catalan way

Aguirre, President of Madrid's regional government, asked to return healthcare, justice administration and education powers, which are managed by the Autonomous Communities, back to the Central Government. Prime Minister Rajoy, the leader of the People’s Party (PP) –Aguirre’s party–, stated that a debate about the Autonomous Community model is “out of the question”. Furthermore the PP’s Catalan leader defended the current model, as Catalonia “exerts its self-government as established in the Constitution”. Besides, the Catalan President told Aguirre to return the powers she does not want to manage, but to leave Catalonia aside. He added that the current model was designed “to dilute Catalonia and the Basque Country’s self-governance claims”.

Alella offers a unique opportunity to enjoy a wine culture in vineyards just 15 kilometres from Barcelona. One of the smallest and oldest Spanish wine appellations (DO), it is perfectly situated on the Mediterranean coast, protected by the Litoral mountain range. The cellars organise numerous activities for wine tourists of all ages where you can learn how to taste wine, take part in the harvest, find a connection between chocolate and wine or just stroll through the vineyards.

This advisory body dependent on the Catalan Government affirms that two aspects of the Labour Reform Law, recently approved by the Spanish Government, go against the Spanish Constitution. Furthermore, the report also highlights three elements that invade the Catalan Government’s jurisdiction. The four Left-Wing Catalan parties that requested the assessment one month ago are pushing for the reform to be brought to the Constitutional Court. CiU, who runs the Catalan Government, hopes to modify these aspects through parliamentary negotiations.

The Spanish Minister for the Economy, Luís de Guindos, wants to speed up the process and have the entire Spanish banking system restructured before the summer. The Spanish Minister also said that he is expecting further concentration processes of other financial entities to be announced in the coming weeks. CatalunyaCaixa’s banking business had a profit of €304 million, although the €1.5 billion provisions for the real estate business caused a €1.34 billion loss in 2011.

CiU stated that it will be “absurd” that they support the current budget proposal in the Spanish Parliament although they are open to negotiate and modify it. Furthermore, CiU “does not rule out the possibility of taking the Spanish Government to court” for ignoring the current legislation. The Socialists directly considered the budget proposal “to mistreat Catalonia”. The Green Socialists ask for a “common Catalan front” against the budget. The Catalan Independence parties (ERC and SI) say the budget plunders Catalonia. The anti-Catalan nationalists stated the budget wants to please Merkel. The only party supporting the budget was the PP, which runs the Spanish Government.

It is the first time since 2007 that unemployment has dropped in the month of March. In total, at the end of last month there were 638,247 people registered as unemployed in Catalonia. The number of unemployed people decreased throughout Catalonia, especially in Girona and Tarragona provinces. However, in Spain, unemployment increased by 38,769 people, reaching a total figure of 4,750,867 jobseekers.

The Spanish Government will not respect the territorial funding scheme, approved by the Spanish Parliament and in a referendum, as it will only invest 11% of its regional spending in Catalonia. According to the current legislation, in order to compensate for an historical lack of infrastructural investment in Catalonia recognised by the Spanish Parliament and the Constitutional Court, the Spanish Government must invest at least the equivalent of Catalonia’s economic weight within Spain, which represents 18.7% in 2012. Furthermore it does not include €1 billion pending from 2008 and 2009, to which Catalonia is legally entitled.

The former President of Brazil has been awarded this prestigious International prize that recognises individuals who have decisively contributed with their work to the development of cultural, scientific and human values around the world. Last year’s winner was the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. Other winners are Jimmy Carter, Aung San Suu Kyi, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Harold Bloom, Jacques Yves Cousteau, Karl Popper, Amartya Sen, Václav Havel, or Jacques Delors. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been honoured with the prize for “his policies at the service of fair economic growth”, significantly reducing poverty in Brazil.

The 2012 Alimentaria Exhibition welcomed 40,000 international visitors, which represents 29% of the 142,000 attendees. It represents an 11% increase compared to the last such event in Barcelona in 2010.

'Ferran Adrià i elBulli. Risc, llibertat i creativitat' ('Ferran Adrià and elBulli. Risk, freedom and creativity') is on show in Barcelona to coincide with the Catalan chef’s 50th's anniversary and is the basis for a future museum in the Costa Brava town of Roses. The exhibition shows a huge number of texts, graphic documents and objects related to the history of the world’s most famous restaurant.

The European Liberals in the European Parliament have organised an international summit in Barcelona to discuss the Arab Spring within the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean, which has its headquarters in the Catalan capital. At the meeting, the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, who is also the leader of the Catalan Liberal Party (CDC), asked the EU “not to turn its back on emerging democracies in the southern Mediterranean”. Furthermore, Mas emphasised the need to create jobs in the region. The European Liberals also urged the international community to take immediate action in Syria.

The General Strike on March 29th ended without significant changes in the Spanish Government’s Labour Reform, but with a clear acknowledgement that there is growing social anger. The strike was unevenly supported in Catalonia. Unions talked about sector strike participation ranging between 97% and 57% and the Catalan Government about strike participations ranging between 24% and 10%. Minimum services worked as planned, without any significant incidents. Demonstrations took place in the main Catalan cities, with the largest in Barcelona. Isolated violent incidents were the only negative parts of what was a relatively calm day.

The Catalan company Áreas will manage two service areas in the United States until 2047, including the largest in the entire country, located on the I-95 in Maryland, the busiest motorway in the US. The Catalan company will invest $56 million in their renovation, which will produce a turnover of about $1.8 billion in 35 years. With this operation, Áreas becomes the second largest operator in the US. The Catalan multinational ended the 2011 financial year with a turnover of €649 million, which represents 4% more than in 2010. This growth has been possible due to the company’s expansion in international markets.

The Spanish Minister for the Economy, Luís de Guindos, announced in Barcelona the future creation of the so-called ‘hispanobonds’, common bonds issued by the Autonomous Communities and backed by the Spanish Treasury. The objective is to reduce high interests rates, and thus the financial costs that the Autonomous Communities have to pay when they turn towards financial markets to get liquidity. The Catalan Finance Minister proposed the original idea several few weeks ago.

Banca Cívica has accepted the offer from the Catalan bank to pay €1.97 per share. With this operation, CaixaBank, the private bank created last year by the Catalan savings bank ‘La Caixa’, becomes Spain’s largest financial entity, ahead of BBVA and Banco Santander. After buying Banca Cívica, CaixaBank will have more than €342.6 billion in assets in the Spanish market. Banca Cívica was the merger of four savings banks: Caja Navarra, Caja Canarias, Caja de Burgos and Cajasol.