tarragona

CataloniaVotes.eu is a new website set up to present the independence referendum, related news, a chronology of the last few years and facts about Catalan society, culture and economy to a foreign audience. The new webpage is in English, French and German and will also follow the day-to-day evolution of the referendum process, a consultation vote scheduled for the 9^th November. It has been launched by the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat), an organisation backed by the Catalan Government, the four Provincial Councils, universities, chambers of commerce, the main business-owner associations, trade unions, FC Barcelona and other public and private institutions.

The new Tax Administration of Catalonia (called ‘Tributs de Catalunya’) has been launched on Thursday in a ceremony chaired by Artur Mas, the President of the Catalan Government. Mas highlighted that “all of this is not against the Spanish State” but “an investment for a better Catalonia”. The new body was created from merging the existing Catalan Government’s Tax Agency and the ones of the four Provincial Councils (Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona). Its creation was already foreseen in the Catalan Statute of Autonomy approved by the Spanish Parliament and the Catalan people through a binding referendum in 2006. It will start with 53 branches, which will mostly deal with municipal taxes. Gradually it will dispose of up to 200 offices dedicated to ensure Catalonia’s fiscal sufficiency. The project was launched in September 2012, aiming to build “a state structure” that would ultimately be able to collect all the taxes generated in Catalonia if needed.

The German multinational BASF distanced themselves from the manifesto issued on Tuesday by 60 German businesspeople, including BASF CEO in Spain, against Catalan independence. BASF stated that they “will is to continue [their] activities in Catalonia”, as “proven” by their “more than €30 million investment” made in 2013. The manifesto against independence stated it would have “dreadful consequences” on the Catalan economy. BASF replied they “did not intend to influence or intervene in political debates”, adding that they “respect the laws of the countries in which [they] operate”. The German company “deeply” lamented, along with its CEO Erwin Rauhe, that the company’s name had been used in the presentation of the manifesto against independence, called ‘Declaration of Barcelona’.

Italian Investindustrial has sold 49.9 % of its stake in PortAventura amusement park to KKR, a US investment fund. With this operation Investindustrial has incorporated a long-term partner in the project, while making sure to be the majority shareholder with 50.1 %. The transaction will be effective in January 2014 and is only awaiting regulatory approvals. In the long-term strategy, PortAventura is looking for other agreements to broaden the range of leisure activities and develop further at international level. A few weeks ago it was made public that Investindustrial would join the BCN World project by building and managing 3,000 hotel rooms. Besides, it has been announced that the Cirque du Soleil would give daily shows in PortAventura from the summer of 2014.

The language skills of Catalonia’s population to understand, read, speak and write in Catalan have reached record highs, according to a report from the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (Idescat) with data from 2011. That year, 95.2 % of the residents could understand Catalan, 79.1 % could read it, 73.2 % knew how to speak it, and 55.8 % knew how to write in this language. According to the Idescat figures, the foreign nationality population has registered the highest increases: 82.1 % of them stated they could understand Catalan in the 2011 survey, whereas, according to the previous census from 2001, only 61.1% of the foreign-born population had good language comprehension skills.

The Spanish Government has finally set a date for the first direct High Speed Train between Barcelona and Paris. Passengers will no longer have to switch trains near the French border and a direct TGV will link Paris and Barcelona from the 15^th of December. The journey will last 6 hours and 20 minutes, since there is no high-speed railway in the 200-kilometre stretch between Perpignan and Nîmes and trains circulate at a regular speed. The High-Speed railway between Nîmes and Montpellier should be operative by 2017, but the French Government announced last June that the construction of the 150 km between Montpellier and Perpignan would be delayed beyond 2030. The Catalan Executive as well as French and Catalan Euro MPs have requested the French Government to reconsider its decision after the EU has included the Mediterranean Railway Corridor among its 9 main transport priorities until 2020.

After years of debate, the new European Union’s Transport Priorities have finally been approved. The European Parliament has approved the Commission’s plan to build 9 major transport corridors connecting the continent from West to East, North to South and in diagonal. The Mediterranean Corridor for freight and passengers is one of these 9 priorities and will link Barcelona and Tarragona to the Gibraltar Straight and Central Europe, connecting major production centres, import/export infrastructures and tourist destinations. The final plan ignores the Spanish Government’s request to include the Centre Pyrenees Corridor as well, a project that was bypassing Catalonia and therefore Barcelona, despite being Spain’s main industrial, export and tourist centre and being geographically attached to France.

