Carles Puyol played his 500th game for the club on Saturday against Villarreal and showed that at 32 he is still well on top of his game. Speaking to Barça TV he joked after the game: “I’m still only half way through my career”.
Aleksandra Tomanic, a German with Balkan roots, tells CNA what she thinks about Catalonia and nationalism. Muriel Casals, president of the main NGO promoting Catalan culture and expert in International Relations, responds to Tomanic.
The Camp Nou is the venue tonight (at 22.00) for a gripping encounter between Barça and Vila-real, second and third in the table respectively. Without Piqué or Milito, the big mystery is who will partner Puyol in the centre of defence.
Catalonia saw its prices rise by 8 decimals in October, contributing to an annual inflation rate of 2.6%. Prices for apparel and footwear rose by 10.4 points in Catalonia, playing a heavy role in the overall increase of prices.
International passengers increased by 22.6% and passengers within Spain by 11% in comparison to the figures of October 2009. However, these positive figures contradict those of the Girona and Reus airports, where passengers dropped by 4 and 16.5% respectively due to Ryanair’s reduction of flights and its instalment at Barcelona.
Finally, the official campaign began. Thursday at 23.59 all the parties were at the departure line. All polls point at a political change and the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition Convergència i Unió (CiU) will probably take power. The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) tries to avoid what the polls indicate as its worst result. The other parties fight to keep or get the third party status or their number of seats.
Because of the way FC Barcelona and Vila-real are playing, Josep Guardiola expects a good game on Saturday night. He has been impressed with what he’s seen of Garrido’s third place outfit.
On Sunday the 28th of November, Catalans will elect their new Parliament, which will then elect the new Catalan Government for the next 4-year term. These elections are very likely to change the Catalan political landscape, becoming a barometer of support for the Socialist party in Catalonia. The elections may have consequences for all of Spain. All the polls point to the main opposition force, the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition Convergència i Unió (CiU), as just below the absolute majority.
The ‘caganer’ is a figure in Catalan nativity scenes that is depicted in the act of defecation. The literal translation for ‘caganer’ means ‘shitter’. The tradition has existed in Catalonia and surrounding areas since the 17th century.
The Catalan transport infrastructure service company received a net profit of 561 million euros during the first 9 months of 2010. This figure is a 4.2% higher than the same period in 2009.
FC Barcelona eased into the next round of the Copa del Rey with a 5-1 triumph over Ceuta in their second leg encounter on Wednesday evening thanks to goals from Nolito, Gaby Milito, Pedro, Bojan Krkic and Lionel Messi.
In order to receive EU funding to subsidise part of the language courses for Erasmus students, the Spanish Government has labelled Valencian Catalan as a different language. Both dialects were considered as the same language in all previous documents to the EU, an opinion shared by all the universities
FC Barcelona tonight welcome Ceuta (at 22.00) where they will need to make the most of the 2-0 win in the away leg and qualify for the next round of the cup. The squad contains 12 first team players and five from the B.
The Catalan Government has approved a decree regulating tourist apartments. A flat rented for a period of less than 3 months is considered a “tourist” flat. As it performs an economic activity, it will now need a municipal license. Until now, tourist flats were regulated depending on the municipality.
The Barcelona International Boat Show begun last weekend and will run until the 14th of November. This year’s exhibit features ecological and sustainable boats.