Directed by Andrés G. Schaer and featuring popular actors Pere Ponce and Elsa Pataky, the film hopes to reach an international audience. It combines 3D animated features with real images. The movie pictures Snowflake, the popular albino gorilla that lived in Barcelona’s zoo.
A product labelled only in Estonian could be sold in Catalonia, but not a product labelled only in Catalan. The new rule authorises the Spanish Government to force all products in Spain to be labelled in at least one official language of the EU, and therefore ban products only labelled in Catalan from being sold within Catalonia. The new European rule aims to authorise Member States to prevent products from being labelled only in a non EU language, such as Chinese or Arabic, but it has consequences at local level. Three Catalan MEPs pushed for an amendment, but it was rejected.
A new study by the Catalan savings bank corrects and improves the previous economic forecast. It is now believed that in 2011, Catalonia will grow at a 1.1% annual rate, and at 1.6% in 2012. However, without the public sector budget cuts, the Catalan economy will grow at 2% this 2011. The export sector has reached historical maximums, and will lead economic growth. However, economic growth in 2011 will not be translated into an improvement in employment.
The private school will follow the British curriculum so, that when the students finish high school, they will be able to attend any public or private university either in Spain or in the United Kingdom. It is the latest addition to a series of international schools in Catalonia, which infuse an international and intercultural perspective into their teaching programmes, or they directly follow a curriculum from another country.
FC Barcelona announced that the Catalan Andreu Fontàs will be playing with the first team in the 2011/12 season. His buy-out clause will be automatically raised to 30 million euros. He is another player from Barça’s junior teams that reaches the club’s main squad.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Senior Economist for Spain thinks that the Catalan Government’s budget cuts are going “in the right direction”. He also denied that the Autonomous Communities’ deficit puts Spain solvency’s at risk.
The unemployment rate decreased for the third consecutive month. However, last June the reduction was inferior to that experienced in June 2010. June is traditionally a good month for employment figures, because of the high number of tourism-related new contracts.
The new bank becomes Spain’s third financial institution for its stock exchange value and the ninth in the Ibex-35 Spanish index. CaixaBank is the result of Barcelona-based savings bank La Caixa’s transformation into a private bank in order to strengthen its structure and position in the market, after the sector restructuration. The day CaixaBank was listed for the first time on the stock exchange, the rating agency Moody’s improved CaixaBank’s appreciation. However, after an initial increase CaixaBank’s value dropped by 1.1%. It is the first Spanish savings bank that concludes its transformation and trade on the stock exchange.
However, if the question is open to other options, 33% would prefer a Catalan State within a Federal Spain, 31.8% the current situation as an Autonomous Community and 25.5% want Catalonia to be an independent nation. The poll results also show that 75.5% of Catalans want the Catalan Government to raise all the taxes, while only 18.2% prefer the current system through which the Spanish Government raises the main taxes. The poll was compiled by the Catalan Polling Centre (CEO), which is managed by the Catalan Government.
The Irish company has accused the local administration of not honouring current agreements, in place until 2013. The Catalan President has assured that the Government has absolutely “fulfilled” the current agreements and that the “problems started when these agreements wanted to be modified”. The low-cost airline is in a dispute with the Catalan Government over its continuity in Girona-Costa Brava; Ryanair is asking for an extra 7.5 million euros. The Catalan Minister for Transportation considered Ryanair’s attitude as “blackmail”. The Government announced this evening that it will freeze current negotiations with Ryanair until it has the “assurance” that the Irish company “fulfils what it signed”.
Sales abroad have been growing at a two-digit rate for 16 consecutive months, being the true engine of the Catalan economy and the main asset towards recuperating economic growth.
PM Zapatero today proposed an expenditure limit for the Autonomous Communities before the Spanish Parliament . The Spokesperson for the Catalan Executive considers it an attack to self-governance and fiscal autonomy. In addition, he stressed that the Catalan Government is the only administration in Spain, at all levels, that has cut its expenditure by 10% in one year. He also asked the Spanish Government to make its own adjustments and pay what it legally owes to the Communities, and to Catalonia in particular.
Bakers expect a 5% drop in the sale of cakes due to the economic crisis. Families have chosen smaller and cheaper sweets to celebrate the night, while the tradition of setting off firecrackers appears to be as strong as ever
The Catalan pharmaceutical company is the world’s leader in blood-derived products. After expanding in the United States by purchasing Talecris, Grifols needed a larger headquarters. It moved to three interconnected buildings in Sant Cugat del Vallès, in Barcelona’s Metropolitan Area. From the new facilities, Grifols will investigate stem cells and Alzheimer’s.
A scientific investigation on the four royal tombs and mummies buried in the Santes Creus Monastery confirms some beliefs, corrects others and unveils some secrets. Peter the Great, who conquered the Kingdom of Sicily in 1282, was dying his hair and Blanche of Anjou died from complications post labour. In the Middle Ages, the Crown of Aragon ruled the Western Mediterranean basin.