FC Barcelona overcame Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League by just 2-0. Barça were the much better team for the whole match and created lots of chances, but had to work really hard to break down the visitors.
The European Commission has included the Mediterranean Railway Corridor for freight and passengers among the next EU transport priorities. The EU might pay between 10% and 20% of the construction costs if it is finished before 2030. The ports of Barcelona, Tarragona, Valencia, Almería and Algeciras will become true European gateways to North Africa and Asia. In addition, high-speed trains will travel along the Spanish Mediterranean coast to France. Catalan politicians and business people have unanimously celebrated the good news but believe it comes too late and fear the Spanish Government could still prioritise other corridors. In fact, the EC also included other corridors, which pass through Madrid. Therefore Spain’s traditional radial model may still persist.
Barça have never won the third and fourth matches of the group stages of the Champions League under Guardiola. Tonight they will be hoping to change that as FC Barcelona face the little-known Czech outfit Viktoria Plze? (20.45 CET).
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) has stated it does not have “any truthful information” about the two Spanish aid workers kidnappers and their objectives. Therefore, MSF has dissociated itself from any “statement or presumption of responsibility related with this case”. After the latest armed actions in Southern Somalia, MSF wanted to clarify that they are not at all involved and that they fear these attacks may put the life of the two MSF workers kidnapped in Dadaab (Kenya) in danger. One of the two women kidnapped is Catalan and the other is from Madrid.
The ski resort of Baqueira Beret, located in the Catalan Western Pyrenees, has invested 6 million euros to update its facilities. Baqueira Beret’s ski slopes are scheduled to open the season on November 26th. This ski resort, in the Val d’Aran County, is one of the largest in the Pyrenees.
The latest technology and sustainability converge on the façade of the new Barça football school and residence, the new Masia. This cinematic façade will be used as new advertising support by FC Barcelona sponsors. A 1,460 m² led screen will do this with no overheads for the club.
Barcelona’s Opera Theatre offers only three portrayals of the Catalan composer Xavier Benguerel’s opera ‘Jo, Dalí’ (I, Dalí). It is a four act opera, which comes to the Barcelona theatre for the first time. Xavier Benguerel is one of the most recognised classical music contemporary composers in Catalonia.
Barça’s playmaking general has made his best start to a season as a goal scorer with three goals at the start of the Spanish League campaign.
The city of Tarragona, located on the southern coast of Catalonia, will be the host city of the 2017 Mediterranean Games after ten years of candidature work. Together with Tarragona, another twelve Catalan towns will be hosts for different sport competitions with the common objective being to promote the area internationally. Many have in mind the excellent results of Barcelona Olympics of 1992.
Two goals from Messi and another from Xavi gave FC Barcelona a win over Racing Santander at the Camp Nou. With Iniesta back in the team, Barça stay top of the Spanish League table for another week.
Andreu Mas-Colell, former Harvard Professor and the current Catalan Finance Minister, travelled to London to meet with financial representatives. The objective is to explain, first-hand, the Catalan Government’s austerity plans and its efforts to reduce the deficit and to foster the economic recovery. Mas-Colell met with City investors, banks and media, such as the ‘Financial Times’.
‘Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape’ was on show at London’s Tate Modern until September, being one of the must-see exhibitions of the year. Now it arrives at the Fundació Miró in Barcelona. It is the most complete exhibition on one of the most universal Catalan artists of all time, with 170 works on display from public and private collections from all over the world. The exhibition has the double objective of rediscovering Miró’s work and showing his commitment in the era he lived in. Another exhibition on Miró’s posters will run in parallel, focussing on his involvement in Catalan cultural, political and civic initiatives.
FC Barcelona will open their Copa del Rey challenge with a local derby against L’Hospitalet, a small team from Greater Barcelona, playing at the third division (called Division 2B). The first leg will be on November 9 and the return at the Camp Nou on December 21.
One of the two workers is Catalan. The two women were working as logistics officers for Médécins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Dadaab, in the Ifo refugee camp, near the Somali border. Armed men took the two women away around 1pm (CEST). Kenyan police think they might belong to the Shabaab group, linked to Al-Qaeda. The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the kidnapping.
The Catalan capital is considered the best city for quality of life. However, it does not reach the top 5 regarding telecommunications, international transport, and market access.