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Catalonia has a new President. Artur Mas, the leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition, Convergència i Unió (CiU), becomes the 129th President of the Catalan Government. The swearing-in ceremony takes place this morning at the Generalitat Palace, the seat of the Government. Mas is sworn into office in an institutional ceremony, followed by a reception. The new Catalan Ministers were announced this afternoon and will take office on Wednesday, when the new Government will meet for the first time.

Consuls from all over the world and representatives of international organisations attended the swearing-in ceremony, in which Artur Mas took office. All of them stressed the “good relations” between their countries and Catalonia, which they believe will not change.

Artur Mas has finally decided upon the composition of his government. Mas waited to swear office and officially become President of the Catalan Government to make public his ministers’ names. Harvard and Berkeley professor Andreu Mas-Colell will be the Economy and Universities Minister. ESADE professor and international consultant, Francesc Xavier Mena will be in charge of Business and Employment. Socialist Ferran Mascarell accepted Mas’ offer to become the next Culture Minister. The Christian-Democrats hold the Vice Presidency and responsibilities on Public Administration, Relations with Spain, Agriculture and the Environment.

The company will continue to operate 64 routes and maintain the 4 million annual passengers at the Girona airport.

La Caixa, the first Catalan savings bank, is “open to all opportunities” offered by the new legislation.

Esther and Dylan Jeannotte are celebrating Christmas this year in New York with their two children. While their Christmas celebrations are very American, native Catalan Esther is slowly incorporating Catalan traditions such as the ‘caga tió’ and ‘sopa de galets’.

FC Barcelona have had an incredible year as they have won no less than 44 of their 58 official matches in 2010 while losing just five and drawing nine. That run has led to win the Spanish league title and the Spanish Super Cup.

Finally, after having tried in 2003 and 2006, Artur Mas is invested President of the Catalan Government. The economist has been working in the public sector since 1982. He was a type of Catalan Prime Minister between 2001 and 2003, in the last government of the CiU’s historic leader Jordi Pujol. In fact, Pujol elected Mas as his successor, an image that Mas finally abandoned. During these 7 years leading the opposition, Mas built his own profile and is perceived as a serious, efficient and moderate politician.

The leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition, Convergència i Unió (CiU), is invested President of the Catalan Government by the Catalan Parliament. He will take office next Monday, the 27th of December. The members of his government have not been announced yet. Mas was invested by votes from CiU MPs and the abstention from the Catalan Socialist Party’s MPs.

Marc, Catalan, and Elke, German, reside together in Berlin with their daughter Matilda. This year they will spend their first Christmas in Catalonia.

Freight will be able to be transported with the same train using the new European-standard railway connecting the Barcelona Harbour to the French network. With the new freight infrastructure, the journey between Barcelona and Lyon will be reduced by 6 hours and will eliminate the extra costs of changing trains in the Pyrenees. Barcelona is thus greater consolidated as the main Mediterranean harbour and as a logistic platform for freight.

The company will open a centre for industrial automation engineering in Reus. The centre is scheduled to open in 2011 and will employ around 30 qualified professionals.

Spain’s Highest Court sentences on a case about 3 parents who wanted their children to be taught in Spanish at Catalan public schools. The decision breaks the principle of using Catalan as the language of instruction in Catalan schools. This model has been in place for the last 30 years and guarantees knowledge of both the Catalan and Spanish languages by all pupils, as exam records have been proving. Now, Spain’s Supreme Court is interpreting the Spanish Constitutional Court’s sentence from last June, which stated that Catalan was a teaching language but that Spanish should also be. The fear in Catalonia is that the country will split into 2 separated language communities and social groups will not understand Catalan.

Artur Mas will become the 129th Catalan President tomorrow. The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) will facilitate the investiture of the leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU). PSC and CiU agreed that the Socialist would participate in the negotiations between Catalonia and Spain. The agreement would also involve the new Catalan Electoral Law.

FC Barcelona and Athletic Club have drawn 0-0 at the Camp Nou in a game marked by the clearly different styles of the two sides. The quarter finalists will be decided at San Mamés in two weeks’ time.