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The Catalan Minister for Territory and Sustainability, Josep Rull, assured that the Government will do everything in its power to keep the ban on bullfighting in Catalonia, which has been reversed this Thursday by the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC). Rull insisted that the executive’s will is to have “a country in which those shows which imply death and animal torture will not be allowed”. The civic platform 'Prou!' (“Enough!” in Catalan), which presented the Popular Legislative Initiative to the Parliament that led to the prohibition of bullfighting in Catalonia, also reacted to the TC’s decision. The platform considered it “a shameful return to the past” and described it as a “political decision”. The TC considered the Parliament to have “exceeded its competences” and “restricted the citizens’ rights and freedoms” when banning bullfighting in 2010 and defines bullfighting as an “intangible cultural heritage”.

A sweet victory for Luis Enrique on Wednesday night, soundly defeating his friend and former teammate, Pep Guardiola, 4–0, in the third Group C game for FC Barcelona and Manchester City. Lionel Messi, of course, was the star of the show, scoring thrice to leave not just his former manager on the losing end but his leaving his current manager almost lost for words. “He was decisive,” Luis Enrique said after the game. “He was involved in all the game’s key moments.” Guardiola was handily defeated at Camp Nou for the second time in two matches since leaving his lifelong club five seasons ago.  Besides Messi’s seventh career Champions League hat-trick, Neymar Jr added a late goal.

The 20^th edition of Barcelona Meeting Point (BMP), the international and professional real estate trade fair in Spain, opened this Wednesday. The inauguration was marked by contention. The Catalan representatives decided not to attend it. The Catalan Minister for Public Administration, Meritxell Borràs, and the Catalan Minister for Planning and Sustainability, Josep Rull, informed the President of the BMP of their decision through a letter. The reason for their absence is that by Tuesday, less than 24 hours before the start of the fair, the organisers had still not informed the Catalan representatives about the time of the event, as they were waiting to know the agenda of the Spanish representative. The Catalan Ministers assessed this lack of information as “disregard and informality towards members of the Government of Catalonia and all the attendees”.

Camp Nou welcomes back Pep Guardiola on Matchday 3 of the Champions League for what promises to be an exhilarating game. “There are games against opponents in which possession is not that important. It will be against Manchester City, but that does not mean that who has more possession will win”, said Barça’s coach, Luís Enrique, on Tuesday. Most manager’s fear facing Leo Messi, but Guardiola spoke of his joy to see former star back: “It’s always a pleasure to see him play and I am happy he is fit again,” before adding that, in his opinion, Barça are “the best team in the world”. Barça are looking for their third straight win of the campaign to consolidate their place at the top of the group while Manchester City will be craving a good result after drawing away to bottom side Celtic last time out.

On a day like today, 30 years ago, Barcelona achieved its long-time dream to become the venue for the Olympic Games. It was 1.30 pm on Friday the 17^th of October 1986 when the President of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, announced that Barcelona had just won the nomination to host the major sports event in 1992. The proclamation was followed by an outburst of joy in Catalonia and also in the Palais de Beaulie of Lausanne, the venue of the IOC session. Barcelona won the race over five other cities, Paris, Brisbane (Australia), Belgrade, Amsterdam and Birmingham, and by doing so it gained a place on the world map, undertook a major urban transformation and breathed into its citizens a feeling of great pride in their city.  

The Sagrada Família is one of the most emblematic, but also one of the most polemic, buildings in Barcelona. With up to 10,000 visitors per day, more than 3 million every year, the most iconic building by Antoni Gaudí is a nightmare for neighbours, who have to deal with congestion in their streets and are afraid that the temple construction works may be expanded beyond the current enclosure. Recently, though, a new controversy has also arisen. After more than a century under construction, Barcelona City Hall has announced that it will request the basilica board to pay taxes and have a building permit, which it does not currently possess. According to the estimations, this licence will demand €840,000 of the Barcelona Archbishop, €8.4 million by 2026, the year in which the works are supposed to be completed.

Barcelona Games World has kicked off this Thursday at the Montjuic Exhibition Centre in the Catalan Capital. In its first edition in Barcelona, after the organisers decided to move it from Madrid, the fair expects to surpass the 90,000 visitors that attended Madrid Games Week last year. The event, which will last until the 9^th of October, will count on the participation of 155 exhibitors setting up showcases by brands such as Electronic Arts, Nintendo and Badland Games. The fair will serve as a connecting point between businesses, facilitating the market for professionals who work in the field, but there will also be room for amateur and professional video games competitions and conferences by key gurus of the video game industry. 

Over 50 speakers from all around the globe are to attend this week the Second World Gaudí Congress. From the 4th to the 7th of October the Historic Building of the University of Barcelona is hosting this biennial event organised by the Gaudí Research Institute (TGRI) and the University of Barcelona, ??where Antoni Gaudí received the title of architect in 1878. One of the main attractions of the congress is the thesis that the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of the Church of Sant Joan de Gràcia, in Barcelona, is a work by Gaudí, an idea defended by the biographer of the Catalan architect, Josep Maria Tarragona. This second edition has as a novelty the incorporation of the three-day session in Shanghai, which took place between the 21st and the 23rd of June, in collaboration with several Chinese universities of Tsinghua and with the support of the City of Shanghai. 

