This English writer has been living in Catalonia for the last 26 years. This week he presented his new book ‘Barcelona, Catalonia: A View from the Inside’. Tree explains the difficulties he encounters explaining Catalonia to foreigners.
Barça manager Pep Guardiola believes that what wins a title is not fitness or tactics, but “the desire to be champions”. FC Barcelona will play against Villareal tomorrow, after Spanish League’s two week break.
On the same day that Catalan hospitals presented their plans to reduce their budget by 10% and cut several services, the Catalan Government’s Spokesperson sent a strong message to Madrid saying that "enough was enough." The Spanish Government answered the calls by the Catalan Executive by saying that if it does not meet the 1.3% deficit objective for 2011, it will run out of cash. Madrid is asking for greater budget cuts. Almost all Catalan political parties, including the People’s Party, back up the Catalan Government, the main exception being the Socialist Party, which supports Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Chinese businessmen have chosen the Catalan coastal village to be the model for their new holiday resort in China. This Costa Brava village will thus have a carbon copy in Zhangzhou, Fujian region’s Xiamen bay.
FC Barcelona President, Sandro Rosell, accompanied by the Catalan President Artur Mas and the President of the ‘Fundació Banc dels Aliments’, Antoni Sansalvadó presented today the campaign “Enviem la fam a la porra” – “Sweep Away Hunger with the Sweepstake”.
A study has found that the Catalan language is used less than Spanish in Catalonia. In addition, only 40% of foreigners are able to speak Catalan. In total 95% of Catalan residents understand the language, 77% know how to speak it and 60% can write in it. When it comes to Spanish almost 100% of residents can both read and write in it.
The Spanish Government demands an additional budget reduction of 3.2 billion euros to Catalonia, while the Catalan Government claims 3.3 billion owed by the Spanish State. Catalan parties have accused Prime Minister Zapatero of reducing his government’s deficit by increasing that of the autonomous communities. The Spanish Government wants to force Autonomous Communities to pay for the deficit by limiting it through specific laws.
Berlin’s Museum is pretending to be an “official” Dalí Museum, with its website www.dalimuseum.de. The Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation won a trial against the German museum, but while a court appeal is pending, Berlin’s Dalí Museum is still open to visitors and using the “official” name.
From this Saturday on Barça face a demanding schedule with the three major titles at stake. In 18 days, Guardiola's side will play 6 games, including the Spanish Cup Final and the quarterfinal of the Champions League.
FDI in Catalonia surpassed the 3.9 billion euros mark in 2010. It represents 34% of FDI in Spain and was almost three times higher than 2009 levels. The Catalan Government is currently negotiating 189 projects that could bring in up to 6.5 billion euros to the Catalan economy.
The Catalan coastal town was nominated in the “Government” category of Twitter’s “Shorty Awards”. The Mayor of Newmark, Coory Booker won in this category. Vilassar de Mar was third, just behind Barack Obama’s Twitter.
The cultural facility is thought to be an adaptable building, a library of the 21st century. The project comes with more than 13 years of delay and it is the first ever Spanish Government-funded library in Barcelona.
The Major League Soccer organisation and CAA Sports have announced that Barça and Manchester United will meet on July 30th as part of the World Football Challenge Tournament 2011 to be played in Landover, Maryland.
The Rovira Brothers make an unrivalled gastronomic duo. They claim that having a close relationship with the producers is a key element to get the best out of the products they use.
The President of the Catalan Government Artur Mas announced in Madrid that in 2012, if the People’s Party (PP) or the Socialist Party (PSOE) want CiU’s support to form a new Spanish Government, Catalonia needs more money and greater control over its own finances. Mas made these comments the same day his Government agreed a 400 million euros loan.