The International Golf Travel Market (IGTM) fair takes place this week in PortAventura, located near Salou and Tarragona, at the Catalan Costa Daurada. By hosting this event, the world’s most important fair in the sector, the Province of Tarragona, and more specifically the Costa Daurada, aims at becoming a favourite destination for golf fans from all over the world. The fair is attended by 350 companies from 65 different countries and 1,400 professionals. The seven golf clubs in the Costa Daurada see the fair as a perfect opportunity to multiply by 3 the number of international tourists within the next two years, reaching up to 100,000 visitors. This type of tourism has a high purchasing power and an all year round season.

The Italian investment group has announced it will build and manage 3,000 of the 6,000 hotel rooms of the ‘BCN World’ mega resort, the competitor to Madrid’s Eurovegas that is being developed by Veremonte in Salou (Costa Daurada). The $6 billion entertainment resort will be located next to the beach and the PortAventura theme park, which is owned by Investindustrial. After a year of talks, the Italian company has finally decided to join the mega resort project, which will have casinos, hotels, convention centres, luxury shops, restaurants, golf courses and a beach club. The CEO of ‘BCN World’, Xavier Adserà, confirmed that the resort will begin building in the first half of 2014, employing 17,000 people. The hotel group Melià, shopping-mall company Value Retail and casino group Melco Crown Entertainment will build the first phase.

The Landscape of the Geniuses tourism project celebrates how the Province of Tarragona (south Catalonia) has influenced the work of four world renowned artists: Antoni Gaudí, Joan Miró, Pau Casals and Pablo Picasso. The route focuses on four municipalities in the Costa Daurada and the Ebro Valley, in which these artists spent a considerable amount of time, and explore how the region left a lasting impression and inspired them in the creation of their work. The route involves 270 points of interest and accommodation facilities that include: museums, architecture, restaurants, hotels and campsites. A tourist card gives access to all of the visitor centres along the route as well as numerous discounts.

The Catalan Government announced last September the ‘BCN World’ project, a mega-resort that will be built on the Costa Daurada, near Tarragona and Salou. According to the forecasts, the construction will cost €4.7 billion and the opening is scheduled for 2016. The complex will consist of six casinos and theme parks, 12,000 hotel rooms, golf courts and a smart city, among other aspects. The initiative was presented just a few hours before it was confirmed that Sheldon Adelson’s ‘Eurovegas’ would go to Madrid, although the Catalan Government denied that ‘BCN World’ is the alternative project. While experts validate the economic viability of the project, they do question the suitability of this leisure model in Europe. Just weeks before construction begins, there are still a lot of questions without being answered.

The Port of Tarragona moved 33 million tonnes of goods in 2012, slowly recovering the goods volume it had before the economic crisis. However it has not yet reached the 36 million tonnes it received in 2007. Tarragona is the second largest Catalan harbour and it is the fourth port with the most activity in Spain. It mostly specialises in bulk transport of solids and liquids, mostly cereal and petrochemical products. Furthermore, last year it enlarged its chemicals dock, reclaiming 18 hectares from the sea. The companies Vopak Terquimsa and CLH have confirmed they will operate from the enlarged dock. In addition, the port wants to attract cruisers and US military ships in the years to come.

The Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES) is one of the 3 centres with the highest scientific production internationally in its field. It is directed by Eudald Carbonell, the palaeontologist who has been directing the Atapuerca site since its discovery. Atapuerca was where the oldest human specimens in Europe were found, the so-called Homo Antecessor. The IPHES started its activities in 2006 but due to its increasing relevance it needed more room. Since last June the institute has moved to a new building in the Sescelades Campus of the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) in southern Catalonia. On Friday the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, officially unveiled the facilities. The new building cost €6 million and it has 3,000 square metres to host 62 members of staff.

Investindustrial, PortAventura’s only shareholder since last November, will invest €75 million in enlarging the park’s facilities within the next five years. The amusement park, located in the Costa Daurada in Southern Catalonia, near Salou and Tarragona, has already been enlarged over the last few years adding the water park Caribe Aquatic next to the beach and several adjacent hotel resorts. Furthermore, the Italian group will change the park’s brand to: ‘PortAventura: European Destination Resort’. Investindustrial aim to reach 5 million visitors per year, half of which will come from abroad. As a start, the Italian group is investing €10 million in new projects for this new season, which will kick off on the 22nd of March.

Restoration works of this UNESCO World Heritage site are expected to end in May, at a cost of €225,000 and after 14 weeks. The Paleochristian cemetery of Tarragona is mostly a third century funerary site, although it also contains ruins dating between the first (Roman times) and seventh century (Visigoth period). It is located in the city’s suburbs, near the Francolí River. It is the most important cemetery of the Western Mediterranean and due to its importance and uniqueness, the City Hall has decided to make it accessible to the public again. The space has remained closed since 1992.