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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.

The MACBA, located in a Richard Meier building in Barcelona’s city centre, has a wide collection of works, particularly focusing on art from the last 25 years. The museum will double its exhibition space for its ‘permanent’ collection in 2011. The MACBA also announced some of its upcoming temporary exhibitions for next year.

The metro wagons will be fabricated in Alstom Transport’s industrial centre, located in the Catalan town of Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, in Barcelona metropolitan area.

Barcelona resident Alfredo Zucchi wins first place for his story 'Milena è una bomba' in the ‘Sea of Words’ contest, organised by the European Institute for the Mediterranean (IEMed) and the Anna Lindh Foundation.

The German chemical company will concentrate its production in Madrid and Guadalajara. BASF will also restructure its sales, marketing and administrations departments, also located close to Barcelona, in l’Hospitalet de Llobregat.

Information published by the Catalan Ministry of Public Works shows that real estate transcations went down 22% in the third trimester after 3 trimesters of consecutive increases.

“Our people have nothing to do with that activity and mentality”, affirmed the president of the Islamic community. WikiLeaks’ articles were picturing Catalonia as the main Yihadist area in Spain and were focusing on Badalona and the Pakistani community.

According to the President of the Associació Territori del Sénia, the olive oil has a smooth and balanced flavour. 12,000 bottles of olive oil were produced this harvest. They will be sold in speciality stores.

The World Cheese Awards, one of the most important awards in the world, recognised 9 Catalan cheeses, almost double the amount from last year. These are the most important awards in the cheese-making sector. They confirm the growth of Catalan cheese’s international projection.

A Catalan inventor has created a brand new system that transforms humidity into water, Hydromatch. It acts like a giant air conditioning system, able to produce 500,000 liters an hour. According to its inventor, the machinery can work almost everywhere with at least 20% of humidity, which includes many deserts.

FC Barcelona recorded their ninth consecutive victory as they eased past Real Sociedad on Sunday evening to go back to the top of the table thanks to two goals from Lionel Messi and one each from David Villa, Andrés Iniesta and Bojan Krkic.

Catalan Christmas tree growers have been greatly affected by the crisis, with an almost 50% sales drop in recent years. Growers hope that exporting Christmas trees to countries like France and Portugal will help them come out of the crisis.

The second most important person within the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition, Convergència i Unió (CiU), will not form part of the new Catalan Government. Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida will remain in Madrid as the CiU’s spokesperson in the Spanish Parliament. He will be the Catalan Government’s main negotiator with the Spanish Prime Minister, Zapatero. The new Catalan Parliament resulting from the 28th of November elections will be formed next Thursday and the 129th Catalan President will very likely be elected before Christmas.

Lleida began applying the new municipal regulation yesterday, becoming the first Spanish city to do so. The city’s Socialist mayor Àngel Ros says the new rule is a “pedagogical” tool rather than a punishment.

The Spanish Cinema Now Film Festival began last Tuesday in New York’s Lincoln Center. The festival is honouring Mallorcan film director Agustí Villaronga this year, who mainly shoots his films in Catalan language.