Barça turned up at Balaídos needing no reminding of the threat that Celta’s speedy attack could pose, having suffered a 4-1 defeat last time they were in town, but few could have expected what took place in the first half this time around. Despite a good start, warning signs of Celta’s growing attacking threat began to appear as the half grew on. And when Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s pass out to Sergio Busquets was a touch wide of the midfield man, Iago Aspas was more than happy to step in and play Pione Sisto through on goal, who made no mistake with a neat finish. A spirited second half display saw FC Barcelona so nearly stage an epic comeback against Celta Vigo, but it turned out to be another unhappy visit to Balaídos in a seven-goal thriller. Three rapid first-half goals from the hosts caught Barça off guard and, while Luis Enrique’s men twice rallied back to reduce the deficit to a solitary goal, they ultimately left empty-handed.

Barcelona battled back from a goal down and scored twice in the second half to beat hosts Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1 in their Champions League Group C match on Wednesday. The victory is Barça’s second in as many games in the group stage. The Catalans continue to lead Group C, and have now scored nine goals and conceded just one in the two games combined. Despite the absence of the injured Lionel Messi, Arda Turan and Gerard Piqué gave the Catalans their second win in two group matches to top the standings, after their opening 7-0 demolition of Celtic. The late heroics snapped Borussia's 11-game home winning streak and gave goalkeeper Mark-André ter Stegen — who was facing the club where he spent his entire life, from age four until he joined Barça in the summer of 2014 — a homecoming to remember.

The representatives of pro-independence radical left CUP in Barcelona’s City Hall, CUP-Capgirem Barcelona, will ask for the removal of the iconic statue of Christopher Columbus, located at the end of the Rambla street, close to Barcelona’s port. They feel that the 60-metre-high monument, which was installed in the Catalan capital in 1888 to coincide with the Universal Exposition, “praises the conquest of America”. The three representatives from CUP-Capgirem Barcelona will suggest changing the Columbus monument for a memorial to the indigenous peoples of the Americas and the slaves brought to that continent, and their resistance in the face of “imperialism, oppression and segregation”. Liberal ‘Convergència’ have already opposed the removal of the monument and left wing pro-independence ERC said they will study CUP-Capgirem’s proposal, which will be discussed during a plenary session this Friday.

Barcelona’s battle against illegal apartment rentals has recently taken a new turn.The European Holiday Home Association (EHHA) filed last Thursday a formal complaint with the European Commission against the “restrictions” on the renting of apartments for tourists in Barcelona. The city launchedlast July an action plan against illegal tourist accommodations. Residents consider them to be the main cause for the presence of tourists in quiet neighbourhoods and the disruption of neighbours’ tranquillity. Up to 30 million people visit Barcelona each year. Although tourism represents a significant revenue stream, the increasing number of reported incidents of noise, public urination and nudity in some spots is too much to handle. Barcelona’s action plan aims at detecting illegal sublets as well as denouncing platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway for offering them on their platforms. The City Council has threatened to fine the websites €600,000 each, despite Airbnb contributing €740 million to Barcelona´s revenue in 2015. 

Great success at this year’s edition of La Mercè Festival Barcelona. The festival was closed on Sunday with a Pyromusical performance in which fireworks, light and music were synchronised. Around 90,000 people gathered to see the show, which honoured Paris, the guest city of the 2016 celebration, and David Bowie and Prince, who passed away in January and April, respectively. The festival had a French and international accent and included performances of French artists like the street and circus art cooperative 2r2 and the prestigious theatre group Company Théâtre Silvia Monfort. However, during the celebration there were also several Catalan traditional activities such as human towers.

FC Barcelona overcame the absence of Leo Mesi and secured the win at Sporting Gijón on Saturday. The Argentine is going to be out for three weeks but was not missed, as the Barça team scored five away from home for the second week in a row. Luis Suárez, Rafinha, Neymar (2) and Arda Turan were the scorers of the goals that allowed FC Barcelona to achieve victory, three of them coming in the last 10 minutes. After the midweek draw with Atlético de Madrid, Luis Enrique made five changes to the starting eleven. One of those was Rafinha, who started in place of Messi. The Brazilian justified his election when, on 32 minutes, he scored the second goal.

The surgical facilities at the Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona were created in the 50’s. Now, half of a century later, the hospital has launched a new surgical ward for highly complex surgery. It has 10,000 square metres and 19 operating theatres with cutting-edge technology. The coordinator of surgical activity, Joan Anton Huete, said that the new block will admit “a larger number of patients” and, therefore, waiting lists will be reduced. The Hospital expects to conduct more and better operations, because the surgery will be less aggressive, a fact that can make the postoperative care easier and shorten the hospitalisation period. The new surgical block has represented an investment of €37 million.