catalan

‘The Impossible’ triumphs at Catalan ‘Gaudí’ Film Awards

February 4, 2013 11:36 PM | Clara Roig Medina

The Catalan ‘Gaudi’ Film Awards had a true international feel this year as ‘The Imposible’, directed by Barcelona-born moviemaker Juan Antonio Bayona, came out on top. Starring Ewan McGregor and Oscar-nominated Naomi Watts, the film won the six awards for which it was nominated, including Best Director and Best European Film. The Catalan-Spanish production ‘Blancanieves’, directed by Pablo Berger, was voted Best Catalan Film. Àlex Monner – famous for his ‘Red Band Society’ part – was recognised as Best Actor for the film ‘Els nens salvatges’ and Maria Molins won Best Actress for ‘El Bosc’.

Nissan will assemble its new saloon car model in Barcelona

February 4, 2013 11:12 PM | CNA / Gaspar Pericay Coll

After having reached an agreement on the measures to increase competitiveness with the trade unions last week, the Japanese multinational car manufacturer finally confirmed on Monday that its Barcelona plant will be building Nissan’s new saloon car model as of July 2014. The decision will bring in a direct investment of €130 million, creating 1,000 direct positions in the Nissan factory and 3,000 indirect jobs in the Catalan automobile parts supply industry. After seven months of talks, including a critical period when Barcelona seemed to be out of the race, the Nissan managers and trade unions finally reached an agreement early last week, based on a 20% salary reduction for new workers and guaranteeing the oldest jobs. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, emphasised that Nissan’s announcement confirms that Catalonia is “an attractive and reliable country”.

Samuel Aranda: “Being a photojournalist has taught me that not everything is what it seems”

February 4, 2013 04:03 PM | Laia Ros

CNA interviews Samuel Aranda, the Catalan photographer who eighteen months ago leapt to fame by winning the World Press Photo competition, the most important award in photojournalism thanks to a shot that would become the symbol of the Arab Spring: Fatima cradling her son Zayed, who was suffering from the effects of tear gas after participating in a demonstration in Yemen. However even after reaching such heady heights, Aranda hasn’t stopped working as his controversial photo essay for the New York Times about the extent of the Spanish economic crisis shows.

The President of the Catalan Government calls for a summit to strengthen the fight against corruption

February 1, 2013 10:58 PM | CNA

The President of the Catalan Government and leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) is organising a summit to define new initiatives against corruption. The meeting will be held next week and will gather together the main representatives of the Catalan Parliament, the Supreme Court of Justice of Catalonia, the Catalan Ombudsman, the Catalan Court of Audit and the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia. Political parties are not invited, as the summit is thought to be “complementary” to Parliament’s actions. The Catalan President will ask the attendees to provide him with ideas so that he can channel them and put them on the table for a wider debate. In the last few months, many corruption scandals have affected politicians in Catalonia and the rest of Spain.

Barcelona-based CaixaBank earns €230 million in 2012, after raising its core capital to 11%

February 1, 2013 10:49 PM | CNA

The CaixaBank President, Isidre Fainé, is optimistic about 2013, which “will be better than the year left behind”. The attributable net profits of CaixaBank, Spain’s main bank, decreased by 78.2% in 2012 compared to the previous year, as the Catalan financial entity focused on fully restructuring its business and purchasing other financial entities in order to enlarge its customer base and reach 13 million clients. The Catalan bank’s customer funds increased by 19.6%, up to €288.57 billion and its loans portfolio grew by 20.1%, reaching €223.45 billion. Furthermore, CaixaBank allocated €10.3 billion for provisioning charges and write-downs. The Barcelona-based financial entity had an income of €6.74 billion and a net operating income of €3.17 billion. In addition, CaixaBank will keep its €500 million budget for its social work foundation.

20% increase of Catalan caviar sales produced by Caviar Nacarii, from the Pyrenees

February 1, 2013 08:56 PM | CNA / Elise Griset

The Catalan brand sold 812 kilograms of caviar in 2012, all being produced in the Vall d’Aran County, in the north-western corner of Catalonia, in the middle of the Pyrenees. The sales increase is due to the growth in the international sales of its product. The 2012 main market has been Russia but now they are trying to introduce its caviar to Sweden and Taiwan. Therefore, they will be present in 10 countries in Europe and Asia. Besides caviar, the company also sold 7.5 tons of sturgeon meat which represents a 7% rise over the previous year.

