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Andorra La Vella and La Seu d’Urgell to organize 2018 Special Olympic Games

May 4, 2017 12:33 PM | ACN / ANA / Adrià Solé

The joint bid between Andorra la Vella, the capital of the Principality of Andorra and the closest Catalan town, La Seu d’Urgell, to organize the 2018 Special Olympics Games has been successful. The Mayor of Andorra la Vella, Marc Pons, and the mayor of La Seu d’Urgell, Albert Batalla, made this public last week. The two mayors said the games would be a challenge and there will promote the two cities as sports centers and towns of solidarity. The event will be held from the 4th to 7th of October and will bring more than 2,400 people from more than seventeen international delegations. This will be the first time that the Special Olympic Games, the most important international sports event for athletes with mental disability, will be held in the Pyrenees.

 

Minutes silence observed throughout Catalonia in tribute to Germanwings flight victims, many of them Catalans

March 25, 2015 09:50 PM | ACN

Town halls and the Catalan Parliament, but also private companies, public institutions and a high school related to the victims of the Germanwings aircraft have observed a minutes silence on Wednesday at noon, in tribute to the 150 people killed in the accident in the French Alps. At least 39 of the 51 victims with Spanish nationality were Catalans, although this figure is likely to increase in the coming hours. Many were businesspeople on their way to an agri-food fair in Cologne. Among the victims there was also a group of 16 high school students and 2 teachers from Germany, whom had spent an exchange week in Llinars del Vallès (Greater Barcelona). The high school that hosted them held a homage and mourning tribute. In addition, Barcelona's Liceu Opera Theatre also observed a minutes silence, since baritone Oleg Bryjak and mezzo Maria Radner, and her family, were among the victims.

New airport opens next to Andorran and Catalan ski resorts

January 9, 2015 06:28 PM | ACN

The Andorra-la Seu d’Urgell Airport kicked off its public and commercial activities on Thursday, and is able to host aircraft of up to 40 seats. The old La Seu d’Urgell’s airfield, in the middle of a Pyrenean valley and only 15km away from Andorra, has been updated to go beyond being a facility merely used by recreational light aircraft. From now on, small commercial airliners, charter flights and air taxis will be able to operate from this mountain airport very close to Catalonia’s and Andorra’s main ski resorts. The new facilities will be managed by the Catalan Government and Andorra, which will meet half of its operational costs. The Catalan Executive is currently negotiating with 8 companies that may be interested in flying from the airport. Furthermore, the permits needed to host flights from outside the Schengen Area are expected to be granted by the Spanish authorities during 2015.

Barcelona and 700 other municipalities approve motions supporting 9 November's independence vote

September 22, 2014 09:44 PM | ACN

The City Council of Barcelona as well as 300 other town halls throughout Catalonia approved on Monday a motion supporting the self-determination consultation vote, scheduled for the 9th of November. Some 400 other municipalities have confirmed they will do the same in the current week and more could join in the coming days. With this action, Catalan municipalities want to back the parliamentary agreement to carry out such a vote, which is being unilaterally blocked by the Spanish Government.  The motions will be sent to the Catalan Government, the Spanish Authorities, the European Union institutions and the United Nations. Town Halls throughout Catalonia are approving the same motion, which has been proposed by the Association of pro-Independence Municipalities (AMI) and the Catalan Association of Municipalities (ACM).

Solsona’s International Music Academy welcomes 65 young talents from 20 different nationalities

August 12, 2014 08:52 PM | ACN / Neringa Sinkeviciute

Solsona's International Music Academy (AIMS) is a high level international project, which is also the first and only pedagogical music festival in Catalonia. It was created by the German cellist Peter Thiemann in order to bring together classical music students and professors of acknowledged international prestige who play in Europe's main orchestras. It is an intensive education project which takes place in a beautiful rural environment in Solsona, a town near the Pyrenees in Central Catalonia. This year, the 13th edition of the AIMS festival is held from the 6th to the 17th of August, and includes the participation of 65 students from 20 different nationalities. 30 concerts have been scheduled in ten municipalities of Western and Central Catalonia.

Former Catalan Minister from Left-Wing Independence Party ERC condemned for tobacco smuggling

June 19, 2014 08:06 PM | ACN

Jordi Ausàs, who was Catalan Minister for Governance and Administration between March 2008 and December 2010, was condemned to 4 years in jail and to pay a €195,000 fine for tobacco trafficking and not paying the corresponding taxes. The Lleida Province's High Court stated on Thursday afternoon that Ausàs had participated in an organised criminal band that was smuggling tobacco through the border between Andorra and Spain since the summer of 2010, when he was in office. Back in 2012, when Ausàs was formally accused, the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) temporarily suspended his party membership until the situation was made clear. The ERC have not issued any official statement at the time of writing this article and Ausàs’ lawyers have not confirmed whether he will appeal the Court's decision.

Joining hands to name Lleida's 13th century cathedral UNESCO World Heritage

March 11, 2014 08:53 PM | ACN / Emma Garzi

Some 250 people have joined hands around the old Cathedral of Lleida (Western Catalonia) for the third consecutive year, urging the monument and its surroundings to be declared UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the heart of the Catalan city, the tremendous ‘Turó de la Seu Vella’, literally the Hill of the Old See, is formed of several buildings, with the most significant being the 13th century cathedral, known as ‘La Seu Vella’. The hill also hosts the remains of La Suda or King's Castle (Castell del Rei o La Suda), well preserved military fortifications built from the 14th to the 18th century and other archaeological gems. An official nomination bid was eventually presented this January, setting up the first stage of a lengthy procedure.