government

The Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell, has announced a €4.23 billion deficit for 2014, representing a 2.13% deficit, significantly higher than the 1% target imposed by the Spanish Government. Mas-Colell stressed that spending went as planned, but revenue was far from the expected result, obtaining €1.91 billion less than expected, since the Spanish Government reduced the Catalan Executive's funds by €600 million. In addition, it has not shared with the Autonomous Communities all the money from the revenue increase of 2014 which came due to the economic recovery. "We have not seen a single euro of this additional revenue", complained Mas-Colell, who estimated that €900 million of this money should have gone to Catalonia. In addition, he has always argued that a 1% deficit for 2014 was not realistic and that it was "illegal", after filing a complaint to the Supreme Court.

Vueling and American Airlines signed on Thursday an agreement to foster the interconnection of their flights through Barcelona El Prat Airport and Rome-Fiumicino so as to increase their destination network. The Barcelona-based airline offers 140 destinations from the Catalan capital to Europe, the Middle-East and Africa, and 55 from the Italian airport. American Airlines clients will be able to take a flight to Barcelona and transfer to a Vueling flight using a single ticket and pick up their luggage at their destination airport. In addition, Vueling clients will be able to take a flight to Barcelona and fly onwards to New York, Miami, Philadelphia and Charlotte through American Airlines or its subsidiary US Airways. This strategic agreement links Europe's widest network of short- and medium-distance flights, which is operated by Vueling through Barcelona, with transatlantic routes linking the Old Continent to important hubs in the United States.

The Catalan Government announced it will bring the High-Speed Train to Girona Costa Brava Airport thanks to an investment of €8 million. On the one hand, the tourism and economic sectors in Girona have celebrated the agreement because the construction will connect the airport to the city of Barcelona, to Barcelona El Prat Airport, to Figueres and to Southern France. On the other hand, High-Speed train experts from the University of Girona (UdG) are sceptical about the performance of these trains at Girona Costa Brava Airport because of the low volume of passengers and the profile of low-cost travellers.

The terrorist attack in Tunis' Bardo National Museum that took place on Wednesday killed 23 people, 20 tourists and 3 locals, and injured more than 40. Among the fatalities there was an elderly couple from Barcelona, who were celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary. Antoni Cirera, aged 75, and Dolors Sánchez, aged 73, were given a cruise trip by their children to celebrate the special occasion. Their family is already on their way to the North African country. Neighbours preferred not to talk to the press out of respect for the family. The Catalan Government and Barcelona City Council have expressed "a fervent repulsion" to the attack and have paid tribute to the victims in Sant Jaume Square on Thursday. In addition, the Spanish PM, Mariano Rajoy, expressed his sorrow "for the Cirera-Sánchez family" and announced that members of the Spanish Police specialised in counter-terrorism have travelled to Tunisia.

In the last few months, the two parties which form the centre-right pro-Catalan State federation CiU, and which have been running together every election since 1979, have been openly arguing about Catalonia's self-determination process and the way to build or not build a state independent from Spain. The Liberal party CDC, which is the largest force within the CiU, has turned towards openly supporting independence, although sometimes not in the most enthusiastic way. However, the Christian-Democrat party UDC seems to be divided on this issue, since its leader Josep-Antoni Duran i Lleida is openly campaigning against independence. But other party leaders and many of its members do support independence. The UDC has agreed on setting an official stance on independence through an internal participation process among its members, which has been finally set for 14 June, after the Municipal Elections of 24 May but before the crucial Catalan Parliament elections of 27 September. 

The political parties and the main civil society organisations that support Catalonia's independence from Spain have agreed that the Catalan Parliament will issue a formal declaration to start building a new state and launch a constituent process, which would be put to a citizen vote at a later stage, if they obtain a parliamentary majority in the September elections. They have been holding a series of talks over the past few weeks in order to agree on a road map that sets out the steps to follow in case pro-independence parties obtain an absolute majority in the next Catalan Parliament elections. These elections have been called early and are being presented as a 'de facto' referendum on independence by the parties supporting this option, since they are the only way to hold a legal vote on this issue after years of the Spanish Government's unilateral blocking attitude.

In 72 municipalities with a high demand for housing, the Catalan Government and the affected town halls will be able to use a right of first refusal to buy flats and houses on sale that are now owned by financial entities as a result of home evictions carried out since April 2008. The measure will only be in place until 2021 in those 72 municipalities and the aim is to prevent investment funds from buying them solely for speculative purposes and not to rent them. The initiative comes after it was noticed that investment funds were buying a great number of empty flats from banks, who came to own them after the previous owners were unable to pay their mortgage during the years of economic crisis. The measure will be included in a decree that will enter into force immediately and is part of a wider plan to facilitate access to housing.

The Spanish Government approved on Friday to take to the Constitutional Court Catalonia's Law of External Action and Relations with the EU and the opening of delegations in Vienna and Rome. The Spanish Executive will appeal against the law despite it being foreseen by the Catalan Statute of Autonomy – approved by the Spanish Parliament and the Catalan people through a binding referendum in 2006. This is Catalonia's main law after the Spanish Constitution and recognises the Catalan Government's right to carry out its own external action abroad. However, in the current debate about Catalonia's independence, the Spanish Government is reiterating its 'no-to-everything' attitude and recentralisation strategy and has appealed against the law approved by the Catalan Parliament on 26 November last.

