Major League Soccer and CAA Sports have announced the fixtures for the Herbalife World Football Challenge to be held in the United States. FC Barcelona, which will participate between July 30th and August 6th, have also announced that Turkish Airlines will be the main sponsor for the team’s US Tour.
Barça again won the city derby against Espanyol with a 2-0 win that leaves them needing just a point to take the Spanish League title. If Real Madrid does not win Getafe next Tuesday, FC Barcelona would win the League.
The study is funded by Catalan savings bank ‘la Caixa’ with data at Spanish-level. It reveals, contrary to xenophobic statements that immigrants bring more revenue to the state than the costs they generate. In addition, their presence also brings more services. “We came to the conclusion than the impact of immigration in the Welfare State is clearly positive”, states the coordinator of the study.
On May 22nd, Catalans will vote in their local elections. According to the recent polls the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) is well positioned to win in many cities, towns and villages across Catalonia, and in particular in Barcelona. CiU’s candidate may become the next Mayor of Barcelona after 32 years of Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) leadership. The same change could happen in Girona, where polls indicate a tie. However it seems the PSC will maintain control of Lleida and Tarragona City Councils. The People’s Party (PP) speech is of major significance with their focus being on immigration and security.
Plensa is the artist behind the famous ‘Crown Fountain’ in Chicago’s Millenium Park, as well as London’s blue light ‘Breathing’ located on the roof of the BBC’s Egton House, dedicated to journalists killed in action. ‘Echo’ is a giant white head with closed eyes, similar to ‘Dream’ set in Liverpool. Plensa’s sculptures deal with human forms, communication, emptiness and a globalised identity.
The Panathinaikos, Montepaschi Siena, Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Real Madrid are playing to become the European champions. The winner will be known on Sunday afternoon. Last year, FC Barcelona won the competition in Paris, but this year Barça will have to look the games from the sidelines.
FC Barcelona and Manchester United will meet in the 2011 Champions League Final on May 28th at Wembley Stadium – the 11th time the two teams have met in Europe and the 8th game between them in the Champions League. This year final repeats the Champions League final of 2009, when Barça won United by 2-0.
April numbers have broken a three-month continuous trend of unemployment increases. In total there were 601,541 people registered as unemployed at the end of April.
This initiative offers free food to people in need and it is a platform involving many organisations. The Food Bank already assists 118,000 people in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area and warns that “the figure is growing”.
The Catalan Ministry of Economy and Knowledge has released its macroeconomic outlook for 2011. At the end of the current year, the unemployment rate will be 18%, up from 2010.
The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, presented a road-map with 474 objectives to be reached during his term in office. The Catalan Government’s plan faces three main crises: the economic slowdown, the relationship between Catalonia and Spain, and citizen trust in the democratic institutions. The strategic plan is organised along eight main axes, with economic recovery being the first priority.
In the year of its 130th anniversary, the historical flagship of the Catalan press, the spokesperson of the business world and centre-right nationalism has launched an edition in Catalan. ‘La Vanguardia’ has finally taken this step after many years, or even decades, of rumours. Also some months after a new newspaper in Catalan aimed at a similar but younger target began publication. “Our DNA is Catalan”, states the newspaper’s editor Javier Godó to explain their decision.
Barça have qualified for the Champions League final at the expense of Real Madrid following tonight’s draw at the Camp Nou. Pedro scored the winner for a side that dominated the possession and produced most of the chances.
FC Barcelona look to build on their 0-2 lead from last week when they take on Real Madrid this evening (20.45h CET) in the fourth and final ‘clásico’ between the two sides over the last few weeks. Guardiola welcomes back Iniesta and Abidal to the squad.
Barça trained on the Nou Camp pitch on Monday evening ahead of their Champions League semi final second leg against Real Madrid. The great news for Guardiola was that Iniesta and Abidal trained normally and are in the squad for the Champions League game against Mourinho's Real Madrid.