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Barcelona and London, the capital cities of Catalonia and the United Kingdom, suffered sustained bombardments by fascist air forces during the first half of the 20th century. Coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the aerial bombing of Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War, the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat) together with the European Observatory on Memories (Eurom) and in collaboration with the University of Brighton organized a conference at London’s Imperial War Museum to share Catalonia and United Kingdom’s history under the fascist bombs. The commemorative event gathered together representatives from the Catalan Government, mayors of some of the cities who suffered the most under the fascist aviation attacks, British politicians, such as Chris Bambery, former spokesman for the APPG on Catalonia, and researchers and historians from both the UK and Catalonia specialized in the Great World Wars.

The independence process “won't be a problem” for investing in Catalonia, said Paul Cartuyvels, Director for European Affairs of the French multinational Bouygues, a company with more than 125,000 employees and delegations in 19 countries. Cartuyvels participated in a meeting on foreign investment with entrepreneurs and companies from Europe, the U.S. and Asia, organized by the Catalan government during the “European Business Summit”. Bouygues is interested in Catalonia’s Global 3D Priniting Hub and considers the country “a natural partner for high level innovation”. The Catalan Minister for Business and Knowledge, Jordi Baiget, who explained Catalonia’s business assets during the meeting, said that the political debate is not negatively affecting foreign investment: in fact, in the last 5 years Catalonia has seen a 36% increase in foreign investment.

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, replied on Friday to the Spanish Vice President’s invitation to present his referendum plans in the Spanish Congress. Puigdemont said to Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría that he would be happy to do so if an agreement between the Catalan Government and the Spanish government is previously reached. In other words, he suggested that the two executives, following the example set by the UK and Scotland in 2014, should agree on the “conditions” for an independence referendum and then submit that agreement to a vote in the Spanish chamber and the Catalan Parliament. In a brief press conference, Puigdemont celebrated what he considered as a “change in tone” coming from the Spanish government. According to him, the offer to debate the referendum in Congress is a recognition by the Spanish executive of the possibility of such a vote happening.

The Spanish government’s vice president, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, urged the Catalan government’s president, Carles Puigdemont, to outline the proposal of celebrating an agreed referendum before the Spanish Congress. She said it was an “invitation” for the “dialogue and debate to be carried out in parliament”, which, according to the Spanish vice president, would allow addressing the celebration of the referendum “where it belongs, in the chamber”. According to Sáenz de Santamaría, her proposal makes sense because, “as of today, only Parliament can decide a matter of this nature”, whereas the Spanish government “cannot authorize nor negociate” the celebration of a referendum. Sáenz de Santamaría also stated that no member of her executive will be present at the conference that the Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont; the vice president, Oriol Jnqueras; and the Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, will hold in Madrid on Monday.

The Spanish Ministry for Education has requested a “detailed report” on the content of the textbooks used in Catalonia. The petition, processed as a matter of urgency, aims to analyze whether there is “partisan indoctrination” in the Social Studies textbooks used in the 5th and 6th grades of primary school, said the association who complained about it, “Action for the Secondary Education Improvement” (AMES). AMES compared textbooks from seven different publishers used in Catalan schools and concluded that the books emphasize the differences between Catalan and Spanish citizens and minimize their common points. The Secretary of Education Policies in the Catalan Government, Antoni Llobet, expressed the “government's bewilderment” of his government at this unprecedented initiative. Publishers defended their professionalism and described the attacks as “biased and false”.

The new nuclear plants tax, a tax on environmental risk, transport and handling, and safe-keeping of radiotoxic elements will provide 20% of the revenue in the Terres de l’Ebre and Camp de Tarragona, two areas in the south of Catalonia. The two main nuclear plants in Catalonia are in Ascó and Vandellós, both in the southern region. The money will arrive at the beginning of 2018 and the Catalan Government is creating a working group to agree on investment strategies in those zones. The total tax receipts will reach 12 million euros.

The Catalan Government has announced an “urgent meeting with all responsible parts involved” in order to address the collapse at the Barcelona airport’s passport control over the past 15 days. Government’s spokesperson Neus Munté considers the Spanish authorities’ “passiveness” an intentional “act of sabotage” against the Barcelona airport. The Spanish government argued that the queues are due to unexpected passenger increase. The Catalan MEP of the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCat), Ramon Tremosa, asked the European Commission to make sure that the Spanish State applies the new EU border regulations against terrorism without harming or inconveniencing Barcelona airport passengers. The Catalan political groups in the Spanish Parliament, in turn, will demand explanations from the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Spanish ministers in the chamber.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, has invited his Spanish counterpart, Mariano Rajoy, and his whole team to attend the conference he will give in Madrid on May 22nd. The talk  ‘A referendum for Catalonia: Invitation to a democratic agreement’ has been presented by the Catalan executive as the last chance to negotiate an agreed-upon referendum with the Spanish Government. At the same time, Catalan Government spokeswoman, Neus Munté, dismissed the reports by some media outlets that said Puigdemont will announce the date of the referendum at the conference. “We won’t announce any date or any question until we have a response from the Spanish State,” emphasized Munté. Both the Catalan VP and Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs will join Puigdemont at his talk, which is the same one given by the three Catalan leaders in Brussels in front of some 500 people.

