catalan way

In February, 629,586 people were enrolled on the unemployment lists in Catalonia, representing a decrease of 4,285 unemployed people on the same month last year, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Spanish Employment and Social Security Ministry. It is also the sharpest decline for a month of February since 2004, when 5,138 fewer jobseekers were registered. With this latest drop in the unemployment figures, Catalonia has achieved eight consecutive months of registered unemployment reduction in annual terms. In the whole of Spain, unemployment stood at 4,812,486 people, down by 1,949 people in February. It is the first decrease for the month of February since the beginning of the crisis in 2007.

The well-known former member of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) Ernest Maragall, who quit the organisation in October 2012 because of its lack of commitment to Catalonia’s self-determination, joins the candidate list of the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) for the next European Parliament Elections to run in second place. Ernest Maragall has been one of the most prominent members of the PSC, occupying key positions in Barcelona Town Hall and the Catalan Government over three decades. He formed a political tandem with his brother Pasqual Maragall, who was President of Catalonia between 2003 and 2006 and led the urban transformation of Barcelona as the city Mayor between 1982 and 1997. In fact, Catalan politics during the last 3 decades cannot be understood without the Maragall brothers, who were also founding members of the PSC back in 1977.

The FC Barcelona captain made the announcement to the media on Tuesday afternoon, after having reached an agreement with the Catalan club. The player’s contract will be rescinded at the end of June and leave it without effect for the two years that were left on it. After two serious operations, the Catalan centre-back – who in April will be 36 years old – “finds it very hard to get back to the level” needed to play for Barça, “much more” than he thought and “the surgeons told” him. However, Puyol emphasised that there are still three months of the season left and that he “will not give up” and “will keep fighting to the end”. The player explained he had not made any future plans yet. He also announced he will hold a press conference to “say farewell to all the people that have accompanied him”. Carles Puyol has been a Barça player for 14 years, playing 593 games and scoring 18 goals.

On Monday, Barcelona launched its term as first European Volunteering Capital, which will feature more than 30 events spread throughout the year, combining activities created especially for the occasion and traditional celebrations. Among the most noteworthy are the promotion of volunteering in schools and the creation of a mobile app connecting volunteers and organisations in need. The Catalan Minister for Social Welfare and Family, Neus Munté, and the Deputy Mayor of Barcelona, Joaquim Forn, stressed that volunteering has always been one of the defining features of the city. Furthermore, Munté announced that the Catalan Government had already completed the drafts for a future volunteering law and action plan.

GSMA, the organisers of the Mobile World Congress, have announced on Thursday that more than 85,000 visitors from over 200 countries participated in this year’s event. The figure sets a new impressive attendance record with an overall increase of 18% on last year’s edition. Around 80,000 attendees participated at the Mobile World Congress at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venues and more than 5,000 visitors attended mPowered industries programme at Fira’s Montjuïc venues. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and IBM CEO Virginia Rometty delivered highly anticipated keynote speeches, while close to 1,800 international market leading companies presented their latest innovative products and services. In the Global Mobile Awards, the HTC One scooped top award of the Best Smartphone of the year, while Apple iPad was announced the Best Mobile Tablet. Wearable devices were also an exciting highlight of the 2014 MWC.

The Spanish Parliament has approved a motion that “supports” the Spanish Government using “all the measures that the legal framework allowed to keep the unity of Spain, as a nation of free and equal citizens only subject to the rule of Law”. The motion has been filed by the People’s Party (PP), which holds an absolute majority and runs the Spanish Government. Spain’s nationalist and populist party UPyD abstained, as well as the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), including the MPs from the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC). Article 8 of the Spanish Constitution, negotiated between democracy supporters and members of the Franco Dictatorship, reads: “the Armed Forces […] have the mission to guarantee Spain’s sovereignty and independence, defending its territorial integrity and the Constitutional order”.

The profits of Catalan pharmaceutical company Grífols in 2013 grew by 34.6% over the previous year, reaching €345.6 million, as reported by the multinational to the Spanish Stock Exchange Regulation Authority (CNMV). The turnover of the company, based in Greater Barcelona, amounted to €2.75 billion, representing a 4.6% increase on 2012 figures. The geographical expansion of the pharmaceutical company has helped mitigating the effects of volatility in currencies, especially between the euro and the dollar. The Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) grew by 9.6% compared to 2012 and stood at €864.6 million, driven by an increase in the sales of plasma proteins and the optimization of the expenses for raw materials and manufacturing.

The Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat) has launched its first call for applications for ‘Grants for the International Projection of Catalan Civil Society Organisations’, designed to cover the participation costs of such organisations in international meetings. The grants will be managed by the Federation of Internationally Recognized Catalan Organisations (FOCIR) and applications can be submitted until the 27^th of March. The Secretary General of Diplocat, Albert Royo, detailed the call on Wednesday evening. He stressed that activities aimed towards international public opinion could have a significant impact on presenting Catalonia to the world.

