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Next February, the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world’s most important event in the mobile industry, will open its doors in Barcelona for the 9^th consecutive year. The major companies in the sector will introduce new products or give conferences on applications designed for many innovative uses. By hosting the fair each year at least until 2018, Barcelona, named Mobile World Capital, is looking to become an international leader in this industry. The city has also created a HUB to develop the sector even further. The 2014 edition of the fair expects to break all records. The Director of the MWC, John Hoffman, stated that 75,000 visitors were expected, meaning 3,000 more than last year. Besides, once the fair will be over, it is estimated the local economy could have gained €340 million from it.

Barcelona’s El Prat Airport has again registered positive passenger figures in November with the number of people transiting through its facilities reaching 2.38 million, 4.5% more compared to November 2012. Furthermore, the number of intercontinental passengers grew by 22.8 %. According to the Spanish Airport Authority (AENA), El Prat is currently on an upward trend. On the other hand, Madrid Barajas Airport registered 2.98 million passengers in November, representing a 5.3 % decrease compared to the same month last year. Since January 2013, 32,903,000 passengers have transited through Barcelona El Prat, a 0.2% decrease compared to the first eleven months of 2012. At Spanish level, the figures registered a 3.9% drop due to the economic crisis.

Barça need one point against Celtic to secure the top spot of its Champions League H group in this Wednesday evening’s game at the Camp Nou (20.45 CET). The Catalans would end on the group’s top also if Milan draw or lose against Ajax at the San Siro. These are the current standings after Barça’s defeat to Ajax two weeks ago: Barça 10 points, Milan 8, Ajax 7 and Celtic 3. Another feat Barça hope to accomplish this evening is scoring the team’s 1,000th goal in international competitions. So far they’ve scored 999 goals, 487 of which have been scored in the current format of the Champions League. Messi, Valdés, Alves, Dos Santos and Afellay are injured but Tello, Xavi, and Iniesta have been declared fit for the match.

The National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) hosts the retrospective ‘I work the street’ dedicated to photographer Joan Colom. It is the very first time an exhibition presents all of the artist’s works, amongst which are many previously unpublished images. From the 12^th of December 2013 to the 25^th of May 2014, visitors will be able to see 500 pictures, notably Colom’s most iconic images: black and white photos secretly taken in Barcelona’s Raval in the 1960s. His feature stories from the 1990s are also presented to the public. Colom’s donation of various photographic materials in 2012 enabled such a comprehensive exhibition to take place. The Director of the MNAC, Pepe Serra, said the exhibition was unusual in many aspects.

The Financial Vice-President Javier Faus says that the Board of Directors are studying options to build a new stadium or remodel the Camp Nou, which is Europe’s largest stadium by capacity with 99,700 seats. Faus stated “We want to secure patrimonial excellence for the next 100 years”. In addition, he explained that the FC Barcelona Board will only present building projects for referendum that are economically viable. Faus recognised that building a whole new stadium at Diagonal would be much more expensive than the rebuilding project at Les Corts. The first project would cost €600 million and the second, €300 million.

Multinational corporation T-Systems has officially unveiled one of its four operations centres at world level, based in Barcelona. The German company has invested €2.5 million in the centre, creating 170 new jobs in 2013. 350 more employees are expected to be hired in 2014, according to T-Systems. The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, Felip Puig, who also attended the press conference, stressed that T-Systems is “one of the Catalan Government’s most valuable partners in the field of technology”. Puig added that the Catalan Executive and the German multinational had signed various agreements, lasting from 6 to 10 years, which were worth € 400 million and would generate 2,000 jobs.

Barcelona’s High Court has decided to close the case since the leader of the People’s Party (PP) in Catalonia, Alícia Sánchez-Camacho, reached an extra-judiciary deal with the espionage agency Método 3. The agency had recorded a private conversation with the former girlfriend of the eldest son of Jordi Pujol, the historical leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU). Parts of the alleged recorded conversation involving the Pujol family were leaked, as well as information about their own intimate lives and other PP leader’s private life. Speculations about who ordered the recording pointed towards the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), CiU and even the PP or Sánchez-Camacho herself. Now one of the shadiest political scandals in Catalonia will end without any public conclusions. This contradicts Sánchez-Camacho’s initial statement, when the story was first made public. At the time, she had stated that she would go “until the end” to shed light on the issue.