Catalonia may host the logistics hub for Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba for Southern Europe. According to Catalan Minister for Business Knowledge, Jordi Biaget, “no decision has been made yet” but the negotiations are already in the final stages. Although Alibaba is also considering France for the installation of its logistics center, the Catalan Government is working closely with the company so that Catalonia could be the chosen destination. Indeed, last February Baiget met with Alibaba’s board during a commercial mission to China and Hong Kong organized by the Catalan Government. Baiget also explained that the Catalan executive is analyzing more than 300 possible business investments in Catalonia.

Catalonia will offer a pioneer testing ground for autonomous and connected cars. This Thursday the Catalan Minister of Business and Knowledge, Jordi Baiget, and the Catalan Home Affairs Minister, Jordi Jané, announced the project launch at the Barcelona Automobile congress, currently taking place, from 11 to 21 May in the Fira exhibition center. The ‘Catalonia Living Lab’ project, designed by the Catalan Government, the industry and sector agents, aims to offer vehicle and component manufacturers to conduct tests and validations of this technology on Catalan roads, circuits, and in cities. To begin with, the ‘Catalonia Living Lab” tests areas will include 7 routes of almost 200 km, 7 areas of more than 12 square kilometers, and 3 circuits in different places around the country.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, together with Catalan VP and Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, will travel to Madrid on May 22nd to give the conference ‘A referendum for Catalonia. Invitation to a democratic agreement’. The conference is the same one that the three Catalan leaders gave in Brussels last January for nearly 500 people. Although the Catalan Government initially asked to hold the event in the Spanish Senate, that request was dismissed by the Spanish Government. So instead, the event will be held in the Caja de la Música auditorium, which has a capacity of about 250 people. The conference will be the Catalan Government’s last attempt to negotiate an agreed-upon referendum with the Spanish Government.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, said that the Government will ask for the international community’s support in order to implement the referendum result if the people vote ‘yes’ to Catalonia’s independence. In particular, he emphasized the need to get the EU’s attention and pointed out that if Catalonia’s moves towards independence, Europe will stop being Spain’s “errand boy”. Puigdemont admitted that no international recognition has been requested so far. Instead, the Government has just organized a campaign to explain the Catalans’ demands to the world. The Catalan President insisted that the ballot boxes will be put out in September and added that the only way for the Spanish Government to prevent the referendum from happening is “by opening a dialogue and agreeing on an alternative date”. 

The Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) has unanimously suspended a substantial part of the Catalan law for popular non-binding referenda, approved seven years ago in 2010. In particular, the magistrates have annulled the section which refers to calling a referendum at an autonomic level. They believe that this kind of referendum “is not foreseen in the Spanish Constitution nor in the State’s legislation”. Moreover, the TC has also decided to suspend the creation of the National Transition Advisory Council, a body created through a Catalan Government decree and aimed at beginning the necessary measures for completing Catalonia’s pro-independence process. In this fashion, the TC accepted the appeal presented by the Spanish Government, which claimed that the Catalan law for non-binding referenda was unconstitutional. 

FC Barcelona supports holding a vote on Catalan independence by joining the National Pact for the Referendum (PNR). The club announced their decision through a press release before their game in La Liga on Saturday. One of the first people to congratulate this decision was Catalonia’s president, Carles Puigdemont, who wrote the following in a tweet: “democracy joins forces”. The National Pact for the Referendum is a campaign to collect signatures from institutions, organizations, elected representatives, and private individuals, both within and outside of the country in support of holding a referendum on the political future of Catalonia. The group is comprised of the Catalan government, political parties, and organizations.

The Spanish prosecutor is preparing to file charges against the Catalan Government after it published an official offer of tenders for ballot boxes that could can be used for the independence referendum, the CNA has learntlearned. Sources close to the Spanish General Prosecutor, José Manuel Maza, said that they will present the case once the bid for the supply of the ballot boxes is completed. “They give us no other choice,” the same sources said, without offering any more details. The Catalan Government spokeswoman, Neus Munté, warned that “it doesn’t make any sense” to open a judicial investigation for into this as matter since “there is no law forbidding the purchase of ballot boxes”. She also said the Government won’t “tolerate any threats or intimidation” from the Spanish government towards the companies interesting in bidding.