Catalonia’s GDP decreased by 0.1% between January and March 2012, which represents a minor drop compared to the last quarter of 2011. However, the Catalan economy has had red numbers for two consecutive quarters and technically enters a recession. The good results in the tourism and export industries improve the macroeconomic figures.
The New Open Scenes Festival celebrated contemporary performing arts created in Catalonia. Over five days, NEO opened up new artistic experiences at different theatres in the Catalan capital and presented 15 different theatrical proposals of emergent artists established in Barcelona.
Four days on the Gaudí catwalk and over 230 national and international exhibitors in the Gran Via fairground reaffirmed the convention as the quintessential meeting of the bridal industry worldwide. The Catalan designer Rosa Clarà was chosen another year to open the four days of catwalks at the ‘Pasarela Gaudí Novias’. Exports from Catalan wedding products made the industry generate a turnover of 10% more than in 2010. Currently, the industry is opening to Mexico and China.
The third plan represents an additional budget cut of €1.5 billion, in order to meet the 1.5% deficit target for this year. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, said that the plan “guarantees essential services”. He also stated that if the Spanish Government had paid what it owed last year, the current reduction would be halved. The plan decreases budget allocations for public companies, reduces public employee salaries once again, decreases the amount allocated for subsidies, delays investments, privatises some public companies, sells public buildings, and implements the measures decided by the Spanish Government regarding health and education. The opposition criticised the plan for not being concrete and effective enough.
The Barcelona-based group had a turnover of €1.343 billion; 80% of it was generated in global markets. The Puig Group produces perfumes and beauty products for brands such as Carolina Herrera, Paco Rabanne, Prada, and Valentino. Over the last four years, Puig passed from a 5.1% global market share in 2007 to 7.6% in 2011.
Barcelona El Prat Airport has won the Best Southern Europe airport award based on 11 million passenger surveys according to which travellers were asked about access, public transportation, comfort, cleanliness or safety.
Considering the “exceptional” crisis Spain’s banking system is going through, the Cercle d’Economia, a Catalan economic forum open to businesspeople and academics, recommends “drastic” measures in order to face a “systemic” problem at European level. The Chairman of Cercle d’Economia, former Spanish Minister Josep Piqué, stated that Spain “will not succeed on its own”.
The initiative aims to strengthen the Costa Brava brand. ‘Costa Brava Hotels de Luxe’ is looking to create synergies between gastronomy, culture and leisure. The association includes sixteen four and five stars establishments.
The BBVA bank rewards La Fageda with the 4th Integra Prize for offering quality employment for people with intellectual disabilities and mental disorders. Moreover, La Fageda carries out some care activities, like an occupational therapy service, assisted apartments for the workers, and different leisure activities. Nowadays, of the 287 people who work in La Fageda, 157 have some disability. The Catalan brand is famous for its quality dairy products.
The number of international tourists who have visited Catalonia over the first three months of 2012 reached 2,162,337 people. This figure is a 9.9% increase over last year and represents 23.5% of the total number of foreigners visiting Spain.
The British pop festival ‘The Great Escape’ is probably Europe’s leading event for showcasing new music bands and artists. Catalonia and the Balearic Islands have a special place in this year’s edition, with the unique category ‘Catalan Sounds’. Bands such as Mujeres, Me and The Bees, Amics del Bosc, or Seward will display their music in front of music critics, lovers and concert promoters. “It is a unique opportunity to promote Catalan music bands” one of the people behind this initiative told ACN.
The Catalan Parliament has approved Catalonia’s Law of Budget Stability, which is more restrictive than its Spanish equivalent. The Catalan law reduces the adaptation time set in Spanish law by 2 years. Furthermore, it sets a 0% deficit for 2020. The law has been approved with the votes of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), which runs the Catalan Government, and the Conservative People’s Party (PP), which runs the Spanish Executive. Left-Wing parties have voted against the measure; according to them it follows the “0% deficit dogma” and forgets about “necessary” social spending.
The volume of freight and liquids transported through Tarragona Port in the first 3 months of the year reached more than 9 million tonnes. The movement of liquids increased significantly, notably oil derivate products, after last year’s technical halt at Repsol’s refinery.
The Catalan Government has rejected the Spanish Executive’s initiative to limit public healthcare to foreign nationals without a legalised residence status. The Spanish Government proposed that irregular immigrants would only have access to emergency rooms and obstetrics services, but not to regular treatments and consultations. The Catalan Health Minister, Boi Ruiz, confirmed on Friday that in Catalonia, all foreign residents, independent of their legal status, would have free access to the public health system for “solidarity” principles but also “for public health reasons”. Besides the ethical issue, experts had warned about infectious diseases that could have increased because of having groups of people excluded from the health system.
Punto Blanco has its own network to distribute and sell in 37 countries. The Catalan socks and underwear manufacturer has 16 shops, 15 of them in Spain and another in Portugal. Exports might represent 15% of the companies turnover.