barcelona

On Thursday, Barcelona's City Council announced the inclusion of 228 historical and iconic commercial establishments in the new catalogue for protection of the city's urban heritage. However, 161 of the 389 shops initially identified were left out. The aim is to prevent the shops from disappearing due to the pressure of the rental market and therefore being transformed into a multinational franchise. The new catalogue, which will have 3 levels of protection, is part of a special plan for the protection and promotion of urban quality, due to be approved before the end of 2015 (because of May's municipal elections). The plan also identifies a series of areas where limited interventions will be allowed in order to preserve the quality of the urban environment. Among them are Ciutat Vella, Eixample's central area, Sagrada Família and the historical centres of Gràcia, Sant Andreu, Poblenou and Poble-sec.

FIATC Joventut was one of the most important basketball teams in Spain and Europe throughout the Seventies and the Nineties, but an economic crisis took them out of basketball’s elite in 1998. Sixteen years later, Joventut, known as 'la Penya', has completed one of the best first halves of the regular season in its history, is playing entertaining basketball and has impressed everybody at the King Cup in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, winning against the host Herbalife Gran Canaria and coming very close to defeating Real Madrid and reaching the final. Along with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, is one of only three Spanish teams to have won the Euroleague. With its ups and downs, the club has been changing its commercial name since the 1970s, being known as Montigalà Joventut, Festina Joventut, DKV Joventut and FIATC Joventut, among others.

The average price of houses and flats in Catalonia was 2.2% higher at the end of 2014 than at the end of the previous year, according to the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). At Spanish level, housing prices increased by 1.8% in 2014. It is the first time since 2007 that housing prices have increased both in Catalonia and Spain as a whole. In quarterly terms, the price of flats and houses in Catalonia increased by 0.6% between the end of September and end of December. At Spanish level, they increased by 0.2% in the same period. The recovery of the real estate market is a particularly strong indicator of the economic recovery in Catalonia and Spain, especially taking into account the collapse of the construction sector during the years of economic crisis.

The "La Caixa" Foundation has opened Moche Art from Ancient Peru. Gold, Myths and Rituals, an exhibition to be hosted at CaixaForum in Barcelona until the 7th of June. The exhibition includes 200 pieces of pre-Incan Peruvian art from the collection of the Lima-based Larco Museum. According to its curator Ulla Holmquist, the exhibition is conceived "as a route to understanding the Andean worldview through art". The launch of the event coincides with the recent opening of Barcelona's Museum of World Cultures, which hosts a permanent exhibition of more than 500 pieces from the artistic heritage and traditions of Asia, Africa, the Americas and Oceania. The Museum of World Cultures occupies two Gothic palaces located in the Born neighbourhood, just next to the Picasso Museum.

FC Barcelona took full advantage of an opponent that had the courage to come out and attack, storming to an electric 6–1 victory over Rayo Vallecano in front of a packed house at Camp Nou and vaulting them past Real Madrid into first place in the Spanish League standings, for the first time in four months. Messi net three, Suárez added two and Piqué scored one goal. The Argentinian tied Cristiano Ronaldo as the Spanish League's top goal scorer with 30 targets each. In addition, Messi became all-time hat-trick leader for Spanish clubs in official games, with 32 hat tricks in total. Besides, Messi also became the all-time hat trick record in League games, getting 24 and passing Cristiano Ronaldo's 23.

The 2015 Mobile World Congress, which takes place each year in Barcelona, has shattered the records by hosting more than 93,000 visitors from 200 different countries, as reported by event organiser GSMA on Thursday, the last day of the trade fair. Thisyear’s attendance exceeded by 9% the figures recorded in 2014 and by 45% the number of people who visited the event during its first edition in 2006. The 2015 Mobile World Congress confirmed itself as the global platform for the cell-phone-related industries, where a large number of news and products were unveiled for the first time by world-class companies such as Samsung, HTC, Sony, Microsoft and Google. Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Sundar Pichai (Google) and Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia) were among this edition's main speakers.

FC Barcelona are headed back to the final of the Spanish Cup. Neymar’s two goals sandwich Suárez’s strike. The Brazilian scored two minutes after the opening kick off and again two minutes from the final whistle to lead the Catalans to a commanding 3–1 win over hosts Villarreal in the return leg of the Spanish Cup quarter-final. Barça duplicate score from first leg to knock out Villarreal 6–2 on aggregate, booking Barça a trip to the title-match where they'll face Athletic Club Bilbao. Jonathan Dos Santos managed the lone goal in the losing effort. Villarreal played the last 25 minutes with ten men as Tomás Pina was sent off after a vicious tackle on Neymar. And that wasn’t the only close-call for Barça, as Sergio Busquets left the game on a stretcher after what appeared to be an ugly ankle injury.

