catalan way

The Autonomous Community public debt has increased 26% in the last 12 months and represents now the historic maximum of 11.4% of Spain’s GDP. Spain’s total public debt reached 63.6% of its GDP and totals 679.8 billion euros. The Catalan Government’s debt has reached 34.3 billion euros, 17.2% of Catalonia’s GDP. It raised 33% in the last 12 months, as the Catalan Government’s public deficit was 3.86% in 2010.

The Catalan Parliament will also file a formal complaint regarding the violent protests that took place last Wednesday in Barcelona. Protesters tried to besiege the Parliament and impede the entrance of MPs, some of whom were insulted, threatened, pushed and sprayed. The Spanish Penal Code states that these type of actions are a felony and offenders could face between three and five years in person. Catalan Police had to protect the Parliament and the MPs, with a deployment of 600 police officers. All political parties condemned the violent acts by protesters and most of the opposition said that the deployment of security forces was too small.

The Catalan People’s Party (PPC) abstained and facilitated the rejection of the motions to substitute the budget bill presented by the Catalan Government, run by the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition CiU. The motions had been presented by four parliamentary groups for a range of reasons, but mainly because the Government’s budget proposal was cutting too much social spending while it did not make enough efforts to raise revenues.

The Catalan Parliament was under siege by the “indignats” protesters, who have been camping on Catalunya Square for the last month. They tried to impede MPs' access to the park where the Parliament is located. Some MPs arrived on foot and were insulted, pushed or sprayed. Others, including the Catalan President and the Parliament’s President, had to arrive via helicopter or inside police vans. The ‘indignats’ movement condemned “the isolated violent episodes”, but said they have the right to block the Parliament. Today the first voting on the budget was held, which reduces public spending by 10%. Despite the protests, the parliamentary debate took place.

A pilot programme set up by the Catalan Police in one of Barcelona’s districts will enable tourists to report minor thefts on city streets from their hotels, without needing to go to a police station. The programme will be in place on a trial basis in July and August in 18 hotels. If successful, it could be applied to all Barcelona hotels.

A Barcelona-based newspaper announced in its Tuesday edition that the two Catalan savings banks would see a state intervention and would be nationalised by the Spanish Government and the Bank of Spain this summer. CatalunyaCaixa has denied the claims. Unnim also denied the rumours and reminded the press of the 30th September deadline set by the Bank of Spain to restructure its business and find additional capital.

Thanks to a five-year contract, the Catalan Government undertakes the enlargement of the airport terminal and Neilson-Thomas Cook agrees to include ski resorts in the Lleida Pyrenees as part of its winter holiday offer.

The new art museum will focus on Catalan painting and will display parts of the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection. The city council approved the excutive project to build the Thyssen Museum. The project will cost 15 million euros (3 less than initially planned) and will restore an old cork factory.

The world’s leader chemical company is planning to invest 12 million euros in its Tarragona plant, the largest one in southern Europe. BASF Spain has its headquarters in Tarragona, and concentrates most of its plants and offices in Catalonia.

The European Commission also recognised "a different effort" to the rest of Spain’s Autonomous Communities. Brussels said so when on Tuesday it asked Spain “to strictly control” the public “deficit and debt of regional governments”, the day after Moody’s rating agency warned about Catalonia’s expected deficit for 2011. The Spanish Government took note from this particular recommendation but not the other made by Brussels, which included increasing energy taxes and VAT. The Catalan Government criticised Moody’s for “creating alarm” with assessments that do not take into account the whole situation. In addition, it denounced how the Spanish Government has reduced its own deficit by transferring it to the Autonomous Communities.

The surrealist Catalan painter Joan Miró will have a museum in the country house he spent parts of his childhood and youth, in Mont-Roig del Camp, next to Tarragona. The family, experts and Barcelona’s Miró Foundation will decide on the exact contents, which will be displayed via permanent and temporary exhibitions.

The President of the Catalan Government detailed his plan to Herman Van Rompuy to balance the Catalan budget and reduce the public deficit. Artur Mas stressed the importance of the Mediterranean Railway Corridor for the European economy and he also outlined the benefits of an effective Union for the Mediterranean, in this moment in particular. Mas was joined by Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, his electoral ally and leader of the Catalan Christian Democrats. They also met with Competition’s Commissioner, Joaquín Almunia.

The factory will increase its output of biological and pharmaceutical products by 40% over 3 years, taking work from closing factories in Europe and the United States. The Catalan plant is specialised in animal health and vaccines for livestock. It was bought in 2009 by the North American pharmaceutical giant, in a small town near Girona.

Writer Teresa Solana, Brown University Professor Enric Bou, university professor Mary Ann Newman and translator Peter Bush all took part in a debate on Catalan literature and culture at the New York Pen World Voices Festival. The complexity of translating from the Catalan language, the differences between normative Catalan and the 21st century language and the rich tradition of its literature all emerged as key elements of a debate moderated by writer Aleksandar Hemon.

Despite the scientific analysis that proves the innocence of Spanish field products, the demand for vegetables and fruit, not only cucumbers, has harshly hit agriculture throughout Spain. Catalan farmers are also heavily affected, as well as fresh food shopkeepers. Farmers have to drop prices or even destroy the product as demand has plummeted, especially regarding exports. Thousands of tones of oranges are in stock in the Delta de l’Ebre and may rot if demand does not recover soon.