youth

Number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants ages 20 to 29 leaps from 300 to 3,200

National Youth Council of Catalonia president "disappointed" with public administrations

Performing arts market to take place March 26 to 29 in central Catalan city

The number of young Catalans living abroad will be tallied and efforts will be continued to encourage their return. The Department of Youth estimates that more than 3,000 young people left Catalonia to move abroad in 2014 and there were 242,070 Catalans living abroad by May 2015, according to data released by the Catalan Institute of Statistics (Idescat). Projects are being set forth to aid in providing access for entrepreneurs to profiles that are outside Catalonia, job opportunities in the field of research, and promote entrepreneurship within the region. Móncat, the web platform focused on employment opportunities, will also be geared towards connecting Catalans living abroad to opportunities in Catalonia. 

At the end of June there were 31,900 fewer jobseekers in Catalonia than in March and 44,200 less than a year ago, according to the Active Population Survey for the second quarter of the year released on Thursday. These figures mean Catalonia's total number of unemployed was 726,200 individuals and that the unemployment rate was 19.1% at the end of the second quarter. In March, the unemployment rate was 20.05%; in December, 19.88%; and in September, 19.1% as well, the same as for June of this year. In addition, the number of people with a job increased by 51,800 individuals between March and June, a 1.71% increase in quarterly terms. Compared to a year ago, in June there were 35,000 more people with a job than in June 2014. At Spanish level, unemployment also decreased during the second quarter of the year, with 295,600 fewer jobseekers registered, a 5.43% reduction on figures from March. In the whole of Spain, there were 5,149,000 people without a job and a 22.37% unemployment rate overall.

The number of unemployed people in Catalonia has risen by 1,500 people during the first quarter of 2015. The percentage has increased for a second consecutive period although the figures are better than a year ago. According to figures from the Spanish Government's Labour Force Survey, released on Thursday, 758,000 people are out of work in Catalonia and the unemployment rate has risen in quarterly terms. However the first quarter of 2015 has 82,100 less unemployed people than those in the same period in 2014, when the rate was 22.1%. Throughout the whole of Spain, the unemployment rate also increased since the previous quarter, reaching 23.78%.

The Catalan Government announced on Tuesday a new programme to assist unemployed people aged 45 and over to return to the labour market and find a new job. The Executive has ordered Catalonia's Public Employment Service (SOC) to launch the programme, the details of which will be fine-tuned in the coming weeks. According to the Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, Felip Puig, the plan will have a budget of around €50 million and 30,000 people should benefit from it. Puig highlighted that the number of people registered as unemployed has decreased for 21 consecutive months in annual terms, but there is still a great effort needed to improve the overall high unemployment figures. Furthermore, young people and those over 45 have the greatest difficulty finding a new job.

The number of Catalans with Spanish nationality living abroad and registered with consulates rose by 9.31% between 1 January 2014 and 1 January 2015, according to data from the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE), which is a legally independent institution run by the Spanish Government. In early 2014, there were 221,444 Catalans living in a foreign country, while a year later this figure had risen to 242,070, thus registering a 20,626 person increase. Regarding Spain as a whole, on the 1 January 2015, there were 2,183,043 citizens living abroad and registered with consulates. This represents a 6.1% growth on the figures from January 2014, when there were 124,995 less Spaniards living abroad. 

The Catalan Government will invest €240 million until 2020 in a project to help 300,000 young people find work.  The aim of the programme is to provide a work placement, professional training or an internship for all young people aged between 16 and 24 who have not worked or received any training in the last 30 days, nor participated in any education program in the last 90 days. The programme will also target those under 30 who have a disability of at least 33%. The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, Felip Puig, has estimated that there are 110,000 young Catalans who are currently eligible for the programme, and has promised to make the fight against youth unemployment a priority within his department.  

The number of Catalans between 15 and 34 who go abroad in search of a "decent" job has increased by 9.24% in the last year, meaning the number of young people living outside Catalonia has increased from 50,640 in 2013, to 55,319 this year, according to a study from the UGT trade union. Between 2009 and 2014, 19,772 youngsters have left Catalonia; a 55.62% increase in 5 years. These statistics were announced in a press conference on Thursday by Afra Blanco, the National Spokesperson for Avalot-Joves section of the UGT in Catalonia. According to Blanco, "the uncertainty, instability, part-time work, underemployment and destruction of jobs" are the factors that have driven young Catalan job-seekers to look for a "respectable life" abroad.

The FC Barcelona youth academy, called La Masia, is known and respected worldwide for its success with home-grown players such as Pep Guardiola, Leo Messi, Carles Puyol and Andrés Iniesta. The Technical Director of the youth system, former Barça midfielder Guillermo Amor, was also one of the young talents at the academy. A member of Johan Cruyff's Dream Team in the 1990s, Amor knows the place better than anyone. CNA offers an exclusive interview with the Barça legend who told us more about the day-to-day life of the Blaugrana stars of tomorrow…

FC Barcelona has issued an official response to the sanction imposed by the FIFA Disciplinary Commission on the Royal Federation of Spanish Football and the Catalan club for infractions related to the transfer and registration of players under the age of 18. Barça will be presenting an appeal to the FIFA and should it be necessary, it will take the resulting resolution to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The FIFA has banned the Catalan club from signing new players during an entire year. This unusual sanction would leave FC Barcelona without being able to hire a much needed new keeper and centre-back. The Catalan club defends his youth training system, which has given players such as Leo Messi, awarded on many occasions by the FIFA.

Speaking to the Economic Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, the European Commissioner for Employment, Lázló Andor, said that Spain should profit from its decentralised organisation to help fight youth unemployment. He suggested that the rest of Spain’s Autonomous Communities should follow the examples of Catalonia and Navarra to improve employment levels among youngsters. The European Commissioner said that Spanish authorities should take note of the plans launched by Catalonia and Navarra, where the youth unemployment situation “is better than the national average”. However, despite these levels being lower than in most of Spain, youth unemployment in Catalonia is worryingly high, at more than 53% in July.