catalan

The festivity of Sant Jordi, one of the most romantic and anticipated days of the year for many Catalans, was a success. Hundreds of thousands of people headed to the streets this Saturday in search of a book and a rose for their loved ones. Barcelona was particularly crowded, but so were the other capitals of Catalonia, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona, and all the small towns and villages of the country. Late in the afternoon, the rain slightly hampered the celebration in parts of the country, especially in the north. Book sellers and florists, however, were satisfied with expected sales of about 1.5 million books and around 5.5 million roses. Sant Jordi was also a great occasion for readers to meet their favourite authors, who took part in different book signings. In Barcelona, where the most famous authors were, but also in other cities, there were long queues for a signature. The bestseller in Catalan was 'La filla del capità Groc', by Víctor Amela.

The Catalan President said during his speech on the occasion of Sant Jordi that the festivity is an opportunity to have the voices of the Catalans “heard and respected”, and he urged to achieve this through “arguments, proposals, dialogue and understanding”. Carles Puigdemont described Sant Jordi as “one of the most anticipated days of the year in Catalonia and one of the most beautiful and enjoyable to experience” and invited “everyone, people from here and from abroad, to enjoy it in person”. “Take full advantage of this day and enjoy it with happiness, civility and respect for everyone!”, he added, in a televised speech.

The Spanish government has decided to take the Catalan Law on Empty Houses, the Catalan Law for Local Government and the Catalan Law on Equality between Men and Women to the Constitutional Court. The executive in Madrid has announced this only two days after a meeting between Spanish President Mariano Rajoy and Catalan President Carles Puigdemont in which both leaders agreed on trying to reduce the number of litigious cases between the administrations. With these appeals, the number of Catalan laws challenged by the Spanish government in the Constitutional Court tops 30. Once the appeals are accepted by the Court, the laws will be automatically temporarily suspended.

The former Catalan President will give a public lecture at the prestigious French business school École des Hautes Études Commercials on the 26th of April. Artur Mas will defend that the process towards independence is not harming investment in Catalonia in a talk titled ‘Foreign Investment during Political Crisis: the Catalan Case’. His successor as Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, have asked Mas to help them promote Catalonia abroad. Mas is considered an asset for Catalonia, given his broad international experience and his “status” as former President.

Sant Jordi’s Day is not only a huge festival for Catalonia, but for the printing and publishing industry as well. Annually, book sales during the festival weekend contribute between 5 and 8 percent of yearly profits. In 2015, the Catalan Booksellers Guild reported that 1.5 million books had been sold in Catalonia during the Sant Jordi festival, bringing in roughly €19.2 million. If last year’s trends where buyers bought more than one book during the festival continue, sales could be even higher for printed books of varying topics and genres. This year’s predicted top-selling books for Sant Jordi cover everything from ways to tidy up and organise your home to psychological thrillers and island mysteries.

Brussels is the chosen destination for Catalan President Carles Puigdemont’s first official trip abroad. It will be from the 30^th of April to the 2^nd of May and comes after Puigdemont’s visit to Paris, scheduled for March, had to be cancelled due to the coach accident which killed 13 Erasmus students in Freginals, in the South of Catalonia. Puigdemont made the announcement this Monday during a meeting with the delegates of the Catalan government abroad, the Catalan Government’s representative to the European Union, Amadeu Altafaj, the Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, and the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Jordi Solé. During the meeting, Puigdemont also confirmed the government’s will to open new delegations in the Vatican and Morocco as soon as possible.

EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos stated that “all levels of governance can contribute” to the European Commission’s commitments to tackle the refuges crisis. In a letter addressed to Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, Avramopoulos considered Catalonia’s offer to host 4,500 refugees “a step in the right direction” and called for the offer to become a reality as soon as possible. He also lamented that Spain had “only relocated 18 migrants” besides having committed to “assisting 6,127” refugees. “These schemes have to be implemented as a matter of urgency” to “ensure that the Union takes on its fair share of the global responsibility to provide a safe haven for the world's refugees”, stated the letter. Avramopoulos also expressed his will for Spain’s government to “support” Catalonia’s efforts in this matter, as it is “responsible for the implementation of the relevant EU decisions”.

In its first annual collection, a tax raised on banks and other financial institutions maintaining empty flats has generated €11.3 million. When it was first approved, the tax was only expected to raise €8 million. The revenue from the tax is a “very positive” first assessment according to Catalan Minister for Public Administration and Housing, Meritxell Borras. The revenue gained from taxing 198 institutions with flats that remained empty for two years or more will be used to purchase 260 properties for public housing in Catalonia. However, Borras is concerned that the tax will be “endangered” by potential interference by the government in state functions. 

