catalonia

'Convergència i Unió' (CiU) increases its vote share across Catalonia and becomes the leading party in number of votes. The large victory backs the Catalan Government’s controversial austerity measures. The Catalan Government and Barcelona City Council will be run by the same party, CiU. The Catalan Socialist Party loses large cities and 22% of its votes across the country. The People’s Party becomes the third party and wins in Badalona with a discourse focused on illegal immigration. ERC loses around a third of its votes but other pro Catalan independence parties gain support. The xenophobic and extreme right PxC remains marginal but increases its base and enters the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. The turnout was 55%, one point higher than in 2007. The null or spoilt vote multiplied its share by three but remains marginal.

On May 22nd, Catalans will vote in their local elections. According to the recent polls the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) is well positioned to win in many cities, towns and villages across Catalonia, and in particular in Barcelona. CiU’s candidate may become the next Mayor of Barcelona after 32 years of Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) leadership. The same change could happen in Girona, where polls indicate a tie. However it seems the PSC will maintain control of Lleida and Tarragona City Councils. The People’s Party (PP) speech is of major significance with their focus being on immigration and security.

The Catalan Parliament rejected a law proposal on Catalonia’s independence three days after the popular consultation process on the issue ended with a clear “yes”. This civil society voting was not an official referendum and it was not organised by public powers. It took place over the course of 18 months, and Barcelona closed the process on Sunday. 21% of the electoral census turned out (885.000 citizens) and 90% of the voters backed Catalonia’s independence from Spain. Members of the Catalan Government cast their vote, including the President.

Catalonia’s International Tourism Fair is currently taking place and will run until this Sunday. Barcelona broke all records in 2010 regarding visitors. 7.3 million tourists visited the Catalan capital and there were 14 million hotel nights booked by visitors. The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, who is in charge of tourism, expects 2011 for Catalonia to be “exceptional”.

This English writer has been living in Catalonia for the last 26 years. This week he presented his new book ‘Barcelona, Catalonia: A View from the Inside’. Tree explains the difficulties he encounters explaining Catalonia to foreigners.

On the same day that Catalan hospitals presented their plans to reduce their budget by 10% and cut several services, the Catalan Government’s Spokesperson sent a strong message to Madrid saying that "enough was enough." The Spanish Government answered the calls by the Catalan Executive by saying that if it does not meet the 1.3% deficit objective for 2011, it will run out of cash. Madrid is asking for greater budget cuts. Almost all Catalan political parties, including the People’s Party, back up the Catalan Government, the main exception being the Socialist Party, which supports Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

The Spanish Government demands an additional budget reduction of 3.2 billion euros to Catalonia, while the Catalan Government claims 3.3 billion owed by the Spanish State. Catalan parties have accused Prime Minister Zapatero of reducing his government’s deficit by increasing that of the autonomous communities. The Spanish Government wants to force Autonomous Communities to pay for the deficit by limiting it through specific laws.

The ‘Volta Ciclista a Catalunya’ celebrates its centenary in style. Alberto Contador has won the centenary edition of Catalonia’s cycling ‘Tour’. Michelle Scarponi and Daniel Martin are second and third respectively.

The Catalan race is one of the oldest cycling events in the world. The ‘Volta’ started in 1911, 24 years before Spain’s own ‘Vuelta’ and only eight years after the first Tour de France.

The Bank of Spain today released the debt of the Spanish Autonomous Communities. Catalan public debt represents 16.2% of Catalonia’s GDP and increased 36.7% in one year. The new Catalan Government stressed its austerity and stability plan, which will cut public expenditure by 10%.

The Japanese writer wins the 23rd edition of Catalonia’s top award. Other winners have included Jimmy Carter, Aung San Suu Kyi, Claude Lévi-Strauss and Harold Bloom, among others.

Experts in economics and regional fiscal redistribution concluded at a conference in London that the Spanish Autonomous Communities’ expenditure like Catalonia’s is not to be blamed for the downgrading of Spanish debt. They stated that the Catalan Government can not only be “an expenditure agency” and that it needs total control over its revenues and budget.

“We are not a peripheral region of the Iberian Peninsular, we are Mediterranean people very committed to Europe”, stated Artur Mas, President of the Catalan Government. Mas met with all the consular corps in Barcelona, which is one of the four non-capital cities with the most consulates in the world.

According to the new German Chamber of Commerce Managing Director in Spain, the Central European country could promise young Catalans not only training and competitive salaries but also job stability. He also explains which are the obstacles in his view that stop German investments in Spain and Catalonia.

Companies and agencies from the tourism industry have joint together to highlight the potential of the Asian tourist market and stress the obstacles for its growth. Currently, Barcelona has only two direct flights with Asia per week, a figure that is expected to largely increase. As an example of this potential, China exported almost 57 million of tourists abroad per year, but only 90,000 visit Barcelona.