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The coastal city, located in southern Catalonia, is experiencing a significant renovation of its cultural infrastructure and will host special events throughout the year such as the inauguration of the Tarragona Theatre. Tarragona’s new status as Capital of Catalan Culture 2012 has triggered this year’s local artistic activity with a vast cultural agenda accessible to all citizens. Activities started in February with the first Congress of Catalan Booksellers. Initiatives like the inauguration of the Tarragona Theatre, the Historical Archive, the new Center of Contemporary Art and the Banc de la Cultura are some of the novelties expected to take place at the city this year.

The main trade fair on mobile phones and technology in the world brought together 11% more participants than the 2011 edition and more than 1,500 companies, including the main multinationals in the sector. Barcelona was declared the Mobile World Capital last summer and will organise this top international event until at least 2018. The 2012 congress had a direct economic impact of €300 million for the city and Catalonia’s economy. The CEO of the organising company, John Hoffman, said that the 2012 MWC “has been a success in all aspects”.

ACN interviewed Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Digital Agenda. Her “dream” would be to reach a European Union single market for mobile phone and internet services. “It is not normal” that when crossing artificial borders, “the borders from the past, you can see it in your bills” she said. Kroes affirmed that by 2015, mobile phone roaming fees from one EU country to another will have ceased. The EU Commissioner was attending the Mobile World Congress, which takes place in Barcelona every year. Kroes praised Barcelona’s good job at organising the MWC. And she stated that the Catalan capital “needs to find its own model”, although “Silicon Valley is a very good example”.

The Mobile World Congress has attracted more than 60,000 delegates from the most influential mobile companies on the planet to the Catalan capital. The event is the most important of the year, and it’s a great opportunity for developing business in the sector. The delegates will explore the way the mobile industry is redefining communication and will try to get business contracts related to the new era in smart phone technology. The organisation motto for this year’s edition is ‘Redefining Mobile!’

The programme is aimed at developers and businesses that create mobile applications. The goal is to leverage FC Barcelona during the creation of a world-wide leading industry, as well as offering up new business opportunities for developers and ITC entrepreneurs. Any mobile application that transmits the values and the spirit of FC Barcelona are eligible for submission, and the developers, if accepted, will have access to the benefits outlined in the programme.

The metro strike organised by employees of Barcelona Public Transport (TMB) who were demanding a salary increase has been cancelled. The bus strike is still planned, although after the metro’s cancellation, bus workers would be also considering doing so. The strike was coinciding with the world’s main trade fair and conference of the mobile phone and mobile technology industry. However, it was not affecting taxis, tramways, airport buses, and commuter trains. The strike will only affect urban buses. The underground will be operating as normal. During rush hour buses will function at 50% of their capacity and the rest of the day at 20%.

Spanish multinational telecommunications company Telefónica will offer Internet access through optical fibre to every home in Barcelona before the summer. The company’s General Director in Catalonia, Kim Faura, has also explained that Telefónica has hired 1,300 people to carry out the operation.

This year's edition Mobile World Congress will be the first after Barcelona was officially declared the Mobile World Capital, and the organising city of this annual event until at least 2018. The MWC will start on February 27th with the motto “Redefining mobile”. More than 1,400 companies will be present and organisers expect to break last year’s records. There will also be three times more Catalan companies.

The main Catalan bank allocated 1.953 billion euros for insolvencies and raised its core capital to 11.8%, 2.9 percentage points more than the ratio it had in December 2010. These operations made their net profit decrease by 16.6% compared to the previous year. Besides, CaixaBank announced that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim will quit its board to rejoin that of the bank’s industrial holding ‘Criteria CaixaHolding’. Slim’s seat will be occupied by former Chairman of Citigroup and the New York Stock Exchange John S. Reed.