Catalan parties have filed several motions requesting the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to make a move regarding Catalonia’s self-determination and abandon his frontal opposition attitude. “React now before it’s too late”, the Spokesperson of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), which runs the Catalan Government told Rajoy. The Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) was asking the Spanish Government to negotiate the terms for holding a self-determination referendum in Catalonia. The Catalan Green Socialist and Post-Communist Coalition (ICV-EUiA) was asking Rajoy to transfer the powers to organise referendums to the Catalan Government, using Article 150.2 of the Constitution. Meanwhile, the Spanish and Catalan Socialists are proposing a revision of Spain’s territorial model. Rajoy rejected all the motions.

The App Planet at the Mobile World Congress is one of the biggest app events in the world, and the Catalan App companies have taken full advantage of the opportunity to showcase their latest products. Not only this, several Catalan App companies have come together to form the group ‘Catalunya Apps’, in which big and small companies alike have joined in order to survive and compete on the global stage. ‘InQBarna’ had extraordinary success since last year with their Music based app; they have had 700,000 downloads and Apple named the best music app in 2013. Inqbarna isn’t the only large company to commit to ‘Catalunya Apps’; Sixtemia, founded 5 years ago, is on board as well.

The profits of Barcelona-based Abertis, a world leader in the toll road management sector, dropped by 39.8% in 2013 compared to 2012 figures. However, the company emphasised that both years are “not comparable” since profits were particularly high in 2012 due to the capital gains from selling corporate shares. If those operations were not taken into account, the recurring profit would have indicated a 6.5% growth. However, the Catalan multinational’s net profit amounted to €617 million in 2013, as opposed to the €1.02 billion reached in the previous year, as reported to the Spanish Stock Exchange Regulation Authority (CNMV) on Wednesday. Abertis’ EBITDA was set at €2.92 billion, representing an increase of 23.6% while the turnover increased by 25% to reach €4.65 billion.

Coinciding with the Mobile World Congress, the Catalan Ministry of Culture has organised the conference ‘Digital 4C’, which aims at “providing answers” to questions about digital contents and “bring closer” the world of technology and culture. The EBook, music, the audiovisual sector and video games will be the main topics of discussion among professionals through seminars, roundtables, conferences and meeting points to exchange about past experiences and new initiatives. Barcelona holds such an event as part of the Mobile World Capital project, a title the city was awarded until at least 2018 in order to act as the main international platform for the mobile-related industry. ‘Digital 4C’will be held at the Arts Santa Mònica Centre on the 27^th and 28^th of February, overlapping with the Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest fair in the sector which ends this Thursday.

The Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy disclosed on Tuesday evening that the Spanish Deputy Minister for EU Affairs, Iñigo Méndez de Vigo had travelled to Barcelona on Sunday “to talk with” Viviane Reding and tell her “what is going on in this country”. Méndez de Vigo’s trip was decided after the European Commission Vice President had publicly called on Catalan and Spanish authorities to negotiate “without red-lines” to solve the conflict. Rajoy also said that he had spoken about Catalonia with the European Commission President, José Manuel Barroso, “and many other political leaders”. The Catalan Government’s Spokesperson, Francesc Homs, ironically stated that  the Spanish Foreign Affairs Ministry is putting “so much pressure […] for us not to be received anywhere [to talk about self-determination] that in the end [this attitude] opens doors for us”.

The winners of the 19^th Global Mobile Awards were announced on Tuesday afternoon, in a ceremony held at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The prizes recognize the most innovative mobile products, apps, services and initiatives from all over the world. More than 175 international industry experts, analysts, journalists and academics were involved in the judging process.In the category of the Best Mobile Handsets and Devices, the HTC One scooped top award of the Best Smartphone, defeating other nominees such as Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Apple iPhone 5S.The Apple iPad Air was announced as Best Mobile Tablet. Nokia was a runaway winner having received awards in two different categories. The Catalan Government was also honoured for the educational mSchools project. The award ceremony was hosted by British comedian James Corden.

The ‘Allure of the Seas’, which is currently the largest cruise ship in the world, will operate from 2015 onwards from the Port of Barcelona. Next year, it will offer 25 different routes from or to the Catalan capital. For each trip, the ‘Allure of the Seas’, which belongs to Royal Caribbean, welcomes 6,318 passengers on board. Due to the considerable size of the boat - 361 meters long - passengers will access and exit the facilities through two terminals of Barcelona’s Harbour. Royal Caribbean stated that the 158,000 passengers expected to travel on all 25 routes will bring €17.5 million to Barcelona’s local economy each year. It will be the first time the ‘Allure of the Seas’, which currently operates in the Caribbean, will drop anchor in a European harbour.