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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.

Caviar made in the Catalan Pyrenees, in the Val d’Aran County, is now reaching 11 countries. From this year, the Catalan caviar brand Nacarii is sold in Russia. The business started in 1999, in the Pyrenees mountains, near the French border.

“In a pop group there must be a balance between artistic creation and proximity to fans”, state ‘Els Amics de les Arts’, in an interview with ACN. They are one of the most successful Catalan music band at the moment. They have released a new album ‘Espècies per catalogar’ (it translates as ‘Species to be catalogued’) and they are returning on stage to present it.

Tanja Niederstein and Maja Grigat have come to Barcelona with the European Voluntary Service and spend most of their time doing voluntary activities such as helping handicapped students, teaching English or playing with sick children.

Goals from Messi (2), Alexis, Keita, Pedro (2) and Thiago gave Barça a record win at Vallecas in a game the Catalans totally dominated. Further good news for FC Barcelona was the return of Ibrahim Afellay after his long injury layoff.

Unemployment in Catalonia reaches a new historical record with 836.900 people registered as out of work. Spain’s unemployment rate at the end of March was 24.44%, reaching a total figure of 5,639,500 jobless people. The Spanish Vice President said on Friday that Spain is living “the harshest moments” of the crisis and that the data show that reforms need to be pursued. The Catalan Government criticised the Spanish Government for reducing the budget for employment policies by 56% due to be implemented in Catalonia in its budget proposal for 2012.

The Russian company Lukoil has reached an agreement with the Catalan company Meroil to build 13 new oil tanks at Barcelona Port, which are able to store 360,000 cubic metres. Furthermore, Barcelona Port is the only Mediterranean port ready to host the largest and deepest oil tankers. The Catalan President, Artur Mas, unveiled the infrastructure and emphasised Catalonia is strengthening its position as “Europe’s gateway for goods coming from Asia and North Africa”. He also noted Catalonia’s attractive position for foreign investment. Barcelona Port is linked by international width standard railway with Central Europe and has the Zona Franca logistics and industrial district next to it.