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For the whole of Spain, Autonomous Communities’ public debt represents 10.2% of Spain’s GDP in the 3rd term of 2010. It is the highest it has been since 1990. However, the largest part of the public debt comes from the Spanish Government, which represents 44.1% of Spain’s GDP. Finally, public debt from local public administrations only represented 3.4% of Spain’s GDP. In total, Spain’s public debt represents 57.7% of the country’s GDP, much lower than in the UK, Germany or Ireland.

‘Extraordinary Film Studios’ may open its doors as early as 2011 and employ some 80 people. The company already has three films scheduled for the new studios.

The G! Tourism Awards of Girona aim to promote the attractiveness of the Costa Brava and the Pyrenees. They honour audiovisual and print media reports related with the region. The awards ceremony took place at the La Sitja de Fornells de la Selva Civic and Cultural Centre.

The main Catalan airport received 15,1% more passengers in November, in comparison with last year. However, Girona and Reus airports are losing passengers.

FC Barcelona will meet Arsenal in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League with the first leg taking place at the Emirates on February 16 and the return game in Camp Nou on March 8.

As expected, Núria de Gispert became the first woman to chair the Catalan Parliament, which has its origins in the 13th Century and is one of the oldest Parliaments in the world. The Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) holds 4 of the 7 positions within the Bureau, including the chair. The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) has 2 posts and the Catalan People’s Party (PPC), 1. The 4 smaller parties were not represented in the Bureau.

The Barcelona Centre of Contemporary Culture will see its budget decrease by 4.5% this year. Despite this, the centre has planned several exhibitions for 2011, including several photography exhibitions and conferences on themes such as immigration and the crisis.

Fira de Barcelona has just approved a new strategic plan for the next four years. The plan foresees increasing the turnover rate by around 50% and includes taking the Fira de Barcelona brand name to countries around the world.

Diverse Catalan singers, musicians and directors performed in Leipzig, Hamburg, Cologne and Weimar on Thursday. Tenor singer Josep Carreras teamed up with Andrea Bocelli and David Garret to raise funds and awareness for the fight against leukaemia in Leipzig. Jordi Savall played Jean-Philippe Rameau in Cologne and Montserrat Caballé sung in Hamburg.

Valencia-born architect Rafael Guastavino incorporated the Catalan vault system in over 300 buildings in Manhattan. Famous buildings such as the Grand Central Station, Saint John the Divine Cathedral, the Queensboro Bridge and the City Hall subway station, were built using this technique popularised in the U.S. by Guastavino.

In the Northern town of Catalonia, close to Girona, Pere Puig killed his employer and his employer’s son at a bar with a hunting riffle. Puig then left the bar and shot and killed 2 bank employees. The police arrested the man, who immediately confessed to the crimes. Puig had not been paid since May and was scheduled to be fired in the next few days. The Town Council met urgently and declared 3 days of mourning.

The price increase is the result of the start of the winter season, in particular regarding clothing and shoe sales.

After the first 15 matches of the new campaign FC Barcelona have made the best ever start in the history of the league with a record of 40 points.

The last monthly report by La Caixa, the main Catalan financial institution, also stresses that the currency war should end in order to avoid a protectionism escalation. It foresees a Spanish GDP growth of 0.7% for 2011.

The Catalan Government approved the continued operation of short distance trains in the Barcelona metropolitan area and regional trains within Catalonia by the public Spanish train operator Renfe. Short-distance trains have been a responsibility of the Catalan Government since the 1st of January of 2010. Regional trains will be transferred on the first day of 2011. The train service ownership will thus change, but the service provider will continue being Renfe.