catalan

The ‘number two’ of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalists (CiU), Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, immediately replied that the Spanish Government is “the one creating mistrust” because of “its discrepancies” and Mariano Rajoy’s “absenteeism”. He also criticised the Spanish Government for not putting in place an action plan to promote employment, “despite having the tools to do so”. Soraya Sáenz de Santamaria, the Spanish Government’s Deputy Prime Minister and Spokesperson, has blamed Catalan and Basque nationalisms for “promoting a climate of instability”. They create “mistrust and insecurity”, which “keeps away foreign investment” and “job creation”, said Sáenz de Santamaria the week Basque elections have been announced.

The Penedès wine appellation is expecting “excellent” wines from this year’s harvest. Catalonia’s most important viticultural area has already started harvesting its chardonnay grapes and is expecting to harvest the other varieties in the next few days. The weather this year has been favourable for the appellation, with a “very healthy” crop that despite a reduction in volume, will be sufficient to fulfil the 22 million bottles normally produced by the wineries.

The trade union UGT has calculated that 478,969 jobs have been destroyed in Catalonia between the June 2007 and June 2012. Furthermore, the union fears a “layoff avalanche” next autumn in the public sector.

Foreign tourism in Catalonia continues to flourish despite the economic crisis. In July, there have been just over two million foreign tourists to Catalonia, 9% more than in the same month of 2011. In the first seven months of 2012, Catalonia hosted 8.4 million foreign tourists, a figure which represents 25.6% of international tourism to Spain. Catalonia has therefore consolidated its position as the most visited tourist destination in Spain.

This cultural trade fair of Mediterranean shores’ traditions will reach its 15th edition, organised in the Central Catalonia city of Manresa in early November. The 15th edition will be held from November 8th to 11th. It is a market for music, theatre and dance professionals, with shows for all ages and held on stage or on the street. This year, 104 groups will perform in more than 250 shows. The Israeli singer Noa will offer a concert together with the Napolitan ensemble String Quarter. The Catalan Sardana orchestra, Cobla Sant Jordi, will play with the Flamenco guitarist Niño Josele. Also, the fair will have a meeting space for professionals.

The economic crisis hits Catalan industrial areas. In Catalonia there is a total of 35,000 hectares of industrial plots of land. Up to 40% of this surface has no use after four consecutive years of losing activity, and during this time there have been more industrial buildings closing than opening.

The numbers of foreign workers contributing to Social Security in Catalonia reached 400,075 people at the end of July. This figure represents a 2.11% increase compared to a month ago. Seasonal work related to tourism and fruit harvesting caused the number of non-EU workers increase by more than 8,000 people over July.

The Cadaqués Orchestra played ‘Concerto libero’, an unfinished work for piano and cello at the Peralada’s Carme Church, in northern Catalonia. The Costa Brava festival is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth whose works have achieved international acclaim. The world premiere of the piece by Xavier Montsalvatge was the highlight of the concert which was dedicated to the composer, one of the most prominent figures in Catalan music.

Alella wineries, in Greater Barcelona, have started this summer’s harvest, with predictions that this year’s vintage may be better than 2005 thanks to the absence of plant disease and favourable weather conditions throughout the year. For now, the only concern for winemakers is this August’s amount of heat, which could cause a drop in acidity.

Barcelona’s neighbourhood of Gràcia has started its annual street festival on Wednesday, a week long festival famous for its street decorations and community spirit. Every year residents form committees to chose a theme and decorate their streets in competition with each other with ornaments made by the residents themselves. The festival is popular with tourists and Barcelonans alike and starts on the 15th August every year.

The Spanish Social Security has published the list with the 417 drugs that from September will no longer be subsidised in order to reduce public spending and meet deficit targets. Most of them are some of the most consumed medicines for minor symptoms, such as heartburn, muscle pain, or diarrhoea. Since the measure is not popular among doctors, the Catalan Health Minister, Boi Ruiz, said that more expensive drugs with similar effects but not included in the list may now be prescribed, which would increase pubic healthcare spending instead of reducing it.

After the Catalan Parliament’s ban on bullfighting approved in 2010, controversy between those in favour and those against bull festivities has been continuing for years now. The latest issue under discussion is the continuation of a specific bull event called the ‘correbous’ that takes place in the Ebro Delta area, in southern Catalonia. ‘Correbous’ are deeply rooted in the area’s tradition, organised to coincide with the towns’ patron saint parties, held during summertime. They are different from regular bullfighting and they have more similarities with Pamplona’s San Fermín festival, where people run in front of the bulls.

The search engine giant adds thirteen languages to its speech recognition system, also including Basque and Galician. From this Friday, it will be possible to use the service on phones with the Android operating system to search in Catalan. With this addition, Google’s speech recognition software now supports 42 languages.

With 5.13 billion in foreign sales in June, Catalan exports have grown by 6.6% over the same period in 2011. Amongst the Autonomous Communities, Catalonia ranks first for its export economy, in the first six months of this year Catalan companies sold up to €29.1 billion abroad. The increase in foreign exports and the fall in imports have reduced the trade deficit by 31% in the first six months of this year.

The Catalan Government’s drug prescription fee and the Spanish Executive’s decision to make citizens pay for a greater share of prescribed drugs have had an effect on inflation. The price of pharmaceutical products has had its highest increase since at least 2003.