catalan way

The Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona, one of the pioneer hospitals worldwide in non-invasive surgery in children, is planning to use minimally invasive methods with 70 percent of its pediatric surgeries. This week various pediatric surgery specialists gathered in a congress at the Vall d’Hebron Hospital Campus to share their professional expertise. The Vall d’Hebron Hospital is one of the few hospitals capable of performing surgery on a newborn with a weight of less than 1.5 kilograms or on a 24 week-old fetus with spine bifida. Since the incorporation of Doctor Manuel López as Head of Services, pediatric laparoscopy has gotten a new boost. López has set the objective of performing the majority of the 2000 annual surgeries on children with innovative methods.

The Torre de Glòries, an emblematic modern tower widely known as the “Torre Agbar”, with its 33.000 square meters and distinguished design by Jean Novel, is Barcelona's candidate for the new location for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) headquarters. The decision was made last Friday by the representatives of the City of Barcelona, the Government of Catalonia, and the Spanish government. The Mayoress of Barcelona, Ada Colau, the Spanish Minister of Healthcare, Dolors Montserrat, and the Catalan Minister of Health, Antoni Comín had already agreed to join forces for the promotion of the Catalan capital’s candidacy in an earlier meeting two weeks ago.

Every year on 23rd April, the UNESCO World Book Day, Catalans celebrate their patron saint, Sant Jordi's Day (Saint George). It is one of the Catalans’ most cherished national days, when people give books and red roses to friends and loved ones in celebration of love and literature. Traditionally men used to give a red rose to women and women gave men books in return. But the tradition has evolved and nowadays men and women both give and receive books and roses to each other as well as to friends and even co-workers. This year’s Sant Jordi's Day was an especially sunny day in Catalonia. The streets of Barcelona and all around the country were flooded with books and flower stands, where people lined up to buy books and roses or just stroll around enjoying the magic moment. Like every year hundreds of authors from Catalonia but also from all around the world came to the Catalan capital to sign their books and to join the festive atmosphere. In addition, emblematic buildings such as Gaudi’s Casa Batlló on the famous Passeig de Gracia was decorated with red roses and encouraged visitors to learn about the legend of Sant Jordi.

Two of the members of the Swiss Parliament delegation who visited Barcelona last week understand that Catalonia will organize a unilateral referendum if the Spanish state continues in its opposition. The Swiss parliamentarians, Socialist Mathias Reynard and Christian-Democrat Yannick Buttet warn that the Spanish Government’s rejection of dialogue pushes Catalonia towards a unilateral independence referendum and that it is “reasonable” for the pro-independence parliamentary majority to fulfill its democratic mandate. “I am not saying that it is the best solution, but I understand the Catalan Government’s stance,” said Reynard. “What will be essential from a foreign point of view, is participation. We need to know how many Catalans vote, if the referendum is organized in a unilateral way,” added Buttet.

London’s Borough Market hosted the celebration of Sant Jordi’s Day in the British capital. Like all over Catalonia, stalls selling books and roses colored one of the most iconic spots in the city, complete with Catalan food tasting, storytelling, traditional human towers (Castellers) and a mix of both Catalan and English folklore. The Delegation of the Catalan Government to the UK and Ireland, together with the Catalan community in the UK, the Tourism Office, and Institut Ramon Llull London, which promotes Catalan culture and literature, also took part in the celebrations and had their own stalls at the market. 

The entire Executive, led by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and Catalan VP, Oriol Junqueras, reiterated its commitment to “organize, call, and celebrate” a referendum on Catalonia’s independence and apply its results, despite Spain’s “threats and attempts to limit Catalonia’s self-government,” said Puigdemont. In a symbolic event held in the iconic ‘Pati dels Tarongers’ courtyard, at the Catalan Government headquarters, the executive aimed to send a clear message of unity regarding its determination to fulfill the democratic mandate of the 2015 27-S Catalan elections, which led to a pro-independence majority in the Parliament. The celebration of a referendum is one of the Parliament's main goals.

One of Catalonia’s most beloved festivals, Sant Jordi, will be celebrated in a record 50 countries worldwide this year. Although Catalonia’s Patron Saint Day is on the 23^rd of April, there are activities related to books and roses—the main protagonists of the day—scheduled over the course of a few weeks in New York, Bogotá, London, Melbourne, Johannesburg, and many others. The Delegations of the Catalan Government abroad play a key role in exporting Sant Jordi around the world. Also active is the Institut Ramon Llull (IRL), which is a public institution in charge of promoting Catalan culture and language, and the University Network of Catalan Studies Abroad. Thus, exhibitions, public readings, stalls selling books and roses, and elements of Catalan culture, such as traditional human towers (Castellers), will deliver the spirit of Sant Jordi all over the globe.

