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From the 27th of February to the 2nd of March, the Catalan capital will host the 12th edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world’s largest event of the mobile and cell phone-related industries. Last year’s edition surpassed its record and registered 101,000 visitors, which passed through the 2,200 stands distributed across two different venues, L’Hospitalet Gran Via and Fira de Montjuic. This year due to the international terrorist alert, the security measures will be strongly increased. For the first time ever, some of the access will be protected with bollards and concrete fences to prevent vehicles from bursting in the facilities. The security measures will go beyond the MWC’s venues and extend to the neighbouring areas and those aimed at holding parallel activities. The number of security officers in the public transport will also be increased during the MWC’s week.

Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, the Leo Messi Foundation, the FC Barcelona Foundation and the IESE business school have joined forces to launch a campaign to get companies and the general public to help finance the new SJD Pediatric Cancer Center that is being planned for the city of Barcelona. The hospital, which is set to be Europe’s largest dedicated to infantile cancer and the third-biggest worldwide, will cost 30 MEUR. Once functioning, the centre could care for around 400 patients within its 5,137m² installation, which will be located next to Hospital Sant Joan de Déu. If the deadlines are met, the construction of the new centre will start in the second half of 2017 and be ready by 2019. The facility will allow the increase of the recovery rate for infantile cancer, which is currently around 80%, help develop new drugs and reduce the side effects of treatments used. 

In 23 games against FC Barcelona, coach Unai Emery only had one win. Now he has two. And it’s a win that cannot be begrudged. His Paris Saint Germain side was simply the best on the day, and a 4-0 win in Tuesday’s Champions League first leg puts the French club on very good course for a place in the quarter finals. All Barça can do is lick the wounds and start thinking about March 8, when the action resumes at Camp Nou. It’s an almost impossible task that they have before them, but if there is any team in the world that’s capable of doing the impossible, then that’s FC Barcelona. Goals from Di Maria (2), Draxler and Cavani make it a miserable night at the Parc des Princes, leaving Barça with a massive job to do at Camp Nou in March. But if anyone can do this, then Barça can…

1-1 draw against Atlético puts blaugranes into Copa del Rey final against Celta or Alavés. The blaugranes have reached the domestic cup final in seven of the last nine seasons and are currently the team who have won the competition on most occasions, 28 to be precise. Luis Suárez’s tap-in just before half-time was enough to see the Catalans into fourth consecutive Copa del Rey final despite late drama which saw the visitors equalise and the Uruguayan sent off. The omens were strongly in Barça’s favour, with Atlético failing to win in their previous 16 games at the Camp Nou, but Los Colchoneros knew they had to go for broke, with a 2-1 deficit needing to be overturned, which led to an enthralling cup match. “It’s been a tough process and all our opponents have caused us problems,” recalled Luis Enrique about a run to the final that has seen Barça eliminate Hércules, Athletic Club, Real Sociedad and most recently Atlético Madrid.

Barça hold a 2–1 aggregate advantage as they look to deliver a knockout punch at home for the fourth straight round and continue down the path to a rare Copa del Rey three-peat. In this season's Copa, which Camp Nou has been the scene of an impressive trio of second leg victories — in the last 32, in the last 16, and in the quarter-finals. And on Tuesday night, at 9.00pm CET the Catalans, now in the semis, hope to vanquish visiting Atlético Madrid as well, and continue their chase for a third straight title. Neymar Jr misses the game through suspension, while Rafinha is out with a fractured nose sustained at the weekend but Sergio Busquets, Andrés Iniesta and Lucas Digne are back to full fitness and get the nod. 

The port of Barcelona closed last year with unprecedented figures. The transport of shipping containers rose by 14.5% with a record figure of 2.2 TEU containers handled. This according to the data presented on Tuesday by the Port President, Sixte Cambra, who said that exports rose by 3.8% while imports increased by 8.7%. The Asian-Oceania market now represents 77% of imports and 43% of exports from the port. In fact, China alone accounts for 43% of the import containers, with a 13% increase during 2016. It is also to China that most of the exporting containers go. The American market represents 25% of exports and 9% of imports from the Port of Barcelona. Catalan exports being handled from the Port of Barcelona are mainly food, equipment and chemicals. Imports are basically textiles, equipment and other manufactured products.

French designer Pierre Cardin’s musical show ‘Dorian Gray, beauty knows no mercy’ opened on Monday the 19th edition of 080 Barcelona Fashion, which will run until the 3rd of February. This year the Catalan fashion fair has chosen the National Theatre of Catalonia (TNC) as its special location in an attempt to boost the synergies between fashion and theatre. Cardin’s exceptional musical was one of the main events of the opening day, during which the French designer, an exceptional patron of 080 Barcelona Fashion, was awarded a special prize by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont. The first to open the catwalk were childrenswear brands such as Boboli and CND by Cóndor, which were followed by last year’s winners Blame and Miquel Suay, and by TCN.

