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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.

Catalonia is the only Autonomous Community in Spain to have registered a decrease in wages, as it was also the only one to have public employees' Christmas payment – equivalent to a month’s salary – entirely eliminated in 2013, according to the latest Quarterly Labour Cost Survey issued by the Spanish Government. Hence, while Spanish wages have increased by 2.1% in 2013, the wages of Catalan employees have continued on a downward trend continued o, falling by 0.7% at the end of December 2013 compared to the last quarter of 2012. The average salary in Catalonia stood at €2,133 per month, returning to 2009 levels, when it had amounted to €2,119. Labour costs, which group the employee salary and social costs assumed by companies, have also fallen by 0.4% in annual terms in Catalonia whereas they were up by 2.1% in Spain.

On Wednesday, the parties supporting the petitions to transfer to the Catalan Government the powers to organise referendums, using Article 150.2 of the Constitution, welcomed the Spanish Parliament's decision to fix the debate as early as possible, particularly before the summer break. The Catalan Parliament had approved a motion urging the Spanish Government for such a transfer in order to organise a self-determination vote. However, the Spanish Parliament might have scheduled the corresponding parliamentary debate in September or October. For this reason, the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) and the Catalan Green Socialist Party (ICV) filed their own petitions using their MPs in Madrid in order to speed up the debate. Finally, the Spanish Parliament's Board, controlled by the People's Party (PP), decided to group all the petitions and to hold a single debate on the issue in April.

According to a poll issued by the Centre of Opinion Studies (CEO), run by the Catalan Government, 59.7% of Catalans would agree with Catalonia becoming "a new European State". Specifically, 40.2% of the interviewees "totally agree" with the idea, 19.5% of the interviewees tend to agree, 10.8% tend to disagree and 18.9% are "totally against" it. Furthermore, 87.3% of the interviewees affirm they would accept the result of a self-determination referendum while 9.3% state they would not accept it. Furthermore, 74% of Catalans believe that the best way to decide on Catalonia's political future and its relationship with Spain is through a referendum, while 21.7% think the opposite.

Messi (3), Alexis, Iniesta, Tello and Pedro on target for Martino's team. A week ahead of the trip to the Bernabeu, Barça put seven past Osasuna to build on the clear improvement they showed against Manchester City in midweek. With Leo Messi at his lethal best – the Argentinean scored another hat trick and became FC Barcelona’s all time leading scorer, passing Alcántara’s record – Martino’s side stormed to a seven goal thrashing and laid down a marker ahead of next week’s big game.

The Catalan Government announced that, if the Spanish Executive finally decides to recentralise Catalonia's own taxes, they will take the issue to the Constitutional Court. The Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell, stated that, if confirmed, "it would be a very provocative proposal" and "would make totally transparent, if it is not already transparent by now, the recentralising assault and the policy to dismantle the [current] Autonomous Community model". On Thursday an expert committee handed a report to the Spanish Government suggesting 270 measures to completely reform Spain's taxation system. The text states that the Spanish Government will "order" all the taxes, including those of the Autonomous Communities. Regional governments might continue having their own taxes but market unity will be a higher priority and taxes will always be "coordinated" by the Spanish Finance Ministry.

The Spanish Foreign Affairs Ministry has drafted a new report on the consequences of an independent Catalonia, which predicts a 20% drop of the Catalan GDP. According to ‘El Periódico’ newspaper, the document - which will be sent to embassies throughout the world - foresees a fall in exports towards Europe and Spain, a decrease in foreign investments, a flight of talent, less tourism revenues because of the “lack of a common currency”, and a soar in Catalan debt which would reach 78.4% of the Catalan GDP since it would have to assume 18.9% of the Spanish Government's debt. The Catalan Minister for the Presidency and Government Spokesperson, Francesc Homs, said the report was merely “speculative”, adding that the Spanish Ministry was actually “campaigning” against self-determination. The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs has asked Catalan authorities to back such claims with “empirical evidence”.

The Catalan Parliament held on Wednesday a monographic session on poverty, which has increased over the past few years, spurred by the financial crisis. According to a report published by the Red Cross this week, there are 200,000 families in Catalonia which live below the poverty line and since the crisis started, 88 Catalans a day have crossed such a line. With a population of some 7.5 million and a GDP per capita of around €28,000 (similar to the UK's) Catalonia posts a 22.3% unemployment rate and a 26.4% child poverty rate. Opposition parties asked for greater efforts and further measures to fight the poverty increase. The Catalan Government emphasised budget figures and detailed several actions in different areas to show they are tackling the issue. In this vein, the Executive criticised that child poverty stood at 22% in 2006, in prosperity years. Furthermore, they complained about the limited fiscal powers on taxation and public deficit, which seriously reduce spending possibilities.

