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The Spanish Ministry for Education has requested a “detailed report” on the content of the textbooks used in Catalonia. The petition, processed as a matter of urgency, aims to analyze whether there is “partisan indoctrination” in the Social Studies textbooks used in the 5th and 6th grades of primary school, said the association who complained about it, “Action for the Secondary Education Improvement” (AMES). AMES compared textbooks from seven different publishers used in Catalan schools and concluded that the books emphasize the differences between Catalan and Spanish citizens and minimize their common points. The Secretary of Education Policies in the Catalan Government, Antoni Llobet, expressed the “government's bewilderment” of his government at this unprecedented initiative. Publishers defended their professionalism and described the attacks as “biased and false”.

Global support in Catalonia to reduce VAT on cinema tickets from the current 21% to 10%. Compared to other EU countries, in which cultural activities including the movie sector benefit from reduced VAT, Spanish citizens have to live with high taxes on culture. Politicians and associations of the cinema sector in Catalonia consider the 21% VAT on cinema tickets “discriminatory” in comparison to other EU countries. In Germany, for example, there is reduced VAT (7%) on movies (not including damaging content for youth). In Belgium cultural events have a VAT of 6% and in neighboring France, VAT on cultural activities is 7%. That is why these cultural groups have lined up to urge the Spanish government to change it in the 2017 budget and set it at the same level as bullfighting, which is currently taxed at just 10%.

The Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) has unanimously suspended a substantial part of the Catalan law for popular non-binding referenda, approved seven years ago in 2010. In particular, the magistrates have annulled the section which refers to calling a referendum at an autonomic level. They believe that this kind of referendum “is not foreseen in the Spanish Constitution nor in the State’s legislation”. Moreover, the TC has also decided to suspend the creation of the National Transition Advisory Council, a body created through a Catalan Government decree and aimed at beginning the necessary measures for completing Catalonia’s pro-independence process. In this fashion, the TC accepted the appeal presented by the Spanish Government, which claimed that the Catalan law for non-binding referenda was unconstitutional. 

Former Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Garcia Margallo, wanted to stop the 9-N symbolic vote on independence in 2014 by force, he said Wednesday during a conference with former Catalan VP, Joana Ortega. Ortega was recently banned from public office by the Spanish Constitutional Court precisely for allowing the non-official referendum. According to Margallo’s version, he suggested the Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy and the Spanish Minister for Home Affairs at the time, Jorge Fernández Díaz, suspend the consultation by taking over the Catalan Police and destroying the ballot boxes. He added that not following his advice “was a mistake” and recommended a similar action to stop the referendum scheduled for September 2017. A vote which Rajoy rejected again this Wednesday in the Spanish Parliament.

The Spanish prosecutor is preparing to file charges against the Catalan Government after it published an official offer of tenders for ballot boxes that could can be used for the independence referendum, the CNA has learntlearned. Sources close to the Spanish General Prosecutor, José Manuel Maza, said that they will present the case once the bid for the supply of the ballot boxes is completed. “They give us no other choice,” the same sources said, without offering any more details. The Catalan Government spokeswoman, Neus Munté, warned that “it doesn’t make any sense” to open a judicial investigation for into this as matter since “there is no law forbidding the purchase of ballot boxes”. She also said the Government won’t “tolerate any threats or intimidation” from the Spanish government towards the companies interesting in bidding.

Passengers complained on social media networks on Monday about long queues once more at the Barcelona airport’s passport controls. Sources at the Catalan Department of Territory and Sustainability confirmed a 40–50 minute wait, almost twice as long as normal. The Department claims the delay was due to a lack of police staff. According to the same sources, the situation went back to normal once staff was reinforced. On the other hand, the Spanish police said that this Monday there was more personnel at the passport controls than a week ago and attributed this one time situation to the fact that several flights arrived together in a very short period of time.

The Catalan Government published an announcement on Tuesday in its Official Journal inviting companies to bid to supply ballot boxes for the independence referendum. The executive needs up to 8,000 ballot boxes and is offering to pay up to €184,000. Companies will have 15 days to show their interest in providing them, and the Government will choose the best offer. In the same public call for tenders the Generalitat is also offering €16,000 for cardboard ballot boxes. The announcement is the first step towards the celebration of the independence referendum. The Catalan Government is expected to announce a date for the vote before summer. Catalans were promised an independence referendum by autumn 2017.

The Migra Studium foundation calls for the closure of the Zona Franca detention centre and all similar detention centers for immigrants in Spain (CIE) because “they break Spanish immigration law”. The foundation’s annual report on the detention center for immigrants in Barcelona warns of an increase in the number of minors, an important lack of interpreters and that many detainees do not fulfill the requirements to be expelled from the state. The foundation acknowledged the support of the Barcelona city council, which has tried to close the Zona Franca CIE alleging the lack of an activity license. According to Migra Studium these “are good news, because it shows a raising awareness about the severe situation of the detained immigrants”.

