catalan way

The Catalan Government and most of the political parties have criticised the Spanish Government’s project to reduce local powers. Furthermore, the Catalan Vice-President, Joana Ortega, emphasised the “unfair vision” of local governments given by the Spanish Finance Minister. Ortega underlined that in Catalonia, most of the town halls ended 2012 with a budget deficit of 0%, which is “not in line with the mismanagement image given” by the Spanish Government. Furthermore, while the Spanish Government is aiming to reduce the number of councillors earning a salary to only 18%, Ortega reminded them that in Catalonia only 10% are now earning a salary. Political parties in Catalonia criticised the Spanish Government for taking away power from the government level closest to the citizens.

Economic recession hit Catalonia even harder in 2012 than in 2011, when it dropped by 0.7%. The contraction was especially severe in the last quarter of the year. In December, Catalonia’s GDP plummeted by 0.6% compared to 3 months previously. The fourth quarter’s poor figures made the Catalan economy contract by 1.3% over 2012. In 2011, it also decreased but at a slower pace, dropping by 0.7%. For the whole of Spain, the economy plummeted by 1.8% in 2012 and by 0.7% over the last quarter of the year, compared to the figures from September 2012. The main reason behind the last quarter’s drop is the decrease in consumption by families, compared to the purchases made in the third quarter, before the VAT increase.

A week before Ildefonso Falcones’ third novel ‘The Barefoot Queen’ goes on sale, CNA interviews the Barcelona lawyer that became internationally acclaimed in 2006 thanks to his best-selling debut ‘Cathedral of the Sea’. The novel, set in medieval Barcelona sold seven million copies in 40 countries and introduced him to the literature scene as one of the main Spanish authors of historical novels. Now, on the 21st of February, he will publish his third book, which will be on sale simultaneously in Spain, Latin America and the United States. Falcones explains what writing means to him as well as the difficulties of the creative process.

Researchers from the Catalan Institute of Oncology have led the largest international study on breast cance4r and nutrition. The 8-year study has been based on 335,062 women between 35 and 70 years old. It has involved 23 centres in 10 European countries and it has been published in the ‘International Journal of Cancer’. The study concludes that the Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of breast cancer by 6% among women in general and 7% in the case of post-menopausal patients.

The Catalan Executive has provided details of how it will adjust €4 billion of its 2013 budget in order to meet the deficit target imposed by the Spanish Government. Besides the 1 billion tax increase already announced, the Catalan Executive will have to implement further budget cuts. On Thursday it will present its austerity plan for 2013 to the unions, which will affect all public employees, in order to save €700 million. As last year, public employees will not receive 7% of their annual salary, corresponding to part of the summer and Christmas bonuses. According to the unions, 3,000 civil servant posts will remain empty and 10,000 substitution contracts will not be signed.

The Sitges Carnival is one of the best-known in Spain. Its spectacular nature, alongside with the crowded parades and the dedication of the entire city to this festival, make thousands of tourists and people from all over Catalonia visit the city and enjoy its Carnival. For a week, the whole town dresses up and organises activities that include parades, parties, races or balls, where adults and children have fun together. This year, more than 300,000 people joined the villagers in the celebration of Sitges’ most important holiday.

Leading Catalan electric and natural gas company Gas Natural Fenosa has bought 10% of Medgaz, a submarine gas pipeline between Algeria and Europe that provides natural gas to the south of Europe. The pipeline has a capacity of transporting eight billion cubic meters per year and the acquisition has cost the Catalan company €61.9 million. Gas Natural Fenosa will use 10% of the transport capacity of the gas pipeline. The contract will last for 18 years.

The 63rd International Film Festival in Berlin is taking place at the moment through to the 17th of February. This year a film made by Catalan production company El Kinògraf is on show: ‘La Plaga’ (‘The Plague’ in English), a film shot by Neus Ballús, had its world premiere in Berlin. It is a combination of reality and fiction, presenting five different characters living around Barcelona at the time of the economic crisis. Ballús explains that the film is based on true life stories, real emotions, situations and genuine characters.

The 2,885 housing units sold in Catalonia during December increased by 4% compared to the figures from a year ago. The main reason for this rise is that, in January, the Spanish Government’s tax benefits applied when purchasing a house – approved to reactivate this economic sector after the collapse of the real estate market – will no longer exist. 66% of the houses and apartments sold were second hand, while the other third were newly built. For the whole of Spain, housing sales increased by 2.3% in December. In 2012, house sales dropped by 11.3% over 2012.

The music festival will celebrate its 13th anniversary with an impressive lineup and the participation of a long-list of prestigious artists. The Primavera Sound Music Festival, which takes place every year in late May in the city of Barcelona, is considered to be one of the best international music events in Southern Europe. It is also one of Barcelona’s musical highlights, along with the Sonar festival in June. This year’s Primavera Sound edition presented what is said to be the best list of participating artists since the beginning of the festival. Indie, rock and electronic music will be the mainstays of the festival.

The Catalan Banc Sabadell finished 2012 with positive results and net benefits of €81.9 million. Banc Sabadell has now reached 5th position among the Spanish financial entities in the last economic exercise due to its assets valued at €175 billion. However, this figure shows a 64.7% drop in benefits in comparison to 2011. The main reason for the decrease is the €2.54 billion for provisions, 142.2% more than 2011. The President of Banc Sabadell, Josep Oliu, emphasised the company’s solvency and spoke of its capacity to buy additional entities in the international market.

Tarragona’s intermodal freight station is located within the Bayer factory and it will serve all the companies located in the southern half of the chemical centre. Tarragona is host to Spain’s largest chemical hub, which will be connected by international-standard width railway to Central and Northern Europe once the Spanish Government has built the stretch between this economic centre and Greater Barcelona. This stretch is part of the strategic Mediterranean Railway Corridor, which the Spanish Government has been delaying for years. This main infrastructure will combine a high-speed passenger railway with goods transportation. Once completed, it will connect Gibraltar with Northern Europe via Spain’s Mediterranean ports and industrial centres, including València, Tarragona and Barcelona.

Following a report by its own legal services, the Spanish Government is considering appealing against the ‘Declaration of sovereignty and the right to self-determination by the people of Catalonia’, approved by the Catalan Parliament two weeks ago. This declaration states that, following the historical rights and the free self-determination of the people, the people of Catalonia are sovereign and therefore able decide on their own future and organise a self-determination vote to decide on Catalonia’s hypothetical independence from Spain. The Catalan President stated that, before the self-determination right of the people, “there are no rules, laws, constitutions or possible interpretations”.

The economic recession has meant that Catalonia’s industrial production index decreased by 2.7% last year, according to the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). In addition, the note indicated that the Catalan industrial sector has contracted for the last 10 consecutive months. However, Catalan industry had been less affected than the Spanish average, which plummeted by 5.9% in 2012. One severely affected sector was the production of long-life goods, in which car manufacturers are included, which decreased by 7.1% in December, accumulating 28 consecutive months in the red. Another sector with problems is the means of production, with a 7.3% decrease in December and 11 consecutive months of accumulated drops.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, organised a summit with top representatives from all the public powers involved in the fight against corruption and fraud to exchange ideas and come up with a set of measures. Political parties were not invited and some of them have protested. After the meeting, Mas explained that the attendees agreed to transform the Transparency Agreement from 2001 regarding the funding of political parties into a law in order to enforce it. Furthermore, the Catalan Government will allocate more resources to the judicial powers investigating the main corruption cases. The attendees agreed to compile the initiatives discussed in a document and meet again in two weeks’ time.