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Josep Guardiola is only thinking about FC Barcelona's game against Almería on Saturday instead of paying any attention to the encounter with Real Madrid the following week.

Artur Mas, José Montilla, Joan Puigcercós, the PPC, ICV-EUiA, CiU, Ciutadans, the Catalan Parliament, the Catalan Government… What is all this? Those not familiar with the Catalan political ecosystem maybe become easily lost. Here you will find some keys to better understand what’s going on these days.

The president of the Institute of Catalan Studies, Salvador Giner, responds, “Catalan is spoken by 10 million people in 4 different countries”.

The Cuban pianist presented his new album ‘Chucho’s Steps’ at his performance during the Barcelona International Jazz Festival. He was accompanied by ‘The Afro-Cuban Messengers’.

The Masella and La Molina ski areas will open their slopes for skiers this weekend. They expect to sell over 2 million ski passes.

Miquel Valls, president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, says, “Catalonia is the first economic region in Spain, it makes up 19% of the GDP and has solidarity with the rest of the regions”.

A Catalan company offers daily delivery of healthy and fresh vegetables harvested from the orchards to the big cities of Barcelona and Madrid. The family Barrabeig and Barraquer has found a niche market in the agricultural sector.

The ski vacation tour operator plans to operate 6 flights a week from London, Manchester, Birmingham, Dublin and Belfast to the Lleida-Alguaire Airport. This new airport serves Lleida city as well as Lleida's Pyrenees.

The Catalan savings bank is the first financial institution in Spain to fully complete its merger project. Fernando Casado will succed Narcís Serra. The vice-presidents of the savings bank were also nominated.

The university will be located in the historic Hospital de Sant Pau area, an Art-Nouveau gem and a hospital until two years ago. The United Nations University will centre on research in education, migration, youth and the role of media.

‘Els Pets’ played at the Palau de la Música, Barcelona’s symphonic auditorium on Tueday night. The audience was enthusiastic about the band’s performance. ‘Els Pets’ did not play their classics from the last 25 years, but rather singles from their newer albums.

Tomàs Molina, Catalan public television's weatherman, answers: “It only rains 100 days a year here, but when it does, it rains a lot, almost like Monsoon season in India.”

The Catalan airline company has added 17 new flight destinations within the last year. It has also kicked off a new and improved customer loyalty programme, ‘Spanair Star’.

The UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage declared the Catalan tradition of human castle building, or ‘castells’, as an element of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This recognition was also awarded to the Mallorcan ‘Sibil·la’ chant, the traditional dance Flamenco and the Mediterranean Diet.

In the last months, the Catalan branch of the Conservative People’s Party (PPC) raised controversy in breaking a taboo in Catalan-level politics: using immigration as a political tool. Many actions were performed earlier linking immigration with insecurity. such as spreading leaflets. Yesterday a videogame where the PPC's leader was shooting at illegal immigrants was put online and, after the complains, shut down. Last week, the PPC’s President and candidate, Alícia Sánchez-Camacho proposed an “integration contract” for immigrants that, if not respected, will enable public powers to expel immigrants. The rest of the parties accused the PPC of being xenophobic and populist.