copenhagen

Josep Maria Matamala and three others accompanying the Catalan leader when he was detained in Germany are suspected of aiding and abetting

Political representatives in Denmark meet Carles Puigdemont who says he is willing to discuss alternative solutions

The Catalan president leaves Belgium after three months to participate in a University of Copenhagen debate on Catalan politics

President Puigdemont tells eight political groups in the Folketing that their "shared demand" to seek negotiations with Madrid has not worked

Catalonia will have three new delegations abroad and their directors have already been appointed. Manuel Manonelles, International Relations’professor at the Universitat Ramon Llull, will be the Catalan Government delegate in Geneva, one of the cities that boasts the highest number of international institutions. The relationship between Catalonia and Poland and with the Baltic countries will be strengthened with a new delegation based in Warsaw led by Ewa Adela Cylwik. Specializing in Constitutional Law and Human Rights, Cylwik was born in Warswaw and speaks German, Russian, English, Spanish, and Catalan, in addition to Polish. The Catalan delegation in Scandinavia will be located in Copenhagen and will be led by Francesca Guardiola who has more than 30 years experience in public administration. Counting these new delegations, Catalonia will have a total of ten offices abroad; in the UK and Ireland, Brussels, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Portugal, the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The Catalan Government approved this Tuesday the creation of four new delegations abroad. One of the offices will be located in Copenhagen and is set to cover the Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland. The delegation to Poland will be based in Warsaw and the delegation in Zagreb aims to have influence in the Balkan area and in the near future in Greece, Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania. A fourth delegation is going to be opened in Geneva and focus on Switzerland, a country which has been covered by the delegation to France up to now. Although the Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, admitted that the pace of enhancing the Catalan delegation network “depends on the budget for 2017” he insisted that this doesn’t mean that “nothing can be done”.

Between the 18^th and the 20^th of November, Barcelona is hosting the 4^th edition of the Smart City Expo World Congress. This year it will be the most international edition so far, with 400 cities from 5 continents represented, a 33% increase. Participating cities include Berlin, Munich, Boston, Chicago, New York and San Francisco, who are present at the Fira de Barcelona exhibition centre. The goal of reaching 9,000 visitors may be achieved, as nearly 700 people attended the opening ceremony on Monday. Companies are presenting technological applications for improving the sustainability, mobility and quality of life of everyday citizens. Applications being presented this year include drones for cities, technology to monitor free parking for busy commuters, and applications to assess air quality for the physically active and for choosing the best place to open a business.

938 of the 947 existing municipalities in Catalonia will host polling stations for the alternative consultation vote on independence scheduled for the 9^th of November, which replaces the original non-binding referendum. According to the Catalan Government, this represents 99.9% of Catalans being able to vote in their own neighbourhood, town or village, without having to go to a nearby municipality. The Catalan Government will be using its own venues to host the polling stations (mainly high-schools), but it lacks them in small towns. For this reason it requested that town halls cooperate and make municipal venues available for voting. 4 additional municipalities could be added to the final list. In addition, civil societies and parties will be able to campaign in 305 Catalan Government's venues between the 30^th of October and the 8^th of November.

For the second year in a row, ‘Restaurant Magazine’ has awarded ‘El Celler de Can Roca’ the second position in the world’s top restaurant ranking. The Catalan chef Joan Roca runs this restaurant in Girona together with his brothers Josep and Jordi, who take care of wines and desserts respectively. The Roca brothers with their 3 Michelin star restaurant represent Catalan cuisine, after Ferran Adrià decided to close El Bulli last summer and reopen it again in 2014 but turn it into the ‘El Bulli Foundation’. Copenhagen’s ‘Noma’ continues being at the top of the best world restaurant list. The Basque restaurants ‘Mugaritz’ and ‘Arzak’ hold third and eighth positions respectively.