catalan way

Despite all opinion polls indicating the contrary, the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy stated that "the majority" within Catalonia do not support the demands to hold a self-determination vote and therefore he does not have "any dispute" with Catalan society. According to all the opinion polls, between 75% and 80% of Catalans support the organisation of a self-determination vote, regardless of whether they would vote for independence or not. "I am willing to talk about everything, but not about breaking national sovereignty and unity", stated Rajoy on Wednesday. The PM insisted that he wants to talk about the things that really concern "all the Catalans", which are the economic recovery and the funding of the Catalan Government, according to him. On Tuesday, he recognised that Catalonia's self-determination process was "a deep political problem".

Following an appeal from the Spanish Government, the Constitutional Court has confirmed the cautionary halt adopted in January 2013 and it has now definitively banned the Catalan Executive's drug prescription fee. The measure had been adopted to reduce pharmaceutical spending by limiting superfluous drug demand in order to reduce the overall public spending. It was one of the austerity measures adopted by the Catalan Government in 2012 to reduce public deficit, in order to meet the strict deficit targets imposed by the Spanish Executive. The measure meant that Catalans had to pay a one-euro fee for each drug prescription, with a maximum of 60 euros per year and with many exceptions for people with chronic diseases, on low incomes and pensioners. On the same day, the Constitutional Court has backed the Catalan Executive's judicial fees, also appealed by Madrid.

In April, 12,645 jobseekers left the Catalan Public Employment Service's lists, which is the sharpest unemployment reduction for an April month since 1998. At the end of April there were 611,822 people registered as unemployed in Catalonia, a 2% drop on March figures and a 6.88% reduction compared to April 2013. This 6.88% annual drop is also the sharpest since June 2000. Furthermore, in annual terms, registered unemployment has been decreasing in Catalonia for the last 10 consecutive months, although April is traditionally a good month for employment due to the new contracts linked to Easter holidays. In the whole of Spain, registered unemployment decreased by 111,565, representing a 2.33% drop and leaving the total number of registered jobseekers at 4,684,301. In annual terms, it dropped by 6.11%, being the 7^th consecutive month with annual reductions.

The Japanese car manufacturer started production of its new e-NV200 van, the electric version of the existing NV200, on Monday. The new model will be Nissan’s first van to be 100% electric. The vehicle will be exclusively built in the company’s plant located in Barcelona’s Zona Franca industrial district, which is very close to the city’s sea port, one of Europe’s main gateways for imports and exports. The production of the new e-NV200 has meant the creation of 700 new jobs, according to Nissan’s CEO and Vice President for Industrial Operations in Spain, Frank Torres. Barcelona’s City Council has reached an agreement with the car manufacturer to promote the use of this van among the Catalan capital’s taxi fleet and distributors operating in Mercabarna, the city’s wholesale market.

Joan Colomo, Alberto Montero and the band Anímic are playing on the same day, Saturday 3^rd May, at one of the main musical events of the UK, combining international artists with cinema and digital arts. The festival gathers more than 40,000 punters and 3,000 professionals, taking place from the 1^st to the 3^rd of May in different Liverpool venues. The Sound City Festival is a must-go event to discover new pop and rock talents, among which are the 3 Catalan representatives. The first is the singer and song-writer Joan Colomo, who will be presenting his latest album 'La fília i la fòbia'. The second is Valencia-born composer Alberto Montero, who will play parts of his 'Puerto Príncipe' album. Finally, the last Catalan band is Anímic, who will show their latest work 'Hannibal'.

For the third time, Barcelona El Prat has been awarded as the best airport in southern Europe at the World Airport Awards 2014. The awards, given by Skytrax, are the result of the assessment of almost 13 million passengers from 110 different countries, and has involved 410 airports all over the world. In the global ranking, Barcelona holds the 38th position. In 2013, the Airport of Barcelona registered a record in the number of travellers, with 35.2 million passengers, August being the one with the greatest number of travellers in Spain for the first time ever.

The Catalan High Court has confirmed its previous decision to oblige 5 schools to teach "at least 25%" of their mandatory subjects in Spanish if the family of a single pupil asks for it, regardless of the opinion of the other children's families. The measure should be adopted "immediately", but the Catalan Government announced that it will lodge another appeal. Two months ago, the affected schools and the Catalan Executive had already appealed a decision that interpreted a previous judgement from the Spanish Supreme Court on the complaint presented by a dozen families from Catalonia. The measure represents a threat to the knowledge of Catalan language by all Catalan children, as well as a threat to true bilingualism, equal opportunities and social cohesion. The current model follows these principles as children totally master both languages, Spanish and Catalan. In addition, the court decision is a threat against separation of powers and Catalonia's self-government.

