what to do in catalonia

Barcelona hosts conference on July 13 and 14 with scholars from United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Slovenia and Denmark

Konrad Adenauer Foundation openly criticizes the People’s Party for not offering political solution to Catalan question

64,000 victims of fascist repression get justice more than 40 years since the end of the dictatorship, including executed president Lluís Companys

Catalonia Trade and Investment’s Innovation Barometer presented on Wednesday shows innovation in Catalonia is growing

Ceret and Perpignan open exhibitions dedicated to the works of the two influential artists

Five-time number 1 holder Ferran Adrià states that internet and TV have changed cuisine dramatically

They defend the city as a great headquarters due to its “scientific, technologic, and industrial potential” and the way it faces “big challenges” as it did with the Olympic Games in 1992

Villarejo implies that the head of Spanish police was under the instruction of the Spanish Vice President in order to investigate Catalan pro-independence leaders

"The best outcome for Spain would be to permit the referendum, and for Catalan voters to reject independence" says newspaper NYT editorial

The Government affirms that they will add the personnel as planned this June

Barcelona hosts a conference with international experts on refugee integration

The Abernethy deformity affects one out of 30,000 children and causes severe complications

The Human Rights Institute of Andorra (IHDA) and the Catalan rights association ‘Drets’, have filed a joint complaint before the courts in Andorra against four Spanish police officers who were part of the alleged smear campaign of the Spanish Ministry of Interior against Catalan officials, the so-called “Operation Catalonia”. The highly ranked police officers shall be investigated for crimes such as threatening, coercion and extortion of citizens of Andorra with the objective of “obtaining information” on “supposedly existing bank accounts” of Catalan pro-independence politicians in order “to destroy their public image”. Representatives of the private accusation explained to the press on Tuesday that the alleged pressures of the Spanish National Police forces on citizens of another country violate international treaties, and represent a “state crime”. The complaint has already been accepted by the Instruction Court (Batllia) number 2 of Andorra.

Catalan transsexuals do not need a psychiatric diagnosis of gender dysphoria to carry out a sex change operation through the public healthcare system. The Health Department implemented this pioneering system in Europe in October. LGTBI groups are satisfied with this new Catalan model in contrast with the last one, which treated transsexuality as an illness. Transsexual groups in Catalonia welcomed the decision for three main reasons. The first one is obvious: doing the sex change would be easier. The second one is related to the old Catalan model, mainly carried out in the Hospital Clínic, one of the most important public hospitals in Barcelona. “Doctors judged you in that hospital. They wanted you to be a standard transsexual, otherwise they said you had no gender dysphoria,” explains Carla Agulló, who went there to receive hormonal treatment and psychological attention. The third reason has symbolic importance. “We think transsexuality is a condition, not a problem,” explains Cristina Nadal, who is in charge of the health area of the Catalan Health Service.

The Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Institutional Relations and Transparency, Raül Romeva, has defended on Monday that “everything is impossible until it happens” and that “when it happens, it is irreversible”. At the opening of the conference, ‘Sovereignty and self-determination in times of Brexit’, organized by the Catalan Public Diplomacy Council (DIPLOCAT) and the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, the Minister of Foreign Affairs noted the “capacity for adaptation” shown by the European Union “throughout history” in order to respond to “the will of the citizens”. Romeva insisted that the birth of “new and smaller” States like a possible independent Catalonia or Scotland should not “frighten anyone”, but rather should be seen as an “opportunity”.