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This Friday is the third anniversary of Josep Guardiola’s presentation as Barça’s manager. On June 17, 2008, a project began that has gone on to make history.

The Catalan capital is these days the electronic music world’s capital city. The 18th edition of the International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art Sónar kicks off in Barcelona. It the annual meeting place for electronic music fans and will take place from June 16th to 18th. This year it will have a parallel festival happening in A Coruña, Sónar Galicia. Barcelona’s Sónar Festival will also have a twin festival in Sao Paulo. Sónar Barcelona has also a programme for children called Sónar Kids and for professional called Sónar Pro.

The Catalan Parliament will also file a formal complaint regarding the violent protests that took place last Wednesday in Barcelona. Protesters tried to besiege the Parliament and impede the entrance of MPs, some of whom were insulted, threatened, pushed and sprayed. The Spanish Penal Code states that these type of actions are a felony and offenders could face between three and five years in person. Catalan Police had to protect the Parliament and the MPs, with a deployment of 600 police officers. All political parties condemned the violent acts by protesters and most of the opposition said that the deployment of security forces was too small.

The Catalan People’s Party (PPC) abstained and facilitated the rejection of the motions to substitute the budget bill presented by the Catalan Government, run by the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition CiU. The motions had been presented by four parliamentary groups for a range of reasons, but mainly because the Government’s budget proposal was cutting too much social spending while it did not make enough efforts to raise revenues.

The trade fair focuses on entrepreneurs and company growth. It wants to switch business ideas and projects with investors. Bizbarcelona also provides advice to entrepreneurs who want to start their business. It takes place on June 15th and 16th in Fira de Barcelona’s Montjuïc venue.

The Catalan Parliament was under siege by the “indignats” protesters, who have been camping on Catalunya Square for the last month. They tried to impede MPs' access to the park where the Parliament is located. Some MPs arrived on foot and were insulted, pushed or sprayed. Others, including the Catalan President and the Parliament’s President, had to arrive via helicopter or inside police vans. The ‘indignats’ movement condemned “the isolated violent episodes”, but said they have the right to block the Parliament. Today the first voting on the budget was held, which reduces public spending by 10%. Despite the protests, the parliamentary debate took place.

Regal Barça have clinched the ACB League after winning game three of the final series at Bizkaia Bilbao Basket’s arena. Xavi Pascual’s team won a gripping game to win back the crown they lost last year.

A pilot programme set up by the Catalan Police in one of Barcelona’s districts will enable tourists to report minor thefts on city streets from their hotels, without needing to go to a police station. The programme will be in place on a trial basis in July and August in 18 hotels. If successful, it could be applied to all Barcelona hotels.

A Barcelona-based newspaper announced in its Tuesday edition that the two Catalan savings banks would see a state intervention and would be nationalised by the Spanish Government and the Bank of Spain this summer. CatalunyaCaixa has denied the claims. Unnim also denied the rumours and reminded the press of the 30th September deadline set by the Bank of Spain to restructure its business and find additional capital.

Thanks to a five-year contract, the Catalan Government undertakes the enlargement of the airport terminal and Neilson-Thomas Cook agrees to include ski resorts in the Lleida Pyrenees as part of its winter holiday offer.

This season, in addition to continuing to fill the cabinet with more trophies, has served to break down some barriers that until now had been insurmountable for this Barça team. Winning at grounds like Espanyol or Valencia are two examples.

The Japanese writer was awarded the 23rd Premi Internacional Catalunya in Barcelona. Haruki Murakami announced during the ceremony he will give the prize money to the Tsunami and Fukushima victims, after delivering an anti nuclear power speech. In a later interview with CNA, Murakami explained he will take many ideas with him from his Barcelona trip. He will store these “into one of the drawers” of his mind and later will use them in upcoming books, as he always does.

The new art museum will focus on Catalan painting and will display parts of the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection. The city council approved the excutive project to build the Thyssen Museum. The project will cost 15 million euros (3 less than initially planned) and will restore an old cork factory.

Regal Barça got off to a winning start against Bilbao Basket in Spanish Basketball League play offs, the ACB final series. Lorbek (the top scorer with 24 points and 28 evaluation) and Perovic were especially outstanding.

The world’s leader chemical company is planning to invest 12 million euros in its Tarragona plant, the largest one in southern Europe. BASF Spain has its headquarters in Tarragona, and concentrates most of its plants and offices in Catalonia.