Nearly 20 Catalan literary agencies presented their authors and sealed some important deals at the London Book Fair 2016. “Presenting Catalan literature to the world is normal”, stated the director of the literary agency Pontas, Anna Soler-Pont. “There are translators from Catalan into almost every language”, she added. Indeed, in the last two years there have been more than 250 translations of Catalan books and although most of them are into Spanish and French, English is a growing market. “Barcelona and the Spanish Civil War are amongst the hottest topics”, stated English translator, Peter Bush. Translations into Polish have also rocketed in 2015, due to Catalonia’s special invitation to Warsaw’s Book Fair in May. To cap it all, both classic and contemporary Catalan authors will be available in Chinese this year.

The Catalan Government collected €43.5 million in tourism tax revenue in 2015, an increase of nearly 5.5% from 2014. Quarterly analysis shows a growth in revenue from hotels, cruises, and tourist homes used by those visiting Catalonia. Additionally, the Catalan Government said that 2015’s numbers show widespread growth in touristic revenues across almost all areas of Catalonia, with Terres de l’Ebre leading with an 11.6% growth from 2014. Catalan Ministry for Business and Knowledge Jordi Baiget said the increase in revenue is “parallel to the increase in tourists” who visit Catalonia — especially those who visit during the last quarter of the year, which in 2015 proved to be the most successful. 

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and Spanish alternative left ‘Podemos’Secretary General, Pablo Iglesias, met this Friday at Palau de la Generalitat. Iglesias assured before the media that he transmitted to Puigdemont his “compromise regarding the celebration of a referendum in Catalonia” which is “the best solution to the current deadlock”. “Catalan society has to decide and the vast majority of Catalans want to do so”, he stated. The Catalan government’s spokeswoman, Neus Munté, explained the content of the meeting to the media and emphasised “Puigdemont’s intention to keep the roadmap”towards independence “which will continue to be developed”regardless of the negotiations to form a new government in Spain. The meeting comes one day after the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), Spanish Unionist ‘Ciutadans’and Podemos met to discuss a possible triple agreement to form an alternative government to that currently ruling in Spain, composed by the conservative People’s Party (PP). 

The Catalan of the Year Award for 2015 has been given to Òscar Camps, activist and director of the NGO Pro-Activa Open Arms. Pro-Activa Open Arms has been fighting since 2014 to save refugees´ lives in the Aegean Sea and on the island of Lesbos. The other two finalists were prominent journalist Josep Maria Espinàs and Pau Dones, a well-known singer who recently won his battle with colon cancer. The award is organised by the newspaper ‘El Periodico’, and it is decided upon through votes submitted by readers of the newspaper. Also awarded was the group ‘Stop Mare Mortum’ (SMM), for Best Solidarity Initiative, and the Simon Holding Industrial Group, for Best Business Initiative. 

The Catalan vice president and Catalan Minister for Economy and Tax Office, Oriol Junqueras, stated that the Government “won’t make any cuts”and emphasised that Catalonia already allocates 70% of its budget to social policies and that 90% of the Government’s expenses are final. Junqueras’ statements come after the Spanish Finance Minister, Cristóbal Montoro, sent a letter to several Autonomous Communities in Spain urging them to “comply with the budget stability”. Montoro also nuanced that Catalonia’s deficit target in 2015, which was 2.7%, surpassed the maximum deficit established by the Spanish government by 0.7%. “If the Spanish Ministry wants to make cuts or shut down hospitals, it will have to come and do it itself”, warned Junqueras. He also emphasised that “the Spanish Finance Ministry has imposed so many cuts in the last years that any additional ones are simply inapplicable”.

The number of young Catalans living abroad will be tallied and efforts will be continued to encourage their return. The Department of Youth estimates that more than 3,000 young people left Catalonia to move abroad in 2014 and there were 242,070 Catalans living abroad by May 2015, according to data released by the Catalan Institute of Statistics (Idescat). Projects are being set forth to aid in providing access for entrepreneurs to profiles that are outside Catalonia, job opportunities in the field of research, and promote entrepreneurship within the region. Móncat, the web platform focused on employment opportunities, will also be geared towards connecting Catalans living abroad to opportunities in Catalonia.