josep gonzález

Deadline to introduce 25% Spanish quota in classrooms expires as new government decree says it will 'not apply' it

Protests to be held on May 25 and June 9 and partial strikes on May 17 and June 2

Demands also include removal of new curriculum, and higher expenditure on education as 22,000 protest in rally

Education unions call five days of strike in March and warn they won't start the next academic year if demands are not met

Catalan lecturers protest against new school calendar, imposition of 25% of lessons in Spanish, and education curriculum changes

Antibody tests for any student who is positive to prevent whole classes self-isolating

PIMEC president Josep González asks for "a little bit more governing and a little less politics"

We’ll have to wait and find out, believes president of Small and Medium Business in Catalonia, while the secretary of economy is confident companies and banks will come back

All Catalonia’s employers’ associations, with the exception of ‘Foment del Treball’, and every chamber of commerce have united behind Catalonia’s right to vote and expressed on Thursday their wish to “unconditionally support” the result of the upcoming elections on the 27^th of September. The president of the employers’ association CECOT, Antoni Abad, said that “the right to decide is a structural element of a democracy”, adding that “we must re-establish Spain or found a new state”. The businessmen handed a copy of ‘Manifest del Far’ - a document signed in 2014, in which they expressed their commitment to Catalonia’s process of sovereignty - to the President of the Catalan Parliament, Núria de Gispert. She thanked the employers for “such a necessary” event and emphasised that “the time of ambiguity is over”. 

Pimec and Foment, Catalonia’s largest employers’ associations, have expressed outrage at the Spanish Government’s budget proposal for 2015 and its planned investment in Catalonia. Both Foment, which groups the largest employers, and Pimec, who represents small and medium-sized enterprises, have criticised that the Spanish Government has allocated to Catalonia only 9.5% of Spain’s total investment, despite it contributing 19% of the country's GDP and having 16% of its population. Spokespersons for both organisations have said the shockingly low budget is at odds with Catalonia’s high productivity and represents "a missed opportunity", both for economic growth and political dialogue, considering the independence debate. According to Ramon Adell, from Foment, Catalonia "as the engine of recovery, deserves a greater investment in infrastructure."

On Wednesday evening the main Catalan small- and medium-sized enterprises association, Pimec, organised a protest conference in which they accused the Spanish and Catalan Governments of politically and financially "discriminating" against them. With the slogan #diguemprou (#wesayenough) 1,400 owners of SMEs and self-employed workers protested against both Governments for not taking SMEs into account and only working for the interests of large corporations. The protest was explicitly backed by 220 guilds and associations, as well as by 9 professional associations and that of self-employed workers. The event issued a manifesto compiling a list of grievances, split into 7 different areas: entrepreneurship; loans and funding; taxation; labour market; energy; training and employment; and internationalisation.

The Catalan Government has welcomed the 138 proposals issued by a council of business associations, trade unions, academic experts and leading professionals, who form the so-called ‘Agreement for the Industry’ platform. The President of the Catalan Executive, Artur Mas, stated that those proposals are “a possible seed” for a broader agreement: a National Pact for the Industry that will define the priorities and main guidelines of Catalonia’s industrial policy for the next decade. The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment said that the 138 proposals coincide with “between 70 and 80%” of the Executive’s industrial policies. However he pointed out that the Government couldn’t bring all of them on board for budget or jurisdiction limitations.

Catalonia’s main SME association PIMEC and the Catalan Business Circle (CCN) have criticised the regional Government of Madrid for issuing a report not sufficiently backed-up by economic data. In addition, they have accused Madrid’s Finance Minister, who presented the report, of offering a politically-biased version by saying that companies have left Catalonia due to the self-determination debate. PIMEC and CCN stated they do not have data supporting Madrid’s statement. On the contrary, they have data proving that foreign investment has not reduced. In addition, CCN accused the Spanish Government of building a “Greater Madrid” as an economic centre, at the expense of other areas such as Catalonia. PIMEC emphasised the Catalan industrial tradition and the vigour of its economy, although admitted that taxation is higher in Catalonia than in Madrid.