london

Catalonia is participating in the ‘World Travel Market’ fair in London, with the objective of turning the country into a destination of reference for British tourists, and more precisely of becoming their main destination in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean. Catalonia’s stand focuses on sectors that are usually appealing to British visitors, for instance gastronomy, culture and golfing. Great-Britain has become the second largest tourist market for Catalonia after France. In the first 9 months of the year, 1.4 million tourists from the UK have visited Catalonia, generating €1 billion. The Catalan Government is expecting this trend to consolidate in the years to come.

The University College London and the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia conference on “Self-Determination Processes in the EU” was attended by more than 100 people. Scholars and public figures discussed the Catalan and the Scottish cases in relation to the EU. Honorary Director-General of the European Commission and Oxford Professor Graham Avery stated that the EU “should not get in the way of the people in deciding their future” but he admitted the situation in Catalonia was “less clear” than in Scotland. Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh David Edward said it all depended on Madrid’s decision to accept or to reject the outcome of a referendum.

The Plague (‘La Plaga’), directed by Neús Ballús, is one of the 5 nominees in the ‘European Discovery’ category of the European Film Awards. In an exclusive interview with the Catalan News Agency from the BFI London Film Festival – in which Ballús is participating – , the film-maker explained that her movie’s nomination was totally “unexpected”. Ballús is very “impressed” by this decision, which she considers is “a recognition of movies made in a smaller and more humble dimension”.  She stressed that many Catalan movies have this dimension, which also gives them greater freedom to experiment.

Abertis has reported that they have sold London Luton Airport to a consortium made up of publicly-owned Spanish Airport Authority (AENA) – which will own 51% - and Axa Private Equity (49%). The deal is said to be worth €502 million. It was estimated that the asset would have brought in €141 million to the company’s revenue and €46 million to the EBITDA for 2013. The transaction is currently pending approval from the competition authorities, the Spanish Government and Luton Borough Council.  It is part of Abertis’s strategy to modify its portfolio in order to optimise its asset base. Abertis reported last week that it has also made an agreement with ACN & HAS Airports Worldwide for the sale of Stockholm Skavsta and Belfast International airports.

The British financial magazine ‘Euromoney’ has named the Catalan CaixaBank the world’s best bank in a technological innovation ranking. Furthermore, the publication considered CaixaBank to be the best Spanish bank for the second consecutive year. The Catalan entity is the largest bank within the Spanish market, ahead of the two world giants Santander and BBVA. Furthermore, CaixaBank leads online banking in Spain with 8.8 million clients.

The Catalan chef Ferran Adrià revolutionised modern cuisine, in such a way that some critics have compared him to Picasso’s influence on painting. In fact, most of the current top chefs around the world have spent some time as training cooks at Adrià’s restaurant El Bulli, which was located on a Costa Brava beach, in the Catalan town of Roses. El Bulli was considered to be the best restaurant in the world for a five–time record and it closed in 2011 to re-open as a culinary foundation promoting research and art in 2014. In addition, Adrià was considered by Restaurant Magazine to be “the chef of the decade” in 2010 and he has taught at Harvard and other universities. Ferran Adrià’s creativity developed new techniques and re-interpreted cuisine, fragmenting dishes, cooking for the five senses, creating a new language and bringing cuisine to a whole new dimension.

Barça Regal has beaten Panathinaikos 64-53 to classify for the Euroleague Final Four, to be played next May in London. The Catalans dominated the game from start to finish thanks to the leadership of Juan Carlos Navarro who scored 15 points. After a thrilling 5-game quarter-final series, Barça will try to win its third Euroleague title and faces Real Madrid in the semi-finals. The four previous games were very tight with each team winning one game at home until this last game, in which the Palau Blaugrana home factor was the key to the local win.

Ivan Tibau, the Catalan Government’s Secretary of Sport, emphasises the “great effort” made by the Catalan Excutive to help the High Performance Sports Centre (CAR) and Catalan athletes compete in London 2012. The elite training centre did not receive funding from the Spanish Government for the last two years, amounting to €10.7 million. The Catalan Executive advanced the payment to keep the CAR running. Athletes trained at CAR made up 65% of medals won by the Spanish team at the London 2012 Olympics. Despite this, the Spanish Olympic Committee “closed the door” to the Catalan Government in regards to London 2012.

Where will the basketball teams stay during the Olympics? How will they travel from the hotel or the Olympic Village to the stadium? Who will help the sailing referees if they have any problems? What will the Cultural Olympics programme look like? Four Catalans can answer all these questions. They are part of the enormous team of people working for the London Olympics 2012. The Catalan News Agency has spoken with four of the Catalan "infiltrators" in the Olympics to find out more about their contribution to the world’s biggest sporting event.

A goal from Drogba on the stroke of half time sentenced Barça to defeat in a game where the Catalans were the better team and leaves them needing to pull back from 1-0 in next week’s second leg at the Camp Nou.

Barça players face Chelsea knowing that every time FC Barcelona have won the Champions League they have played at least one game in London, either in the final or against Chelsea. The semi final against Chelsea brings back memories of the famous Iniesta goal in 2009 that won the team its ticket to Rome. Puyol and Mascherano are one game short of suspension, as are Chelsea’s Ivanovic, David Luiz, Cole and Meireles.

The nearly 3,000 Barça fans that will make it to Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to watch the Champions League semi-finals will be greeted in Catalan by the local team. FC Barcelona has Catalan as its first language, and the club has traditionally felt very much attached to Catalan society and culture.

Over the next 10 days Barça will play three games that are key to success this season: the two Champions League semi finals and Saturday’s La Liga clash with Real Madrid. The two matches against Chelsea stand between Barça and another Champions League Final, whilst the Madrid ‘clásico’ will define FC Barcelona’s chances in the Spanish League.

'Ferran Adrià i elBulli. Risc, llibertat i creativitat' ('Ferran Adrià and elBulli. Risk, freedom and creativity') is on show in Barcelona to coincide with the Catalan chef’s 50th's anniversary and is the basis for a future museum in the Costa Brava town of Roses. The exhibition shows a huge number of texts, graphic documents and objects related to the history of the world’s most famous restaurant.

The Alstom factory in Barcelona will build the 22 new tram cars that will serve the English city of Nottingham. This order completely guarantees the viability plan for 2012 and 2013, as the factory will be working at full capacity for the next 2 years. However, the French multinational has warned about the fact that no new orders have been placed in Spain since 2009. This has forced Alstom’s factory to focus on exports and has been building underground trains for Santo Domingo, Lima, Panama, London, Washington and Rabat.