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Despite having a balanced budget in 2012, the National Theatre of Catalonia has decided to close the most alternative auditorium of the three it has since it will have smaller funds in 2013. The theatre expects a reduction in the occupancy rate due to the economic recession and therefore selling fewer tickets, resulting in a 28% reduction in its own resources. The institution has readjusted the 2012/2013 season by cancelling the spectacle ‘Panorama’ by Philippe Decouflé and by eliminating 70 performances of other plays in the other theatre rooms.

Barça players faced Malaga’s challenge playing a magnificent game, after the quarter finals’ first leg draw at the Camp Nou. The Catalans won 4-2 in Malaga and now they are through to a Copa del Rey semi final against Real Madrid. The first leg of the ‘clasico’ will be next Wednesday at 21.00 at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. Goals from Pedro, Piqué, Iniesta and Messi gave FC Barcelona the victory, after one of the finest examples of spectacular football.

The Port of Barcelona, one of southern Europe’s main transport infrastructures, continues to bring positive results. Over the last year the Catalan harbour unveiled two new container terminals, an investment to consolidate the trend of attracting greater container traffic, as the 8.7% increase shows. In addition, the number of cars transported increased by 9.8%. These figures are to be added to the 12% increase in container exports and 25% growth of car exports through Barcelona’s harbour in 2011. Besides, the port in the capital of Catalonia continues to lead the cruise ship sector in Europe, transporting 2.4 million passengers and almost reaching last year’s record high of 2.6 million cruisers.

The world’s main event showcasing cell phone and mobile technology, the Mobile World Congress, is starting the final countdown to open its doors in one month’s time in Barcelona, as it has been doing each year since 2006. In its 8th year in the Catalan capital, the MWC, which is organised by GSMA, will move from Montjuic to the Gran Via venue of Fira de Barcelona, in order to increase its space by 30%. Between, the 25th and 28th of February, this trade fair, expert conference and industry meeting point will host more than 70,000 visitors from 200 different countries, 300 speakers and 1,500 companies, 70 of which are Catalan. The congress will bring in more than €300 million to Barcelona’s economy and will create 6,500 temporary jobs.

Barça players Gerard Piqué and Carles Puyol were congratulated by their team-mates before this morning's training session to prepare for the Spanish Cup quarter final game to be played tomorrow. Piqué was congratulated for becoming a father, while Puyol was congratulated for extending his contract with the FC Barcelona.

The association’s People’s Rights Commission defends the celebration of a referendum and the unilateral independence declaration if the Spanish Government insists in not allowing a citizen vote on the issue. While is it true that the current Spanish Constitution does not allow for a self-determination referendum, the Barcelona lawyers' association argues that “in a democratic society, the law should be the expression of the people’s choice”, and therefore it should be modified accordingly to allow the referendum. It also highlights that 20 of these states are the result of secession, such as Norway, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia or Montenegro.

A research group led by Catalan doctor Joaquim Bellmunt at the Hospital del Mar has shown in a study how important the time between two chemotherapy treatments is in increasing the curing rates of bladder cancer. The study was published by the journal ‘European Urology’ and has encouraged the researchers to develop new drugs for treating this type of tumour.

The Barça striker will be available for the Spanish Cup quarter final’s second leg to be payed on Thursday against Málaga. Villa has been given the medical all clear to play on Tuesday, following his recovery from a calf injury.

The 188th edition of the traditional ‘Tres Tombs’ animal parade, in honour of Saint Anthony the Abbot, took place in Barcelona last weekend. In Catalonia, he is the patron saint of the animals. The parade includes a blessing of pets ceremony. Traffic was stopped in the main streets of the Catalan capital’s Ciutat Vella district and in the Sant Antoni neighbourhood to give way to another kind of vehicles: donkeys, ponies, horses and old carriages. Although a popular festivity, this year’s 'Tres Tombs' couldn’t keep a hold on its audience as the cloudy morning became a very rainy day.

An injury time winner for Real Sociedad put an end to Barça’s unbeaten league season, with Tito’s team going down 3-2 despite having been 0-2 up in the first half.

The main Catalan airport is increasing the number of intercontinental flights in terms of both destination and frequency, one of the strategic drives implementing its expansion plan. Barcelona’s Airport already has 31% of the intercontinental traffic in Spain, despite the fact that the partially state-owned Iberia’s international flights abandoned the Catalan airport years ago in favour of Madrid Barajas. Barcelona Airport has attracted other airlines, such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines, and has specialised in connections to the Middle East and Asia, although it also has flights to the Americas. Last week, there was a press release that stated that 35.15 million passengers went through Barcelona Airport in 2012.

Barça Manager has admitted that he was surprised by Víctor Valdés’ announcement today that he will not be extending his contract with FC Barcelona any further than June 30, 2014. However, Vilanova insisted that “he did not ask to leave, he just said he’s not renewing his contract”. Vilanova has confirmed that Valdés will continue to be the first choice keeper, saying that “as long as he is with us, he’ll be our goalkeeper and we have to help him as he would help us”.

The Catalan Josep ‘Pep’ Guardiola has reached an agreement with FC Bayern München to manage the football team as from next season until 2016. Finally, after rumours circulated pairing him with Manchester City and Chelsea, Guardiola has chosen the German club for its way of understanding football, which is much closer to the Catalan’s own approach based on attacking, playing nicely and working with home-grown players. Pep Guardiola quit FC Barcelona in June to take a year’s sabbatical, and moved to New York with his family. He will replace Jupp Heynckes, who is retiring at the end of the current season, in Munich.

Barça and Málaga drew in the Spanish Cup’s quarter final first leg. Camacho’s late goal cancelled out Barça’s comeback and leaves everything wide open ahead of the return leg in Andalusia. Iturra put the visitors ahead and although Barça almost immediately bounced back with goals from Messi and Puyol, not even against ten men after Monreal was ordered off were they able to extend their lead.

The Barcelona-born electronic and advanced music festival, which has become one of the world’s top events in its category, has unveiled part of its programme. The Pet Shop Boys, Kraftwerk, Darkstar, Two Door Cinema Club and Karenn are some of the artists included in Barcelona’s Sónar Festival, which will run in the Catalan capital between the 13th and 15th of June.