On Tuesday the Barcelona-based bank, which is the largest financial entity within the Spanish market, attracted a strong €2.6 billion demand, 88% of which came from international investors. It was CaixaBank's 10-year mortgage covered bond first issue since 2007, before the financial crisis. The operation will boost the Catalan bank's liquidity position, which stood at €60.762 billion at year-end 2013, 17.9% of its total assets. In addition, it satisfies demand from institutional investors for this product. The issue price was 80 basis points over the mid-swap rate and better than expected thanks to strong investor demand. This means CaixaBank sold the mortgage covered bonds at an interest rate of 2.625%, 67 basis points below the last rate for a similar issue by the Spanish Treasury.

On Wednesday evening at the Camp Nou (20:45 CET), Barça will leave La Liga to one side and try to make good on the 0-2 from the first leg against Manchester City at the Champions League. City need two goals to force overtime and three to directly access the quarter-finals of the competition. One of challenges FC Barcelona face is to leave behind the negative results from Spanish League play. The 0-1 away to Valladolid, which left Barça four points adrift of the top spot in the league, should be left behind as the team come into the match at the Camp Nou. It’s time to change the chip, as they say in Catalonia and Spain. All available players, besides injured Isaac Cuenca and Jonathan Dos Santos made the team.

Answering a question about dialogue and democracy regarding Catalonia and Spain, the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy talked about Crimea, where there is a pre-war situation. On Tuesday before the Spanish Senate, Rajoy has once again closed the door to any talks with the Catalan Government to hold a legal and agreed consultation vote, similar to the one scheduled in Scotland. Instead, Spain's PM preferred to use as an example the current situation in Crimea, where the regional parliament has declared independence and organised within 10 days a ratification referendum while pro-Russian troops have occupied the peninsula and a war with the Ukrainian Army could start at any moment. Rajoy highlighted that the international community has appealed to the territorial integrity of states in this case. He was answering a question from Josep Lluís Cleries, Senator of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), which runs the Catalan Government.  Cleries asked him "to be brave" and "talk in depth" with the Catalan President.

Súmate, an organisation mostly formed of people of Spanish origin living in Catalonia who support independence from Spain, presented on Monday evening its views during a round-table at the Friends of the UNESCO headquarters in Madrid. The organisation, described as plural, independent and non-partisan by its members has entitled its intervention ‘Escucha España. Los catalanes quieren votar’ (Listen Spain! Catalans want to vote). For its President, Eduardo Reyes, the main objective is to encourage a democratic debate on the ongoing process in Catalonia, since for now “all the news that is reaching Spain about Catalonia is false”. Reyes believes that the Spanish institutions are “creating hatred” and said that he had decided to go to Madrid to explain that “there is no social fracture” in Catalonia. Not a single Madrid-based printed media talked about the event.

The Greens' candidate to chair the European Commission in next May’s elections, Ska Keller, committed herself to working for Catalonia's right to self-determination. The German politician said on Monday in Barcelona that "the Greens defend radical democracy and in Catalonia there is a citizen demand in favour of a [self-determination] referendum". "For this reason I want to make the personal commitment that, if I am elected Commission President, I will support Catalonia in allowing a consultation vote on its political future and its relationship with Spain", promised the European Greens' top candidate. Keller, who has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2009, urged the Spanish Government to launch a negotiation process to make this vote possible.

The Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister, José Manuel García-Margallo, stated that a unilateral declaration of independence would condemn Catalonia "to roam across space" and that it would be "excluded from the European Union for the centuries of the centuries". García-Margallo, who is one of the most vocal members of the Spanish Executive against Catalonia's independence, stated that such a scenario is "a high risk operation". He criticised the politicians supporting independence, who "put at risk a population that is essentially European", which goes against the will of a majority of Catalans "who want to be part of the European area". "Secession is extremely harmful for Spain but particularly harmful for Catalonia", he insisted. On the same day, the Candidate of the Greens to chair the European Commission, German Ska Keller, stated she was supporting Catalonia's right to self-determination.

Saturday afternoon saw FC Barcelona lose their fourth league game of the season. Relegation-troubled Valladolid beat the defending champions 1-0 thanks to a solitary goal from Fausto Rossi in the 16^th minute, and it was an especially painful defeat because it denied Barça the chance to go provisionally back to the top of the table to add to the pressure on Real Madrid, who won against Levante on Sunday. Saturday’s substandard display also means that Barça’s destiny in the championship is no longer in their own hands. The defeat, their third in just six league games, has put a serious dent in Barça’s title bid. All in all, it was a disappointing day for the club and a disappointing performance from the team.