’s support to all the reforms taken at Spanish level, despite being unpopular. However, Mas warned the ECB President that reducing the deficit too fast in the middle of an economic recession might worsen the crisis.
The President of the European Parliament is visiting Barcelona; coinciding with the European Central Bank Governing Council meeting that is taking place in the Catalan capital. Schulz asked Member States to be less focused on “budget cuts” and start “working together”, otherwise there is a great risk that the EU might end up “failing”. The German politician praised Catalan culture, and reaffirmed his will to push for Catalan being an official language in the Parliament he chairs. Schulz met with the Catalan President, Artur Mas, as well as with Catalan author Jaume Cabré.
For the second year in a row, ‘Restaurant Magazine’ has awarded ‘El Celler de Can Roca’ the second position in the world’s top restaurant ranking. The Catalan chef Joan Roca runs this restaurant in Girona together with his brothers Josep and Jordi, who take care of wines and desserts respectively. The Roca brothers with their 3 Michelin star restaurant represent Catalan cuisine, after Ferran Adrià decided to close El Bulli last summer and reopen it again in 2014 but turn it into the ‘El Bulli Foundation’. Copenhagen’s ‘Noma’ continues being at the top of the best world restaurant list. The Basque restaurants ‘Mugaritz’ and ‘Arzak’ hold third and eighth positions respectively.
In the press conference before FC Barcelona vs Malaga, Barça’s Manager, Pep Guardiola, praised the way the Catalan club is handling the transition of managers. He also said that Tito Vilanova is “very enthusiastic about the upcoming challenge”. The current manager explained that Barça’s last three Spanish League matches will serve as preparation for the Spanish Cup final against Athletic Club from Bilbao.
A research study carried out by Barcelona’s Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) has concluded that there is a constant trend of decline. Between 2006, when prices peaked, and the end of 2011 Spanish property prices have dropped by 41.7% as average. The coordinator of the study, José García-Montalvo, pointed out that there has been an accelerated fall from the second half of 2010 and the same period in 2011 when prices dropped 19.7% in Spain. García-Montalvo added that this trend would not change in the short or mid- term if the credit market does not recover.