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On Thursday, the Catalan Government published the new legal project for the area where ‘BCN World’ will be built, in order to modify the existing town-planning project and other rules. In addition, it will also modify the current taxes on gambling, dropping them from a maximum rate of 55% to 10%. The modification of such taxes was one of the changes the Catalan Government had promised international investors in order to develop the mega resort, which will see the construction of 6 casinos and hotels the size of those in Las Vegas. In addition, the resort will have golf courses, a beach club, a marina, a smart residential city area, shopping centres, theatres, conference centres and other attractions. Two weeks ago, the first three international investors participating in the project were announced. Plans are to start construction of the first casino in September.

The new facilities are the second longest building in the Catalan capital, as it is 186 metres long. Desigual’s new headquarters are located on prime real estate, just in front of Barceloneta beach and next to the W Hotel. They will initially host 840 employees but at a later stage they will host up to 1,500 people. The building is split into 6 storeys and occupies 24,400 square metres. According to Desigual’s President, Thomas Meyer, the building is inspired by the retail company’s values such as “positivity, respect, compromise and constant improvement”. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, attended the unveiling event and praised Desigual for combining the “informality” of its clothing style with the “seriousness” of a company with shops in more than 100 countries.

“Having a winning team is the beginning of the formula that leads us to success,” says FC Barcelona President Sandro Rosell at the press conference overviewing the 2012-2013 season. “We’re adopting a management model that adjusts to the reality that surrounds us, that’s viable, sustainable and responsible,” he states. Rosell highlighted the increase in revenue due to sponsorships.

An exhibition, with documents dating from between the 10th century and 1493, displays the oldest preserved copy of the ‘Capitulations of Santa Fe’. This agreement was signed by the Catholic Kings in April 1492 and accepted Christopher Columbus’ terms to undertake the trip after which Europeans would become aware of the Americas. The document granted Columbus the titles of Admiral, Viceroy and Governor-General of all the lands he would discover and set that he would keep a tenth of all future profits. The copy dates from 1493 and it is only rarely on display. It has been kept in the Archives of the Aragon Crown in Barcelona and now is on show along with 42 other documents showing the symbolic conception of travelling in the Middle Ages.

The Catalan capital hosts the Mies van der Rohe Foundation, which delivers this award with the European Commission every two years. Reykjavik’s new Concert Hall and Conference Centre ‘The Harp’, designed by Henning Larsen Architects, Studio Olafur Eliasson and Batterrío, won the 2013 Mies van der Rohe Award, which comes with €60,000 and a small sculpture reproducing the pavilion created by the German architect in Barcelona. In addition, the Spanish architects María Langarita and Víctor Navarro won the Special Mention Award for Young Talent for their music academy in Madrid’s former slaughterhouse (Matadero). The award ceremony took place in Barcelona’s Mies van der Rohe pavilion, in Montjuic.

The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, which is one of Australia’s main universities, will offer Master and PhD programmes in Barcelona. The RMIT University, which has three campuses in Melbourne and two in Vietnam, is now coming to Europe and will coordinate its activities in the continent from Barcelona. The Australian education institution will also cooperate with several Catalan universities, in particular the UPC, the UPF and ELISAVA. The Catalan Minister for Economy and Knowledge, Andreu Mas-Colell, attended the opening ceremony. He underlined that Australia’s higher education system is “the most internationalised in the world”. He also stated that the RMIT campus in Barcelona “is a bridge towards Europe, the Mediterranean Area and Latin America”.

Mateu Hernández is the General Director of Barcelona Global, an independent private association that is trying to make Barcelona one of the best cities in the world to attract talent and business activity. Its activities are similar to associations like Partnership for New York, Berlín & Partners and London & Partners, for example. Barcelona Global is made up of the main research centres in the city, prestigious professionals from the Catalan capital or related to it, and more than thirty of the most powerful and innovative companies in Barcelona.

56,500 Barça fans came to the Camp Nou to welcome Neymar to FC Barcelona. "Barça are more than a club and a great team and I want to help Leo Messi to continue to be the greatest player in the world," he said. Neymar da Silva Junior signed his contract with FC Barcelona on Monday afternoon. He will be a Barça player through the 2017/18 season. The signing ceremony took place at thye club’s offices in the Catalan capital. The player, Barça President Sandro Rosell, Vice President Josep Maria Bartomeu and the Football Director Andoni Zubizarreta were all in attendance.

Barça put four past Malaga in the last game of the season and hit the 100 point mark. The Catalans were three up after a quarter of an hour thanks to goals from Villa, Cesc and Montoya. Iniesta got the fourth in the second half before Morales got a consolation goal for Malaga. Abidal came on to a standing ovation on 75 minutes for his final minutes as a Barça player.

The port of Barcelona dealt with 174,711 TEU export containers between January and April. Most of the containers go to countries such as Russia, Turkey, Algeria or the United States, as well as regions in South-East Asia and South America. A new study by the port states that exports are now higher than ever and have helped create a diversified market to the five continents. The number of cruise passengers has also jumped 10%.

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 British band met all expectations as headliner of the festival with a macro-concert crammed full of well-known hits. The younger sister of Beyoncé, Solange, the post-dubstep king James Blake and the eclectic quartet Django Django were also the main acts of a very intense night.

A great performance from Barça, with goals from Alexis and Pedro won the derby at Espanyol’s Cornellà-El Prat Stadium. The Champions just keep on winning! Barça reached 97 points on Sunday evening after a clear 0-2 win over city neighbours Espanyol and with one game to go that 100-point margin is still in sight.

Neymar, who announced the news on Twitter and Instagram, will play for Barça for the next five seasons. The player is known for his exquisite technical skills which makes this free-scoring striker a nightmare for any defence. His style is beautiful to watch and he has received recognition and praise from the legendary Pelé himself, of whom many believe he is the modern successor.

In addition, 24 marinas in Catalonia have also been awarded a blue flag this year. In 2012, 87 beaches and 24 marinas were awarded. The blue flags recognise the cleanness, safety, environmental management and services provided at the beach. Spain has obtained a total of 648 blue flags: 551 recognising beaches and 97 for marinas. It means 11 more flags for beaches and 1 less for marinas than last year. Catalonia is the 3rd Autonomous Community with the highest number of blue flags in Spain recognising the quality of the beaches. The Costa Brava has 28 blue flags, the Costa Daurada and the Ebro Delta have 38 and the beaches near Barcelona or even in the city have 24 flags.