According to an opinion poll released by the Centre of Opinion Studies (CEO), run by the Catalan Government, 47.1% of Catalans would vote for independence in the referendum to be held on the 9^th of November 2014. At the same time, 19.3% would vote to keep the current status quo and 8.6% would support the creation of a Catalan state but oppose its independence from Spain, which means that 27.9% would vote against independence. The figures are particularly revealing because they have not been modified using statistical formulas and they reflect direct voting intention. In addition, 11.2% of the citizens do not know or do not answer what they would vote and 11.1% would not go to the polling station. All combined, it means that support for independence would be "around 56%" in the referendum, in line with previous polls, stated CEO's Director, Jordi Argelaguet.

At the end of March there were 840,200 unemployed people in Catalonia, 600 more than in December. This quarterly increase breaks the trend of 3 consecutive quarters with unemployment drops in Catalonia and puts the unemployment rate at 22.10%. However, in annual terms, Catalan unemployment was reduced by 108,800 on March 2013 figures, when the rate reached 24.45%. Unemployment has not decreased in annual terms in the first quarter of the year since 2007. The most negative news is the number of jobs lost between January and March 2014. In the first quarter of the year, 38,100 jobs were lost in Catalonia, 10,000 more than in the same period of 2013. In the whole of Spain, 184,600 jobs were lost between January and March 2014 and the unemployment rate reached 25.93%.

On 8^th of June, thousands of Catalans will simultaneously build their traditional human towers – called castells – in Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, Lisbon, London, Paris and Barcelona, carrying a banner reading "Catalans want to vote". This festive demonstration aims to raise international awareness about the aspiration shared by more than 75% of Catalonia's population: to be able to hold a self-determination vote to decide on its independence from Spain. The project 'Catalans want to vote – Human towers for democracy' is a privately-funded initiative organised by the civil society organisation Òmnium Cultural. In fact, this Tuesday it was announced that the project has reached its objective of raising 120,000 euros through Verkami's crowd-funding web site. The money will be used to pay for the trip costs of the castellers, those building the human towers (called castells).

Girona-based El Celler de Can Roca, the family restaurant run by the 3 Roca Brothers, continues to be considered among the world’s very best places to eat by ‘Restaurant’ magazine, which gives the sector’s main international awards each year at a gala in London. However, the Catalan establishment has not topped the 2014 ranking as it did in 2013 but has been considered the second best in this sort of cuisine Oscars, a recognition it had already obtained in 2012 and 2011. First place was for the Danish Noma - run by René Redzepi – which had already topped the ranking in 2012, 2011 and 2010. In addition, the youngest brother, Jordi, who is in charge of El Celler de Can Roca’s desserts, has been awarded the world’s best pastry chef, a title given for the first time this year. Since 2002, a Catalan restaurant has topped the annual ranking on 6 occasions and has been second best in 6 others.

The Cathedral of Barcelona was at capacity for Tito Vilanova’s memorial service this Monday evening. The former FC Barcelona manager passed away on Friday at the age of 45, after two years fighting against cancer. The Cardinal Archbishop of Barcelona Lluís Martínez Sistach officiated the ceremony, which was attended by Vilanova’s family, members of the Catalan Government, former FC Barcelona presidents and players, and the first team, among many others.

The alliance of Liberal parties from throughout the world included a motion supporting Catalans' right to self-determination and to stay within the European Union in its main resolution approved at their international congress that took place in Rotterdam last weekend. "Liberal International will support any decision taken by the Catalan people on their future" reads the text, which also "expresses concern over the lack of real dialogue" between Spanish and Catalan authorities "to discuss a negotiated roadmap over the future of Catalonia". Among the parties backing this statement are the UK's Lib-Dems, the Dutch VVD and Germany's FDP. The resolution also states that "the European Union has to be flexible and strong to offer a viable alternative for those people that want to democratically express themselves within it".

Mariano Rajoy, Prime Minister of Spain, and Artur Mas, President of the Catalan Government, both attended a business forum in Barcelona on Thursday. However, their attendance did not coincide at the event, since Rajoy did not come to hear Mas' speech and the Catalan President did not wait for the arrival of the Spanish PM. Both politicians were making visible the lack of dialogue between them regarding Catalonia's self-determination demands. In recent weeks, Rajoy has been repeating his demand that Mas give up the intention to organise a self-determination vote totally as the sine-qua-non condition for him to start talking. However, Mas considers Rajoy's condition "an imposition" and demonstrating a lack of political will, since Rajoy refuses to discuss the issue a majority of Catalans want to talk about.

On Thursday Universitetet i Oslo (UiO) hosted a round table debate with Norwegian and Catalan academics, journalists and economists to discuss the economic viability of an independent Catalonia and how it would fit into the European framework, whether in the European Union (EU) or the European Free Trade Area (EFTA). This debate was part of the conference 'Self-Determination Processes in the EU: the case of Catalonia', organised by the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat) together with the University of Oslo. The Diplocat – an organisation backed by the Catalan Government, universities, business associations, trade unions, FC Barcelona and other public and private institutions – is organising a series of debates in European and Spanish universities on Catalonia's self-determination demands.