After months of discussions between parties and civil society organisations, the National Alliance for the Right to Self-Determination, which comprises more than 3,000 different groups, have met once again and announced a minimum consensus on the 27 September elections: citizens must participate in them "to decide" Catalonia's future. However, the Alliance avoided using the word "plebiscite", since some parties and organisations think that the next elections are not a 'de facto' referendum on independence. After the symbolic vote that took place on 9 November last, forces supporting Catalonia's self-determination process have been openly quarrelling on the next steps to follow in order to ensure a binding vote on independence. In mid-January, after reaching an agreement with the left wing pro-independence party ERC, the President of the Catalan Government and leader of the centre right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU, Artur Mas, announced early elections for 27 September, to be transformed into a 'de facto' independence plebiscite.

The Catalan Parliament has finally approved the Catalan Government’s budget bill for 2015 and the complementary law on fiscal measures with the backing of the governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU and the opposition left-wing Catalan independence party ERC. The CiU and the ERC introduced last-minute changes concerning the launching of state structures, such as Catalonia's own tax administration. These changes come after the Catalan Council for Constitutional Guarantees (CGE) warned that such state structures cannot go beyond Catalonia's current self-rule powers. The CiU and ERC want to build embryonic structures in order to develop them if a majority of citizens vote for independence in the next Catalan elections, which are to be transformed into a 'de facto' referendum. Opposition parties criticised the new budget for "consolidating" budget cuts and for developing state structures.

The Catalan companies on show at the Mobile World Congress this week not only include recently created start-ups. Some companies have been in the business for over 20 years with delegations in 19 countries, such as the registering operator Lleida.net. There are other projects on show which, although already active, have not been launched completely and are still in beta form, such as King of App, an open source app creator. Neither of them are based in Barcelona, but rather in Lleida in Western Catalonia. Most of the Catalan companies on show at the MWC are at one of the stands of the Catalan Government, which gives these companies space to promote their products either at the general exhibition or in the App Planet hall. But others such as Lleida.net set up their own stands.

Isona Passola, the producer of the internationally-acclaimed Catalan film ‘Pa Negre’ (Black Bread), the Spanish contender for an Oscar in 2013, believes that “Catalan culture can be appreciated worldwide”. Passola has made many historical documentaries and is now convinced that “life acquires meaning when working for collective benefit”. Last year she presented ‘L’Endemà’, a documentary aimed at countering the arguments against Catalan independence and financed through crowd-funding. Passola, the current president of the Catalan Film Academy, is “a true defender of the right to form a family” and “has never lost the joie de vivre”.

At the end of February 2015, there were 581,124 people registered with the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC) as being unemployed, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security. This represents 1,645 fewer jobseekers than were registered at the end of January (582,769), a 0.28% drop. In addition, at the end of February 2015 there were 48,462 fewer registered jobseekers than a year ago, which marks the largest annual decline for registered unemployment in the last 17 years for a February month. This represents a 7.7% fall in the last 12 months. The data released on Tuesday shows an encouraging trend for Spain as a whole as well, since registered unemployment fell by 13,538 people in monthly terms, a 0.3% drop. In annual terms, the Spanish labour market posted a 6.24% drop, with 300,333 fewer registered jobseekers.

The Catalan Parliament has continued its interrogation of the Pujol family for alleged fiscal fraud and corrupt practices, after Jordi Pujol – who uninterruptedly headed the Catalan Government between 1980 and 2003 – confessed in July that his family had kept a fortune in the fiscal haven of Andorra for 34 years without informing the Spanish tax authorities. Pujol (aged 84), his wife, and 6 of their 7 sons and daughters have been indicted by the judge in the case. On top of this, 3 sons have received further indictments for other cases, including Oriol Pujol, who was the Secretary General of the Liberal party CDC, which is the largest force within the two-party coalition CiU that has ran the Catalan Government since late 2010. On Monday, it was Oriol Pujol's turn to speak before the parliamentary commission investigating alleged fiscal fraud and corrupt practices during the 23 years Jordi Pujol led the Catalan Government.

The major players in the cell-phone-related industries such as Samsung, Sony, Microsoft and Google are currently presenting their new products in Barcelona, consolidating the city’s position as a true meeting point for the sector. For the 10^th consecutive year, the biggest event in the world of mobile industries kicked off in the Catalan capital on Monday. The 2015 Mobile World Congress, organised by GSMA, will be in Barcelona until Thursday, breaking all records during this time. 90,000 attendees are expected from 201 different countries, representing more than 2,000 companies distributed across more than 100,000 square metres at Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue. Furthermore, the event has raised the attention of the world's main media and trade publications, with more than 4,000 accredited journalists in attendance at this year’s edition. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Vice President, Sundar Pichai, were Monday's main speakers.