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The largest container terminal in southern Europe is officially unveiled in Barcelona Port

September 28, 2012 02:12 PM | CNA / Gaspar Pericay Coll

The Catalan capital hosts the largest and most modern container terminal of the Mediterranean Sea, a true gate for cargo ships, linking Europe with the Middle East, Northern Africa and Asia. BEST, which stands for Barcelona Europe South Terminal, represents a €515 million investment by Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH). This week it has unveiled the first part of the project: 100 hectares to store containers, 1.5 kilometres of docking space for cargo ships, 98 cranes and a provisional international-width railway connection to compete with northern European harbours. However, the Spanish Government has not started the definitive railway connection yet, despite many promises.

The Fundació Suñol unveils a new exhibition with Miró, Plensa, Tàpies, Dalí, Warhol, and Man Ray works

September 27, 2012 02:58 PM | CNA / Margalida Amengual

The Suñol Foundation celebrates its fifth anniversary with a new exhibition of 100 works from its collection, 30 of which have never been seen before. The exhibition combines works from Catalan artists such as Joan Miró, Jaume Plensa, Antoni Tàpies and Salvador Dalí, with others by Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Man Ray and Alighiero Boetti, among others.

Quit smoking with Barça and the European Commission

September 18, 2012 08:07 PM | CNA

FC Barcelona and the European Commission join forces to help millions of Europeans to give up smoking. The campaign aims at helping 28 million people giving up tobacco. “With this joint action, we aim to help football fans all over Europe to retake control over their health and their lives, encouraging them to be as passionate and committed to their own health as they are to good football” explained FC Barcelona’s President, Sandro Rosell.

Catalan freight company TCB invests €60 million into the Port of Barcelona’s infrastructure

September 13, 2012 12:29 AM | CNA / David Tuxworth

The Mayor of Barcelona welcomed the company’s investments and commitment to efficiency at the Port of Barcelona. The Catalan harbour is significantly increasing its container traffic in the last few years. Barcelona’s Port aims to become the main logistical hub in Southern Europe, using the international standard rail gauge to directly connect to Central Europe and new freight terminals. The Catalan company TCB is expanding its freight railway station and its power substation, as well as enlarging the ship docking space. The improvements will increase the maximum number of shipping containers transported by TCB from 0.9 million to 2.3 million by the end of 2013.

1.5 million people demonstrate peacefully for Catalonia’s independence from Spain

September 12, 2012 01:15 AM | CNA / Gaspar Pericay Coll

In the largest demonstration Barcelona has ever seen, 1.5 million citizens according to the Catalan Police marched in Catalonia’s capital after the banner “Catalonia, Europe’s new state”. The Spanish Government reported a reduced number of 600,000 participants while organisers talked of 2 million participants. The Catalan President did not attend it because of his institutional position, but gave his support at a personal level. Most of the Catalan Government was present. Members from most of the Catalan political parties were also present, including the Socialists (PSC) but at a personal level. The only absentees were representatives from the People’s Party (PP) and anti-Catalan nationalism ‘Ciutadans’ (C’s). Many families gathered for the demonstration which ended with the petition to start the secession process.

Barcelona El Prat Airport had almost 3.9 million passengers in August, up 7% compared to last year

September 11, 2012 12:12 AM | CNA / David Tuxworth

Catalonia’s main airport had 3,874,131 passengers in August which is the highest monthly figure the airport has ever achieved. In the first 8 months of the year, there have been over 24 million passengers travelling through Barcelona El Prat Airport, 4.4% more than during the same period in 2011. Girona Costa Brava Airport also had success this August with 14.5% more passengers and 15% more flights compared to the same month last year. However, the number of passengers at the small Reus Airport fell by 28.5%, due to Ryanair’s reduction of flights.