The Catalan companies on show at the Mobile World Congress this week not only include recently created start-ups. Some companies have been in the business for over 20 years with delegations in 19 countries, such as the registering operator Lleida.net. There are other projects on show which, although already active, have not been launched completely and are still in beta form, such as King of App, an open source app creator. Neither of them are based in Barcelona, but rather in Lleida in Western Catalonia. Most of the Catalan companies on show at the MWC are at one of the stands of the Catalan Government, which gives these companies space to promote their products either at the general exhibition or in the App Planet hall. But others such as Lleida.net set up their own stands.

On the second day of the Mobile World Congress, which is the largest event of the mobile industry and is currently being held in Barcelona, the GSMA announced the Global Mobile Award winners in more than 30 categories and Blackberry presented a new phone oriented towards the business sector. If Then This That won the Best Overall Prize in the app category and LG’s G3 and the iPhone 6 shared the Best Smartphone award. In the featured keynotes speech, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales remarked on the importance of minority languages on the internet. In addition, Wales presented his project to provide free access to Wikipedia in developing countries, following Monday's announcements by Google and Facebook to also provide internet access to the entire planet.

The two sides meet in El Madrigal in the second leg of their Spanish Cup semi-final on Wednesday evening (20h CET). The blaugranes have the upper hand in the tie following their 3-1 win in the first leg last month at Camp Nou. In addition, Barça have the advantage in their Champions League last 16 tie against Manchester City following their 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium. Their 3-1 away victory in the Spanish League at the weekend over Granada has allowed them to cut Real Madrid’s lead at the top of the league to just two points. Now, only Villarreal stand between them and a 36^th appearance in the Spanish Cup final. Coach Luis Enrique has his entire first team squad available with the exception of the injured Thomas Vermaelen.

In a keynotes speech held at the 2015 Mobile World Congress, which is currently taking place in Barcelona, CEOs from network carriers such as Huawei, South Korea's KT and Orange have explained their vision for facilitating huge increases in speed and the number of connections supported by network carriers over the next five years. This new standard, which is being developed as a collaboration between the industry’s main actors, should be available for the upcoming 2018 and 2020 Winter and Summer Olympics and will substitute 4G. The Tokyo Olympics will be the first commercial test. The South Korean carrier KT will also undertake a test at the 2018 Winter Olympics, which will be held in Pyeongchang.

Dozens of Catalan companies are on show at the 2015 Mobile World Congress, which is taking place in Barcelona until Thursday. Many of them are gaining notable success in international markets. For instance, an innovative multi-functional grip for smartphones to take photos, which is made in Barcelona, is selling not only throughout Europe but also in the USA, Canada, Hong Kong and Thailand. This grip, called the ‘Shoulderprod’, is, at the same time, a tripod mount, a hand grip for best stability in videos and photos, and a versatile stand with different positions. The mobile, tablet and TV games company Digital Legends has been internationally successful too. Besides, the Aparca&go app changes the concept of finding a parking space, since the user searches on the map the car parks nearest to its destination and makes a reservation.

The new flagship phone from Samsung will come in two models, the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge, according to the announcement that the South Korean company made in Barcelona at the beginning of the Mobile World Congress, the largest annual event of the cell-phone-related industries. Microsoft debuted two new mid-range Lumia phones, the 640 and the 640 XL models, which include the new Windows 10. Google announced its intention to enter the carrier market, with a new approach that uses the existent carrier networks and innovative Wi-Fi projects. In addition, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg explained his project to bring the internet to developing countries and connect them through his social network.

The major players in the cell-phone-related industries such as Samsung, Sony, Microsoft and Google are currently presenting their new products in Barcelona, consolidating the city’s position as a true meeting point for the sector. For the 10^th consecutive year, the biggest event in the world of mobile industries kicked off in the Catalan capital on Monday. The 2015 Mobile World Congress, organised by GSMA, will be in Barcelona until Thursday, breaking all records during this time. 90,000 attendees are expected from 201 different countries, representing more than 2,000 companies distributed across more than 100,000 square metres at Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue. Furthermore, the event has raised the attention of the world's main media and trade publications, with more than 4,000 accredited journalists in attendance at this year’s edition. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Vice President, Sundar Pichai, were Monday's main speakers.

Barcelona-based Abertis, a multinational company specialised in the management of toll roads and telecommunications infrastructure, has reached an agreement to purchase 7,377 mobile phone towers in Italy at a total cost of €693 million. The Catalan group – which saw its net profits rise last year to €655 million – will acquire 90% of the shares of Galata, the subsidiary of the Italian operator Wind that owns the telephone towers. Abertis will thus strengthen its presence in the transalpine country and become the "largest European operator of telecommunications infrastructure for mobile telephony and audiovisual broadcasting", as the company announced through a press release.