FC Barcelona’s star Leo Messi has again received recognition as one of the very best! The Argentinean has been selected as one of the three final candidates for FIFA's 2013 Ballon D'Or award, together with Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid). Messi has won the award for the last four years. The 2013 winner will be announced in Zurich on January 13.

Despite Cartagena's shock opener, goals from Pedro (2), Cesc and Dongou put Barça in clear command of their Copa del Rey tie. FC Barcelona have got their Spanish Cup campaign off to a fine start. The many positives to take from this game included Jean Marie Dongou not only making his debut but also scoring his first goal for the first team, and Jordi Alba returning from injury to play 80 untroubled minutes.

Gerardo Martino's side open their Spanish Cup campaign on Friday evening. Barça travel to third tier Cartagena without Piqué, Xavi and Iniesta, whilst Carles Puyol and Jordi Alba return. The latter could return after being out since September. Although Cartegena are on paper the underdogs, Barça will be aware that any slip up could cost them dear and the boss himself insisted yesterday: “it's a very important game” and coming on the back of defeats in Amsterdam and Bilbao, the team need to get back to winning ways.

The People’s Party (PP) – running the Spanish Government, the anti-Catalan nationalism party Ciutadans (C’s) and the Spanish-nationalist party UPyD – with no MPs in Catalonia – participated in a march to support the current Constitution and the unity of Spain. The demonstration was organised by the alliance ‘Som Catalunya, Somos España’ (We are Catalonia [in Catalan], we are Spain [in Spanish]), chaired by the former C’s MP José Domingo. It aimed to be a massive march, as an answer to the demonstrations in favour of Catalan independence that gathered around 1.5 million people each. It was also the second part of the demonstration organised for Spain’s National Day, almost two months ago. Back then, 30,000 people demonstrated for Spanish unity while this Friday there were 5,000 demonstrators according to Barcelona Local Police.

As many other cities around the globe, the Catalan capital will end the year with a vibrant street party for the first time ever. The tradition will start in 2013 and it is aiming to become a significant tourist attraction. New Year’s Eve celebrations will be “out of the ordinary”, stated the President of Barcelona’s Tourism Board, Joan Gaspart, during the presentation of the event. “Barcelona deserves, along with the numerous events it hosts each year, to hold something special for the last day of the year, just like many other cities in the world”, he added. The celebrations will be held at Maria Cristina Avenue, in front of Montjuïc’s Magic Fountain. Catalan theatre group ‘La Fura dels Baus’ will be in charge of the staging, featuring an impressive 15-meter-tall human figure.

Catalan writer Eduardo Mendoza was proclaimed winner of the European Book Prize 2013 in the novel category for An Englishman in Madrid (Riña de gatos, Madrid 1936). Mendoza rose to fame in the late 1970s and the 1980s by publishing several books on his home-town, Barcelona. However, in his latest novel, the writer has decided to explore the political tensions in Madrid at the very beginning of the Spanish Civil War (1936), through the perception of a foreigner, an Englishman. The other finalists were Luciana Castellina for Discovering the World, Vassilis Alexakis for The Greek Child (L’Enfant Grec), and Petros Markaris for Lixiprothesma dania. Furthermore, Arnaud Leparmentier has won in the essay category for Ces Français fossoyeurs de l’euro.

FC Barcelona Foundation, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympafrica Foundation signed an agreement on Wednesday to extend the ‘FutbolNet’ pilot project in 34 African countries. 100,000 African children will benefit from the project each year. The agreement extends the initiative until at least 2016, after an initial pilot experience that run from April to June 2013. It is the first time that the IOC has ever signed an alliance with a sports club’s foundation. The Olympafrica FutbolNet Cup is a series of football tournaments with values based on the methodology used by the FC Barcelona Foundation.

The ‘Butaca’ Awards have recognised the best Catalan Theatre performed during the 2012/2013 season. Lluís Pasqual, the Director of Barcelona's Lliure Theatre, has been awarded Best Director for his reinterpretation of Carlo Goldini’s The Boors comedy. The play was just as acclaimed as its Director, winning 5 of the 8 prizes it was competing for, including Best Show. Contemporary plays such as Smiley and Barcelona were also distinguished, winning 3 awards each. Albert Triola was presented the Best Actor Award for his part in Smiley while Emma Vilarassau won Best Actress for Barcelona. Famous Actress Rosa Maria Sardà received the honorary award in acknowledgment of her career.