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61st edition of annual photojournalism exhibition on at Barcelona’s CCCB until May 27

Exhibition runs until May 27 at CCCB in Barcelona

‘Top Manta’ employs undocumented immigrants, and this project aims to help with their situation

Protesters at November 10 demonstration demanded the incarceration of Carles Puigdemont and resignation of Sabadell’s mayor

Media organizations across Catalonia and Spain, as well as further afield, have joined in the attack on Spain's decicision

Unionist Ciutadan’s spokesman has stated that the Spanish Foreign Affairs Ministry has “a bad international strategy” 

A manifesto claims that Hamza Yalçin, journalist and Erdogan dissident, was detained under 'false' terrorist charges

The 155 pictures that won the last ‘World Press Photo’ contest – the main photojournalism event at international level - will be on show at the Barcelona Centre of Contemporary Culture (CCCB). The Photographic Social Vision foundation, which is in charge of the creation, production and promotion of photojournalism and documentaries, launched this week the 12^th edition of the ‘World Press Photo’ exhibition in Barcelona, which will run until the 11^th of December. The images presented to the public were taken in 2015 throughout the world and won the prestigious international photojournalism award. In this year’s edition, visitors can see the photos of the awarded Spanish photographers Daniel Ochoa de Olza, Sebastián Liste, José Bautista and Mikel Aristregi. 

Impressive aerial shots showing the riot of colour on display at the 26^th edition of the Castells Competition in Tarragona, southern Catalonia, have travelled around the world. Media outlets such as the BBC, Russia Today and The Los Angeles Times published videos, pictures and articles on the contest. Catalonia’s ‘human tower’ competition, ‘Concurs de Castells’, took place at Tarraco Arena Place, an old bullring, attracting 20,000 spectators and 32 teams. The biennial event saw one group, ‘Els castellers de Vilafranca’, secure its eighth title on the trot. However, one of the most applauded performances was that of the Chinese team ‘Els Xiquets de Hangzhou’, the first ever international team to compete at the contest. Around 380 professionals from 120 different media outlets covered the event on Saturday and Sunday. 

Brussels is the chosen destination for Catalan President Carles Puigdemont’s first official trip abroad. It will be from the 30^th of April to the 2^nd of May and comes after Puigdemont’s visit to Paris, scheduled for March, had to be cancelled due to the coach accident which killed 13 Erasmus students in Freginals, in the South of Catalonia. Puigdemont made the announcement this Monday during a meeting with the delegates of the Catalan government abroad, the Catalan Government’s representative to the European Union, Amadeu Altafaj, the Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, and the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Jordi Solé. During the meeting, Puigdemont also confirmed the government’s will to open new delegations in the Vatican and Morocco as soon as possible.

Barcelona's Centre of Contemporary Culture (CCCB) is currently hosting the 134 photographs awarded by the 'World Press Photo', one of the most important photojournalism competitions. Until the 13^th of December, visitors can view a wide range of documentary photographs portraying scenes related to issues such as the Ebola epidemic, the Ukraine crisis and the migration drama in the Mediterranean. However, one of the most outstanding pictures to be displayed in Barcelona's CCCB is Mads Nissen’s 2015 winning picture, which portrays the intimacy of a homosexual couple in Saint Petersburg, and was vetoed at the last ‘Visa pour l'Image’ festival in Perpignan due to its "excessive dramatisation". The eleventh edition of the 'World Press Photo' exhibition also includes seven winning pieces in the media category. 

Pro-independence parties have “achieved” their goal in “winning 72 of the 135” seats in the Catalan Parliament, stated an editorial in the Financial Times published this Tuesday. The British business daily insisted that once Spain has held national elections at the end of this year, a new government in Madrid needs to enter into talks with President Mas, to “find a third way between independence and the status quo”. However, the editorial is titled “Catalonia needs to step back from the brink”, since it puts forward the idea that Mas has “less legitimacy to implement his plan” considering that the percentage of voters who supported a clear ‘yes’ for independence was less than 50%.

At around 2.00pm local time on Sunday afternoon (11.00pm CET) Barça landed at Los Angeles airport following a twelve hour direct flight from Barcelona. The blaugranes had left at 11.00am CET for the United States after a week of training prior to their pre-season tour across the Atlantic. California welcomed FC Barcelona with cloudy skies but warm temperatures with Los Angeles being the first of three US cities that Barça will visit during their stay. In the City of Angels, the team checked into the plush Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey. Luis Enrique and Andrés Iniesta gave the team's first press conference of the tour at the hotel, followed by Barça's first training session at the StubHub Center in Carson.

The most likely future Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, has held a press conference the day after election night, in which her alternative left, green and pro-self-determination coalition Barcelona en Comú became the most-voted party in the Catalan capital, obtaining 11 seats, far from the 21-seat absolute majority. Colau stated that she would “start a round of talks” with the other left-wing parties to look for government agreements as of this Monday. She will contact the social-democrat Catalan independence party ERC (5 seats), the Catalan Socialist Party (4 seats) and the radical independence and alternative left-wing party CUP (3 seats). However, she did not rule out the possibility of reaching specific agreements with other parties on some important issues. She also highlighted her commitment to Catalonia’s right to self-determination. In addition, Colau also accused the current Mayor from the centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU, Xavier Trias, of signing last-minute contracts before leaving office.

The midfielder announces he's leaving Barça at the end of the season, after 17 years with the first team. "I'd like to announce that I'm leaving Barça after this season. The decision is definitive yet difficult. I think now is the time to leave, that's the way I feel.” Thus, with those words and raw emotion, Xavi Hernández, the greatest midfielder in FC Barcelona history, made his farewell to the club of his life.He continued: "It was the right decision to stay this year. I still feel important [to the team], but I think it's time. I need a change of scenery. I signed a contract with Al-Sadd [in Qatar] for two seasons and I have a very exciting project at the Aspire Academy. It's the ideal place to continue training."