Salvador Dalí Museums closed 2012 with 2% more visitors

February 1, 2013 08:23 PM | CNA / Carla Marchesi

The three Dalí museums managed by the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation were visited by 1.46 million people, 1.82% more visitors than in 2011. The Teatre Museu Dalí in Figueres, the Gala Dalí castle in Púbol and the Salvador Dalí house in Portlligat, all exhibit the work of the most important figure of Surrealism and represent a key tourism attraction for Catalonia and for the Costa Brava area.

Barça player Isaac Cuenca to join Ajax on loan through June 30

February 1, 2013 08:03 PM | CNA

The Catalan forward will play for the Dutch team until the end of the current season. Ajax does not have the option to buy the player once the loan period expires. Formed in FC Barcelona’s youth system, Cuenca’s breakout year was the 2010/11 season, when he played a decisive role in Sabadell’s promotion-winning season from Segunda B to Segunda A. The following season he returned to Pep Guardiola’s Barça, where he enjoyed first team action and featured in 30 games for the senior side. However, he was seriously injured at the end of last season and he was not was given the green light to return to competitive play since 10 days ago.

The Catalan President emphasises the fact that his meeting with the King of Spain shows Catalonia’s “willingness to talk”

January 31, 2013 10:13 PM | CNA

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, and the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, met on Thursday for the first time since Mas was re-elected president and the Catalan Parliament approved a Declaration of Sovereignty of the People of Catalonia. The meeting lasted 45 minutes and none of the participants officially commented afterwards. However, Mas, once in Barcelona, referred to it during a literary prize ceremony. The Catalan President underlined that “we will always have to go and explain ourselves” regarding Catalonia’s self-determination process. According to him, this proves Catalonia’s “willingness to always talk”. Besides, Mas also explained to the monarch that the current deficit targets imposed on the Autonomous Communities are not allowing them to guarantee the Welfare State.

The Catalan Government asks the European Commission to guarantee the “fairer” distribution of deficit targets within Spain

January 31, 2013 09:58 PM | CNA

Andreu Mas-Colell, the Catalan Finance Minister, has sent a letter to the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Olli Rehn, to denounce the fact that the Spanish Government is proportionally imposing much stricter deficit target on the Autonomous Communities than that of the Spanish Executive, obliging them to implement a much larger and faster adjustment. In 2013, the Spanish Government allowed itself a 3.8% deficit target and imposed an objective of 0.7% on the Autonomous Communities. In Spain regional governments manage 36% of the total public spending, including the main public services such as healthcare, education and social affairs. The Catalan Government manages an even larger share, as it has more devolved powers.

Catalan centres are at the core of the billion-euro graphene and human brain research projects funded by the European Commission

January 30, 2013 10:17 PM | CNA / Gaspar Pericay Coll

Through its FET-Flagship programme, the European Commission is allocating €1 billion to each of the two main research projects in Europe. The first one is a project to explore the properties of graphene, a new material deriving from graphite that might revolutionise industry as silicon did a few decades ago. The second one will simulate a human brain in order to understand how it exactly works. The Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology is one of the nine leading institutes coordinating the graphene project, in which 623 research groups from 32 different countries will participate. Furthermore, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center will take care of the calculations at a molecular level in the Human Brain Project.

Rajoy will not review the Autonomous Communities’ deficit targets if Brussels does not allow greater flexibility

January 30, 2013 09:34 PM | CNA

On Monday the Spanish Minister for the Economy, Luís de Guindos, stated that Spain might internally redistribute its total deficit target among the different government levels in order to give more breathing space to the Autonomous Communities, which have been taking on a large part of the budget adjustment. However, the following day, the Spanish Finance Minister, Cristóbal Montoro, ruled out this possibility if Brussels does not give greater flexibility to Spain and increase its total deficit target for 2013. On Wednesday, after the contradictory messages, the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, confirmed Montoro’s approach. In 2013, Spain has been given a total deficit target of 4.5%: 3.8% is for the Spanish Government (responsible for 50% of public spending) and 0.7% is for the Autonomous Communities (responsible for almost 40%).