what to do in catalonia

Catalonia and five other autonomous communities have had their long term rating downgraded whilst the Spanish state's credit rating comes under review.

The final 365 boxes of the controversial civil-war archives were returned on Wednesday, ending a 5 year process to reinstate them in Catalonia. However several artefacts still remain in Salamanca.

However, if the question is open to other options, 33% would prefer a Catalan State within a Federal Spain, 31.8% the current situation as an Autonomous Community and 25.5% want Catalonia to be an independent nation. The poll results also show that 75.5% of Catalans want the Catalan Government to raise all the taxes, while only 18.2% prefer the current system through which the Spanish Government raises the main taxes. The poll was compiled by the Catalan Polling Centre (CEO), which is managed by the Catalan Government.

In larger cities, the new housing stock is much smaller and in Barcelona it is almost non existent. However, in other towns and rural areas the current stock will not be completely absorbed until 2015, according to a study from CatalunyaCaixa. Prices will stabilise in larger cities and still drop by 10% where the larger stocks are concentrated. The Catalan housing market is now in better shape than in the rest of Spain. In Catalonia the new housing stock decreased by 2,000 units, while in Spain as a whole it increased by 2%.

‘Blue flags’ recognise clean beaches, with quality services, and are awarded at international level by the Foundation for Environmental Education and the United Nations agencies for Tourism and the Environment. In Catalonia 83.42 kilometres of its beaches have been awarded a blue flag.

'Convergència i Unió' (CiU) increases its vote share across Catalonia and becomes the leading party in number of votes. The large victory backs the Catalan Government’s controversial austerity measures. The Catalan Government and Barcelona City Council will be run by the same party, CiU. The Catalan Socialist Party loses large cities and 22% of its votes across the country. The People’s Party becomes the third party and wins in Badalona with a discourse focused on illegal immigration. ERC loses around a third of its votes but other pro Catalan independence parties gain support. The xenophobic and extreme right PxC remains marginal but increases its base and enters the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. The turnout was 55%, one point higher than in 2007. The null or spoilt vote multiplied its share by three but remains marginal.

On May 22nd, Catalans will vote in their local elections. According to the recent polls the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) is well positioned to win in many cities, towns and villages across Catalonia, and in particular in Barcelona. CiU’s candidate may become the next Mayor of Barcelona after 32 years of Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) leadership. The same change could happen in Girona, where polls indicate a tie. However it seems the PSC will maintain control of Lleida and Tarragona City Councils. The People’s Party (PP) speech is of major significance with their focus being on immigration and security.

The Catalan Parliament rejected a law proposal on Catalonia’s independence three days after the popular consultation process on the issue ended with a clear “yes”. This civil society voting was not an official referendum and it was not organised by public powers. It took place over the course of 18 months, and Barcelona closed the process on Sunday. 21% of the electoral census turned out (885.000 citizens) and 90% of the voters backed Catalonia’s independence from Spain. Members of the Catalan Government cast their vote, including the President.

Catalonia’s International Tourism Fair is currently taking place and will run until this Sunday. Barcelona broke all records in 2010 regarding visitors. 7.3 million tourists visited the Catalan capital and there were 14 million hotel nights booked by visitors. The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, who is in charge of tourism, expects 2011 for Catalonia to be “exceptional”.

This English writer has been living in Catalonia for the last 26 years. This week he presented his new book ‘Barcelona, Catalonia: A View from the Inside’. Tree explains the difficulties he encounters explaining Catalonia to foreigners.

On the same day that Catalan hospitals presented their plans to reduce their budget by 10% and cut several services, the Catalan Government’s Spokesperson sent a strong message to Madrid saying that "enough was enough." The Spanish Government answered the calls by the Catalan Executive by saying that if it does not meet the 1.3% deficit objective for 2011, it will run out of cash. Madrid is asking for greater budget cuts. Almost all Catalan political parties, including the People’s Party, back up the Catalan Government, the main exception being the Socialist Party, which supports Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

The Spanish Government demands an additional budget reduction of 3.2 billion euros to Catalonia, while the Catalan Government claims 3.3 billion owed by the Spanish State. Catalan parties have accused Prime Minister Zapatero of reducing his government’s deficit by increasing that of the autonomous communities. The Spanish Government wants to force Autonomous Communities to pay for the deficit by limiting it through specific laws.

The ‘Volta Ciclista a Catalunya’ celebrates its centenary in style. Alberto Contador has won the centenary edition of Catalonia’s cycling ‘Tour’. Michelle Scarponi and Daniel Martin are second and third respectively.

The Catalan race is one of the oldest cycling events in the world. The ‘Volta’ started in 1911, 24 years before Spain’s own ‘Vuelta’ and only eight years after the first Tour de France.

The Bank of Spain today released the debt of the Spanish Autonomous Communities. Catalan public debt represents 16.2% of Catalonia’s GDP and increased 36.7% in one year. The new Catalan Government stressed its austerity and stability plan, which will cut public expenditure by 10%.