All the members of the Catalan Government, led by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and Catalan VP, Oriol Junqueras, will attend an official event on Friday to reiterate their commitment to calling a referendum. The initiative also aims to spread a message of unity among the pro-independence political parties which form the governing coalition, Junts Pel Sí. Indeed, in the last few weeks, some discrepancies between the Catalan Democratic Party (PDeCAT) and the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) regarding how to carry out Catalonia’s pro-independence roadmap have been used by the main opposition parties to question the Government’s stability and its commitment toward the referendum.

Catalan VP, Oriol Junqueras, said the Government will unilaterally declare independence if it is blocked from calling a referendum in September. According to Junqueras, this possibility already forms part of the electoral program of governing coalition, Junts Pel Sí. “Technically it is called the unblocking clause,” explained Junqueras in a conference with Columbia University Professor, Xavier Sala i Martin, and added that it was included in Junts Pel Sí’s platform in the event that the Spanish State block the referendum. Nevertheless, Junqueras insisted that he is convinced that the referendum will be called, that it will take place, and that the pro-independence supporters will win it.

The Catalan Government believes that the communiqué published by the US Embassy in Spain in relation to Catalonia was “a request of the Spanish Government motivated by the success of Puigdemont’s recent meetings with US representatives”. Puigdemont’s agenda in the US included a private meeting with former US President, Jimmy Carter, after which the institution said in a memo that “neither he nor The Carter Center could be involved” in the negotiations for the referendum. The Catalan executive told the CNA that the US Embassy's statement, published only in Spanish, which described Catalonia’s push for independence as an internal matter of Spain, “shows that the Catalan question is part of the political and diplomatic agenda and therefore is not an internal matter”.

Catalan VP, Oriol Junqueras, insisted this Wednesday on the pro-independence parties’ commitment to calling a referendum this September. He underscored the unity within the group despite the fact that some representatives from the main parties within the governing Junts Pel Sí coalition had expressed differing positions regarding how the referendum should be carried out.  While pro-independence left-wing ERC’s Marta Rovira announced that a task force of unemployed persons could be organized to carry out referendum-related tasks, the Catalan Government’s Spokeswoman, Neus Munté, said this was a decision that “is not part of the Government’s plans”. “We are all committed to the referendum and we are going to do it together,” said Junqueras, playing down the disagreement.

The Spanish government is politically persecuting the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Òmnium Cultural, warned the two organizations on Tuesday following news that they have been fined an additional €90,000. The Spanish Data Protection Agency is asking them to pay this fine for having a non-operative database in the United States while a new international protocol for data stored in this country was being drafted. The fine comes after the Spanish authorities levied a €240,000 fine against each of these two organizations, widely known in Catalonia for their work organizing huge demonstrations in favor of independence. The ANC and Òmnium say that they are being financially strangled simply because they promote the organization of an independence referendum.

The Spanish Constitutional Court officially notified the Catalan Government about the suspension of the referendum allocations in the 2017 budget on Tuesday. The Court warned the Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and all the members of his government about the criminal consequences of disobeying the suspension. “We will keep going,” responded Puigdemont in a tweet, which included a picture of the five Court notifications that he has received so far against the plans for a referendum. The Catalan Government spokeswoman, Neus Munté, confirmed that the executive will appeal the suspension on the grounds that the organization of “electoral and participatory processes” is a competence “recognized” by the Catalan Statute, the organic law that defines the powers of the Catalan government.

Catalan Minister for Territory and Sustainability, Josep Rull, and Catalan Minister for Business and Knowledge, Jordi Baiget, called for a “clear”and “verifiable”calendar for the Mediterranean Railway Corridor. They voiced these demands to the Spanish Minister for Public Works, Íñigo de la Serna, during the meeting of the Strategic Board for the Mediterranean Railway Corridor in Madrid. In response, de la Serna promised to promote this key infrastructure, which is set to transport freight and passengers non-stop from Gibraltar to Central Europe along the Mediterranean coastline, and explained that the delays in the construction resulted from a “lack of administrative capacity”to carry them out. The Board gathers together representatives from the parliamentary groups in the Catalan chamber, trade unions, business associations, chambers of commerce, professional colleges, universities, chartered institutes, and city halls.

The Catalan branch of the Conservative People’s Party (PPC) accused the Catalan Government of having paid for the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont to meet with former US President, Jimmy Carter, last Friday in Atlanta. “This is not only false but indecent,” said Puigdemont in an interview with Catalunya Ràdiothis Monday. Such accusations, made by PPC’s leader Xavier García Albiol and supported by the main opposition party in the Catalan Parliament, Spanish unionist ‘Ciutadans’, prove Spain’s mindset, which “insists on treating Catalonia as a colony,” he added. Puigdemont also criticized the aim of the PP and Spanish Government to spread the idea that the Catalan executive “does not have the right”to explain its situation abroad. He said that some Spanish diplomats “feel uncomfortable”with the Spanish executive’s directions, which include “having to criticize”the Catalan Government and “blocking”events and meetings.