Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez appoints new economy minister
New appointment Carlos Cuerpo replaces Nadia Calviño, head of EU investment bank since December
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Sagrada Família towers completion celebrations kick off with concert
Barcelona's local band pays tribute to mix of nature, faith and art represented by the basilica
Puigdemont: Mediator 'essential' in Catalonia-Spain talks
Spain denies need for intermediary figure saying "all citizens" would be witnesses to negotiations
Children to be allowed out for walks after Spanish government U-turn
Catalan government had criticized original proposal to instead let children join adults in activities like visiting supermarkets or banks only
Passion Play continues under lockdown
Residents of small town film at-home recreations of Jesus entering Jerusalem
'Guaranteeing success' more important than rushing to start talks says Catalan government
Spanish government says talks will start next week, while EU parliament president welcomes Catalan-Spanish dialogue
Spain commits to paying Catalonia €1.4bn and to refinance debt
Some €759m have been pending from Madrid since 2008
The Passion of Christ revamped with bigger female presence
Annual theatrical renditions of religious story in two Catalan towns run up to May 1
‘El Niño’, hot favourite to win at the Gaudí Awards, the Catalan Oscars
The Academy of Catalan Cinema has released the nominees for the 7 Gaudí Awards, the main annual prizes recognising Catalan motion film productions. ‘El Niño’, by Daniel Monzón, tops the ranking with 15 nominations, including Best Non-Catalan Language Film, Best Director and Best Script. However, the movie is nominated twice in two categories (Best Actor and Best Secondary Actor), so it could only win 13 awards at the most. It is followed by ‘Stella Cadente’, with 13 nominations; ‘[REC] 4: Apocalipsis’ with 9; and ’10,000 KM’ and ‘Rastres de Sándal’, both of which have received 8 nominations. The 4 nominees for Best European Film are ‘Ida’ by Pawel Pawlikowski (Poland); ‘La grande bellezza’ by Paolo Sorrentino (Italy); ‘La isla mínima’ by Alberto Rodríguez (Spain); and ‘Magical Girl’ by Carlos Vermut (Spain). The awards ceremony will take place in Barcelona on 1 February.
People’s Party rejects the Socialists’ territorial reform to better fit Catalonia
The People’s Party (PP), which runs the Spanish Government and holds an absolute majority in the Parliament and Senate, closed the door on launching a broad debate on Spain’s territorial organisation and on reforming the Constitution accordingly. The objective of this reform would be to keep Catalonia within Spain by answering some of the Catalan claims and working towards an improved relationship. “We are not willing to open debates that divide the Spaniards”, stated Alfonso Alonso, the PP Spokesperson at the Spanish Parliament. The Secretary General of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, had sent a letter to the President of the Spanish Parliament, asking him to create “a body” to debate on a broad territorial reform.
Spanish Socialists propose a “territorial reform” to better fit Catalonia
The Secretary General of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, sent a letter to the President of the Spanish Parliament, Jesús Posada, asking him to create “a parliamentary body to talk about the renovation of the territorial model”. This was one of the conclusions of last week’s meeting between Rubalcaba and the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), which is part of the PSOE. The final objective is to push for a broad Constitutional reform to create a true federal Spain and better fit Catalonia, providing an alternative from the current status quo or independence. However, the initiative faces a negative answer from the People’s Party (PP), which runs the Spanish Government and holds an absolute majority in the Parliament and Senate.
The Spanish Government “will not allow” and “will not negotiate” on Catalonia’s self-determination vote
“I want to tell you with all clarity that this consultation will not take place”, emphasised the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy. “It goes radically against the Constitution and the law” and “it frontally clashes against the indissoluble unity of Spain”, he insisted. The “unity of Spain and the sovereignty belonging to the Spanish people as a whole are not debatable and are out of any negotiation”, he added. Therefore, the Spanish Government, run by People’s Party (PP), completely rejects authorising a self-determination vote in Catalonia, whose exact question and date had been agreed on this Thursday amongst a majority of Catalan parties. The parties had decided to hold the vote on November 9, 2014 in order for the Spanish institutions to have time to negotiate the procedures. Meanwhile, the main civil society organisations pushing for Catalonia’s independence announced they were accepting the question.
Madrid’s President demands playing the Cup Final without an audience to avoid supporters booing Spanish anthem
Esperanza Aguirre, one of the main representative from Spanish Nationalism, has asked to postpone the game or playing it in an empty stadium in order to avoid supporters whistling and booing the Spanish National anthem and Prince Felipe, as was the case in 2009. This season’s Spanish Cup Final will be decided in Madrid between FC Barcelona and Athletic Club of Bilbao, a Catalan and a Basque team. Catalan politicians have criticised Aguirre for mixing football and politics. CiU and the PSC have coincided in pointing out that Aguirre is ready to talk about the Cup Final but not about Madrid’s public deficit deviation. Besides, an extreme-right demonstration in Madrid organised on the same day has been authorised.