Summer of 2010 will be one of the best in terms of surface burned by fires. Forest fires only burned 351 hectares thanks to great efforts in prevention and extinction. Catalonia has a Mediterranean climate with hot and dry summers. This year’s wet and snowy winter could have been fatal.
The Spanish Parliament has formally asked the Spanish Government to decentralise the management of the Barcelona airport and have Catalan institutions deeply involved. All the groups in the Parliament, including the ruling Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), have voted in favour of the motion presented by the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Party (CiU) with the exception of the Conservative and Spanish Nationalist People’s Party (PP).
The Catalan financial entity approves 'cold merger' with 6 other Spanish savings banks in a move expected to create 'positive' results for Catalonia. The new savings banks will keep the brands of the 7 merging entities. The project is lead by Caja Madrid, which was Spain’s second savings bank after the Catalan La Caixa
Today the new name and image of the second Catalan savings bank as a result of the Caixa Catalunya, Caixa Tarragona and Caixa Manresa merger was presented. CatalunyaCaixa will be the new brand, which has been decided upon after negotiations and strategic studies. CatalunyaCaixa has not yet decided if it will look for more capital.
The Paris Delegation of the Catalan Government celebrated the National Day, which is on the 11th of September, in an official reception this Tuesday. The event attracted over 300 people from French and Catalan political and social life.
The Catalan Government has passed a decree that sets a minimum requirement for the Catalan language when hiring new university teachers. Visiting lecturers and current teachers are excluded. Universities will have flexibility in certifying the level and will be able to set individual exceptions.
The Sónar Music Festival of advanced music and multimedia art wrapped up its Chicago edition this weekend, filling the famous Millennium Park with concerts, projections and art. Festival organisers are very satisfied with the outcome in Chicago and are now planning editions in cities like London and Tokyo.
Catalan fashion designers Custo Barcelona and Toni Francesc are currently exhibiting their Spring-Summer collections at New York Fashion Week. Custo Barcelona’s collection is inspired by geometric shapes and graphic prints, while Toni Francesc seeks out environmental stability in his pieces this year.
Fewer trips, cheaper and shorter. More and more Spanish companies are choosing low-cost airlines when it comes to business travel. The Catalan company Vueling has felt the effects of this trend and already has 40% of its passengers travel for work-related purposes.
233,538 students in 954 programmes throughout Catalonia will begin the 2010/2011 school year in the new European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The EHEA is an objective of the Bologna Process to create a common and compatible university system throughout Europe.
The Catalan Ministry of Social Care calculates a total of 80,000 diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease patients in Catalonia, a number that is expected to double in the next 10 years. The Ministry is now promoting a new attention model for Alzheimer’s patients based on individualised therapy and family collaboration.
The data compares to July of 2009 and confirms an 8-month trend of continuous increases. For the rest of Spain, there has been an increase of 16.4%. This data confirms construction market’s recovery.
The 11th of September is Catalonia’s National Day, commemorating the day that Catalan troops were defeated while defending Barcelona in 1714. This day Catalonia stopped being recognised as a nation and lost its self-government. Pre-campaigning for the upcoming elections was present throughout this year’s celebrations. The celebration had 2 institutional milestones: the flower tribute to Rafael Casanova, who was Barcelona’s Head Councilman in 1714, and the institutional ceremony at Ciutadella Park. Besides, many institutional and civil society activities were organised throughout Catalonia, such as concerts, demonstrations and tributes.
Economic crisis is hitting some families unmercifully. 40,000 families that could not pay back their mortgage have lost their homes, according to a study made by the General Workers’ Union (UGT) and a consumers association presented today. A judicial procedure that permits banks and savings banks to survey homes and put them up for auction for 50% of their value is putting thousands of families in the risk of social exclusion.
At the ceremony held Thursday night in Barcelona, U.S. novelist Harlan Coben received the award for the RBA International Prize for Crime Writing for his novel ‘Live Wire’. The new book reflects on the limits of sincerity and forgiveness and is part of his hit series starring his alter ego, private detective Myron Bolitar.