Search: null

The Mediterranean Railway Corridor for freight and High-Speed passenger trains is “an undeniable priority” states Spanish Minister for Public Works

July 7, 2011 10:57 PM | CNA / Gaspar Pericay Coll

The Spanish Minister for Public Works, Jose Blanco, attended the end of the drilling works of the High-Speed Train tunnel that will cross Girona, part of the line that will connect with the French border. The Mediterranean Railway Corridor is a long running issues for Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia and Andalucía. It would link the Straights of Gibraltar, the harbours of Barcelona and Valencia, and Central and Northern Europe, allowing a freight train to go from Algeciras or Barcelona directly to Hamburg or Stockholm.

The European Parliament passes a rule that may end labels only in Catalan

July 7, 2011 12:38 PM | CNA / Maria Fernández Noguera

A product labelled only in Estonian could be sold in Catalonia, but not a product labelled only in Catalan. The new rule authorises the Spanish Government to force all products in Spain to be labelled in at least one official language of the EU, and therefore ban products only labelled in Catalan from being sold within Catalonia. The new European rule aims to authorise Member States to prevent products from being labelled only in a non EU language, such as Chinese or Arabic, but it has consequences at local level. Three Catalan MEPs pushed for an amendment, but it was rejected.

Catalan company ‘Ciments Molins’ to invest 191 million euros this year in foreign plants for the first time

July 7, 2011 12:09 AM | CNA / Maite Cirera

Tunisia will benefit from the greatest investment with 73 million euros for the Kairouan factory. Besides, Ciments Molins is aiming to penetrate into the Chinese market with “a small two million euro investment” in prefabricated products, as a start. 87% of the investments will be channeled abroad, specifically in Tunisia, México, Argentina, Uruguay, Bangladesh, and China.

Catalan GDP will grow 1.1% in 2011 and 1.6% in 2012 according to CatalunyaCaixa

July 6, 2011 01:30 PM | CNA

A new study by the Catalan savings bank corrects and improves the previous economic forecast. It is now believed that in 2011, Catalonia will grow at a 1.1% annual rate, and at 1.6% in 2012. However, without the public sector budget cuts, the Catalan economy will grow at 2% this 2011. The export sector has reached historical maximums, and will lead economic growth. However, economic growth in 2011 will not be translated into an improvement in employment.

The British School of Catalunya to be opened in 2012

July 5, 2011 09:06 PM | CNA / Marc Navarro

The private school will follow the British curriculum so, that when the students finish high school, they will be able to attend any public or private university either in Spain or in the United Kingdom. It is the latest addition to a series of international schools in Catalonia, which infuse an international and intercultural perspective into their teaching programmes, or they directly follow a curriculum from another country.

Barcelona Science Park introduces the first European web portal on biomedics for high-school students

July 5, 2011 07:25 PM | CNA / Gaspar Pericay Coll

The website ‘Xplore Health’ is an educational tool for secondary school students. It aims to improve the understanding of biomedical science, as well as “inspire future researchers”. It is a European Commission project, led by Barcelona Science Park (from the University of Barcelona) and involving research centres and science museums from across the EU.