Whether the result means that Barça have gained one point or dropped two is a matter of opinion after a dramatic lunchtime encounter on Sunday ended 1-1. Betis have yet to lose at home under Victor Sánchez and today we got to see why, but right at the final gasp Luis Suárez made sure the Catalans at least got something out of this game. However, the role of goal-line technology in football will be a much-discussed topic in the bars of Barcelona for the rest the day. And probably most of the week. Certainly once, and maybe twice, the Barça equaliser could have come much earlier had hawk-eye have been allowed to watch.

Barcelona has the highest rent prices in Spain, with an average of 17.36 euros per square metre in the Catalan capital’s old town. In fact, 6 of the 10 most expensive cities for renting are in Catalonia, including Gavà, Sant Cugat, Sitges, Castelldefels and l’Hospitalet del Llobregat. The Catalan Government wants to put an end to “exaggerated” increases in rent prices and is drafting a new law that will set a recommend rental price for an initial 115 towns. Landlords who respect the recommended price could enjoy property tax cuts or receive grants to renovate flats. Similarly, towns will be able to penalise those that decide to rent their properties above the set price. The councils of Barcelona, Tarragona, Lleida and Girona welcomed the initiative and are prepared to study the introduction of tax reductions for landlords that rent below the recommended price.

The annual report from real estate agency ‘Fotocasa’ revealed that in 2016 Barcelona topped the ranking of rent prices in the whole of Spain. The high levels of tourism and the rotation of those professionals who work for multinational companies and set up temporarily in the Catalan capital contributed to this rise. On average, renting in Barcelona costs 15.16 euros per square metre, which is 13.7% more than last year. Moreover, it is the first time in the historic series that the rent prices exceed those registered before the economic crisis in 2007. Renting in Catalonia was 14.6% more expensive in 2016 than in the previous year, a figure which is higher than the Spanish average. 

Goals from Suárez, Neymar and Messi secure an action-packed victory that keeps alive the quest for a third consecutive Copa del Rey trophy. Manager was delighted with his team's performance in winning a place in Friday's Copa del Rey quarter final draw - and can't help singling out Leo Messi for special praise. "From what we could see from the two legs, our qualification was the fairest outcome”, said Luis Enrique. "Leo Messi was as decisive as ever. I hope he stays here for many more years”, he added. After two setbacks, the first victory of 2017 is in the bag and Barça will be one of the eight names featuring in Friday’s draw.

The number of passengers whom passed through Barcelona El Prat Airport in 2016 grew by 11.2% in comparison to the previous year and set a record 44.1 million passengers. According to the Spanish Airport Authority (AENA) there were 307,864 operations registered in 2016, 6.6% more than in 2015 and both national (+11.4%) and international flights (+11.2%) grew in comparison to 2015. Cargo transportations also grew in 2016, increasing by 13.3% and totalling 135,754 tonnes. The busiest month was August, when 4.7 million passengers passed through El Prat Airport while February registered the highest growth; 2.7 million passengers used El Prat airport facilities that month, representing a 20.4% increase in comparison to the same month in 2015.

U2 will play at Barcelona’s Estadi Olimpic on the 18th of July, as part of their world tour to commemorate the 30th anniversary of their acclaimed album ‘The Joshua Tree’. This will be the only concert of the Irish band in Spain, which will perform the entire album at each of the 25 shows they have confirmed. “I've sung some of these songs a lot - but never all of them”, U2 frontman Bono explained. "It seems like we have come full circle from when The Joshua Tree songs were originally written, with global upheaval, extreme right-wing politics and some fundamental human rights at risk", added guitarist The Edge. The tour will start on the 12^th of May and former Oasis member, Noel Gallagher will be the opening act at the eight European shows. Tickets for the Barcelona concert will be released next Monday, the 16th of January.

The dispute between Barça and UEFA over the display of Catalan independence flags, ‘estelades’, at the Camp Nou is definitely on track to reach a solution. The international body announced an agreement with FC Barcelona to end this litigation. The pact means that Barça will drop its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) over the economic sanctions imposed on the club, while UEFA compromises to establish a working group “involving both clubs and national associations to review the disciplinary framework” that nowadays prevents the display of political symbols in stadiums. The conflict began in the Champions League final in Berlin last year when a Ukrainian UEFA delegate, Anna Bordiugova, who was not in the Olympic Stadium, denounced the exhibition of 'estelades' after watching the game on television.

Luis Enrique was thrilled with his team’s performance in the 4-1 win over rivals Espanyol at the Camp Nou. FC Barcelona upped their game in the second half to claim a memorable win, and the manager was quick to highlight his players’ output, saying that the team played “at a very high level”. “We cannot get accustomed to what Leo Messi does. It is something unique and, here at the Camp Nou, it happens every 15 days”, admitted Barça’s coach. The manager also confirmed that Messi, along with Luis Suárez, Neymar Jr and Piqué, will begin their Christmas vacations early as they will not be featuring against Hércules.