party

Solidaritat per la Indepedència (SI) started in 2010, defending a fast track towards independence and profiting from the crisis of the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC). SI grew around the magnetic Joan Laporta, former President of FC Barcelona. In 2010, they obtained 3.29% of the votes and 4 MPs in the Catalan Parliament. Laporta quit the party and Alfons López Tena is the current candidate for Catalan President. With a demagogical speech, they have exclusively focused on asking for a unilateral independence declaration. Now, SI faces the challenge of remaining in the Parliament, when the traditional Catalan nationalist parties are also supporting independence. According to the polls, SI is not likely to have enough votes to stay in the Parliament.

With 3.39% of the votes in the last elections and 3 MPs in the Catalan Parliament, polls indicate that the number of Ciutadans’s MPs could double in the next elections, resulting in between 6 and 8 MPs, and forming its own parliamentary group for the first time. In its 6 years of existence, it has mainly focused on attacking the policies defending the Catalan language. Now, clearly opposed to Catalan independence and organising a self-determination referendum, C’s is lifting the banner of Spanish unity to attract voters. Ciutadans is seen by many as a populist party, with a conflict-driven speech criticising Catalonia’s political class and offering easy solutions to complex social problems.

The first Congress of the different Pirate parties of Europe aims to create a Pirate Party at a European level. The Congress made clear the movement’s recipe to tackle the crisis: freedom of information, more transparency, and greater public participation. Forty representatives from throughout Europe met in Catalonia to discuss the future of the political group.

Barcelona’s neighbourhood of Gràcia has started its annual street festival on Wednesday, a week long festival famous for its street decorations and community spirit. Every year residents form committees to chose a theme and decorate their streets in competition with each other with ornaments made by the residents themselves. The festival is popular with tourists and Barcelonans alike and starts on the 15th August every year.

The Enramades of Arbúcies, a small town near Girona, is one of the oldest traditional celebrations in Catalonia. Each year this event takes place from June 7th to 13th. However, the most spectacular day is the ‘street flower carpet’ championship, which took place last Sunday. The neighbours from each street (including children, youngsters, adults and elders) all work together in this process.

La Patum is a historical and immensely popular representation, born and derived from the ancient and medieval theatre performances held during the week of Corpus Christi. It is held in Berga, in Central Catalonia and it has been declared by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. 100,000 people expected at Berga for this Corpus Christi Festival.

‘Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya’ (CDC), the Liberal force within the two-party Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition ‘Convergència i Unió’ (CiU), held its party congress over the weekend. For the first time in its history, CDC has claimed for Catalonia to have its “own state” in order “to avoid being erased off the map of cultures, languages, and world nations” as “Spain threatens Catalonia” and is no longer a “project that can be shared”. The current President of the Catalan Government and until last weekend the CDC Secretary General, Artur Mas, has now become the party Chairman. Oriol Pujol, son of the former Catalan president Jordi Pujol and Mas' close collaborator, has been elected the new Secretary General with 97.8% of the votes.

Carnival celebrations in small towns around Girona remain a huge social event and a great occasion for having fun with friends. Throughout this whole week small villages in the province of Girona celebrate the ‘Carnestoltes’, a whole set of celebrations based on the Carnival theme. Despite the economic crisis and many budget cutbacks, the festivity remains a hugely strong tradition and offers a mix of fun and excess before Lent begins.

Barcelona’s independent fashion fair kicks off this week, running from Wednesday 25th to Saturday 28th. The fall-winter 2012/2013 collections of prestigious brands and designers such as Desigual, Pierre Cardin or Mango will be presented in the centre of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter in the Plaça del Rei (King’s Square) and the Saló del Tinell, inside the former King’s Palace.

The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) is holding its 12th congress to renew its leadership and discuss its entire political project. After having lost the last elections, the Catalan Government and many town halls throughout Catalonia, the PSC feels detached from the majority of voters with many believing that it has lost its way regards it political project. Its attachment to social-democratic values, its connection with the Catalan municipalities, its defence of Catalan interests in Madrid, and the relationship with the Spanish Socialists are the main issues. Three mayors announced their candidacy to lead the party, which means that a synthesis looks more likely than a full renovation.

On the 26th, 27th and 28th of August the old streets of Cervera will be filled with mysterious figures, magicians and witches in a colorful dark-arts festivals. The capital of the Segarra county (in Western Catalonia) hopes to have 30,000 visitors between Friday and Sunday.

The neighbourhood of Gràcia launches into its week long festival, with its famous decorations occupying streets and squares throughout the area. The CNA talked to residents of Carrer de Progrés about their 'Intergalactic' themed street.

László T?kés, from the Hungarian minority in Romania and member of the European People’s Party, supports the “linguistic rights” of minorities in front of a European Union “sometimes too ignorant”. “I don’t like integration being replaced by assimilation”, he stated.

The arrival of 5,000 UK students for a five-day festival has put the Catalan coastal town of Salou back in the spotlight. Last year, ‘Saloufest’ had several episodes of drunken behaviour and wild parties on the streets, which caused major disturbances. An ongoing debate has taken place over the past year over how best to combine the five-day festival with Salou’s reputation of a family tourist resort.

Convergència i Unió (CiU) will very likely win the elections and rule the Catalan Government. It is already the first party in the Catalan Parliament, with 48 seats (out of 135), and polls predict it could get a result just below the absolute majority, with a range from 59 to 65 seats. CiU is a coalition of 2 parties: a Liberal and a Christian-Democratic. In the last years, CiU has openly defended Catalonia’s right to self-determination and, in this campaign, CiU’s main proposal is to negotiate a special economic agreement for fiscal redistribution with the Spanish Government, in line with the Basque Country’s.