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The Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA) is expanding into the nearby Àngels Square in the heart of the historic neighbourhood Raval. On 17^th July the museum unveiled the details of its future plans, which are designed to increase the flow of visitors to the art centre. These include increased exhibition spaces and the expansion of the existing MACBA Study Centre. The project is estimated to cost a total of €2 million, 1.5 million of which will be provided by Barcelona City Council, and it is hoped that this will increase the number of visitors to the museum by 15% per year.

Francesc ‘Tito’ Vilanova died on Friday in Barcelona after a long struggle against the illness which was first diagnosed two and a half years earlier. He was the manager in FC Barcelona’s record-breaking season of 2012/13, when the team got 100 points in the league, and contributed to the greatest Barça team of all time as assistant coach to Pep Guardiola. He won everybody’s admiration for his achievements in the football world, and later for his immense courage in the final years of his life. FC Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu spoke on behalf of the Board of Directors today when he said on social networks that “Tito Vilanova was a wonderful person, and will never be forgotten at FC Barcelona. Thank you for everything you taught us. May you rest in peace.”

FC Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu and Catalan defender Marc Bartra signed the deal in the club offices this Tuesday that will keep the centre-back at Barça till June 2017. The new deal includes a 25 million Euro get out clause.The 23-year-old Bartra joined FC Barcelona as an eleven-year-old and worked his way up through the academy and Barça B teams before signing a first team contract in the 2012/13 season.After putting pen to paper, the Catalan centre-back admitted: “I’m very happy. It’s a great feeling and I hope everything continues to go as well as they have done in my time at the club so far. For me, Piqué and Puyol are my reference points - it’s a challenge to me to achieve what they have . Establishing myself in the team is a big test, but I am getting there”

The Catalan club’s President Josep Maria Bartomeu launches the information campaign for the New Espai Barça with an exhibition at the Camp Nou. The campaign will run through to April 3, when club members will be called to vote on the reform. "This is the starting point of the referendum process. This proposal is centred on a comprehensive facelift of the Stadium, and a new Palau” explained FC Barcelona’s President. “The project is financeable. We will not be saddling a generation of Barça members with big debt payments” said the club’s Financial Vice President, Javier Faus.

Neymar’s father has authorised FC Barcelona to lift the confidentiality clauses in his son’s contract. The Catalan club has insisted that the transfer total was €57.1 million and detailed all the payments referring to the player’s salary and other agreements reached with organisations connected to him. Barça’s new President, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and Director of the Football Management Area, Raül Sanllehí, clarified a number of stories published in various Spanish newspapers and as an exception, revealed details of Neymar’s salary. “We have not lied. Football games are won on the pitch, not behind closed doors in offices”, said Bartomeu.

The President of FC Barcelona, Sandro Rosell, has resigned this Thursday evening with immediate effects. The First Vice President has assumed the Presidency until the end of the term, in 2016, according to the Catalan club’s rules. In the last few weeks, Rosell has been involved in an alleged scandal regarding Neymar's signing for FC Barcelona. Nothing has been proved and the judge still has to ask Rosell to testify. However, the FC Barcelona President would have taken the decision to resign in order not to involve the club in the judicial process. “In all of these years we have seen that our successes are the result of our victories on the pitch and overcoming innumerable obstacles off the pitch: political, external and, what’s worse, at times the pressure has come from our own environment”, said Rosell. “It has been an honour to serve the Barcelonistas. It’s been a privilege to be the president of FC Barcelona”.

MACBA and CaixaForum unveiled their first joint exhibit on Thursday, which shows one of the most important contemporary art collections in southern Europe. The project is called 'Art dos punts. Barcelona viu l'art contemporani' (Art in two sites. Barcelona is moved by contemporary art) and contains a selection of 400 works by 125 artists with a focus on modern and post-modern art. The collections of both institutions contain up to 6,000 pieces. The Director of MACBA, Bartomeu Marí, explained that the aim of the project is to create a story “that challenges recent history and puts us in a better position to understand the contemporary world.”

The new exhibition of the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA), ‘Critical Episodes (1957-2011)’, shows the last decades’ deep and historical changes through art. This exhibition is the result of a new arrangement of the MACBA’s collection. It displays about 200 works by 64 artists such as Eduardo Chillida, Hans Haacke, Mike Kelley, Antoni Tàpies, Jaume Plensa, Susana Solano and Oriol Vilapuig, amongst others. MACBA’s Director, Bartomeu Marí, has highlighted that this new exhibition “brings out new works and others that were displayed a long time ago”. It also proves that MACBA’s collection is already “rich, mature and diverse”.