“It is not a crime to speak up, discuss, and vote in a parliament,” said Carme Forcadell, President of the Catalan Parliament, in a press conference this Monday after testifying before the High Court. She and four members of her Bureau are facing charges for disobedience for not stopping a vote on a unilateral independence referendum in the Catalan chamber. Forcadell insisted that her Bureau will not bend before “those who want to restrict the freedom of a democratic parliament”. She also accused the High Court of violating the principle of parliamentary immunity when its obligation is to guarantee the right of elected representatives to debate freely and to vote in order to exercise their duties. On the other hand, the Bureau’s First Secretary, Anna Simó, representative of the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) who was also summoned before the judge this Monday, argued that no court can prohibit a debate in Parliament on the issues that citizens are concerned about.

The President of the Catalan Parliament, Carme Forcadell, and her First Secretary, Anna Simó, have been summoned before the High Court this Monday for allowing a debate on independence plans in the Catalan Parliament. The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, members of the Catalan Executive and Parliament as well as representatives of numerous civil organizations and mayors of Catalan towns accompanied the two elected representatives to the High Court in Barcelona. Big crowds of citizens also demonstrated in front of the Court under the motto “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. Forcadell says the case against her and the rest of the Parliament Bureau is unprecedented and endangers “free debate in Parliament”.

Catalonia’s president, Carles Puigdemont, encouraged the business sector on Wednesday to break “the status quo” in Spain in order to “survive”. In a speech in a business forum in Girona, he argued that the only alternative to independence “is decay”. Puigdemont stressed that when the Spanish government boycotts Catalan business missions abroad or does not invest in infrastructures such as the Mediterranean corridor “it is setting traps for itself and not for the independence process”, because it also “abandons the companies that are not in favor of independence”. Therefore, the Catalan president urged the economic sector to turn towards Europe and to have confidence in its “pragmatism”, suggesting the EU would welcome an independent Catalonia as a member. Carles Puigdemont closed the event titled "Entrepreneurs want to know”, organized by the business group "We believe in Catalonia". During his speech, Catalonia’s president presented numbers to back up the claims of the economic boost that an independent Catalonia would enjoy and he insisted that the country is attracting foreign investments.

The Catalan Government is taking the first steps to buying the ballot boxes for the independence referendum, CNA has learned. The executive is about to publish an announcement in the Catalan Government Official Journal that invites companies to bid to supply the ballot boxes. Catalonia is expected to need 8,000 ballot boxes for its independence referendum, which the government wants to celebrate in the autumn with or without permission from the Spanish State. Companies will have 15 days to show their interest in providing the ballot boxes once the offer is officially published, something that is expected to happen in the next few days. According to the Catalan Vice President, Oriol Junqueras, buying the ballot boxes shows the government's “commitment” to the referendum.

Around 600 jurists signed a manifesto in favor of holding a referendum on independence in Catalonia in accordance with the Spanish government. The signers of the text, which was presented on Wednesday at the Bar Association, gave “full support” to the celebration of such a vote. Furthermore, they stated that the referendum is “legitimate and legal” and that “it fits” within the Spanish Constitution. They also warned that “continuous opposition” from Madrid to coming to an agreement about the referendum justifies “other options” for Catalonia’s citizens to be able to express themselves on how they want to decide their future. Catalonia's Minister of Justice, Carles Mundó, was also present at the signing of the manifesto.

The ports of Barcelona and Miami have signed a deal to increase the quantity of cruises and cargo traffic. The agreement looks to exchange information in order to improve the areas of mobility, security, maritime management, and environment. Thanks to this collaboration, Miami, the most important port when it comes to cruises, and Barcelona, Europe’s leading cruise port, will strengthen their ties. The agreement was signed during the trip of Catalonia's vice-president and minister of economy, Oriol Junqueras, to the United States, which began on Monday. According to the Catalan delegation, the Spanish consul in Miami tried to interfere with the agenda and the planned official events at the signing of the agreement. Cándido Creis wanted to force the text to include a reference to the “Spanish Kingdom”. However, this reference did not exist in any prior agreements between the two ports, and it was not included in this new one either.

The United Nations should ask Spain to respect the wish of the Catalan people to hold an independence referendum. This is the message that a group of Catalan civil society organizations sent to the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, in a letter published on Wednesday. “We want the UN to take a position,” said Beni Saball, lawyer and secretary of the Sobirania i Justícia organization. Pau Miserach, president of another of the signing entities, the Grup d’Estudis Polítics, added that the “supranational law” set by the UN “obliges” the Spanish government to “study, analyze, understand, and accept the Catalan reality”. According to him, “secession is not forbidden as such” by any international treaty and the Vienna Convention of 1969, ratified by Spain in 1980, recognizes the right to independence.