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Spanish police entered this morning the house of the President of the Catalan Government between 1980 and 2003 and founder of the centre-right Catalan nationalist coalition CiU in the 1970s, Jordi Pujol. The officers searched for documentation related to Pujol’s eldest son, Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, who is currently indicted for alleged fiscal fraud and money laundering and at the centre of most of the ongoing judicial investigations involving the family. 15 other addresses were also searched this morning by Spanish police, including Jordi Pujol Jr’s office and other residences and companies related to Pujol’s eldest son’s businesses in Barcelona and Madrid. The operation is run by the Spanish 'Audiencia Nacional', which is a court investigating and ruling on organised crime, terrorism and international fiscal offences. Earlier this year, former Catalan President and founder of the centre-right Catalan nationalist coalition CiU in the 1970s Jordi Pujol, his wife Marta Ferrusola, and most of their 7 children testified before the Barcelona-based judge investigating the case.

Current Catalan President, Artur Mas stated this Friday that "the public tender system of the Catalan Government is flawless. There are no mistakes nor possibilities to influence it in a partisan or personal way", regarding the accusations of bad practice in relation to assessing public contracts. Mas appeared before the Parliament to comment on the recent phase of the 'Petrum' anti-corruption operation, which investigates whether companies paid a 3% commission to the party foundation 'CatDem' in exchange for public contracts. "The CatDem did receive contributions from companies, it is legal, public and specified in many documents" stated President Mas "if we don't like the legal system, we must change it rather than criminalise it" and added that "other parties' foundations have also received commissions from these companies". Mas also slammed the Spanish Guardia Civil searches as "a show" that pursues "hurting rather than investigating".

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York inaugurated this Tuesday 'Joaquín Torres-García: The Arcadian Modern', a retrospective of Torres-García's works in painting, sculpture, fresco, drawing and collage. The exhibition, composed of 190 pieces, is the first of this Catalan-Uruguayan artist to be displayed in the US in the last 45 years. One of the most renowned artworks included in the retrospective is one of the four large murals that the artist designed for the 'Saló de Sant Jordi' one of the most iconic rooms in the Catalan Government's headquarters, 'Palau de la Generalitat'. The mural has been dismantled and moved to New York especially for the occasion.  The exhibition on Torres-García is set to go to Madrid and Málaga after its run at the MoMA.

Catalan President, Artur Mas, appeared this Thursday before the court, after being summonsed by Catalonia's Supreme Court for organising the 9-N symbolic vote in 2014. "The success and international impact of the 9-N consultation is what motivated this lawsuit" he stated "this summons responds to the Spanish Government's anger rather than legal reasons". Mas arrived at Barcelona's Courthouse by foot and was joined by the 400 Catalan mayors from the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI) and the entire Catalan Government. Right in front of the Court, thousands of people displaying Catalan flags rallied around the President and openly showed their opposition to Catalonia's Supreme Court's decision to summons Mas, which has been regarded as a political decision. Mas appeared before the court two days after Catalan Minister for Education Irene Rigau and former vice-president Joana Ortega and right after attending the commemorative events for the 75^th anniversary of President Companys' execution. 

The Catalan Government has created the first certification that “guarantees” the quality of 17 funding systems which aim to be an alternative to traditional banking. The public business innovation agency, ACCIÓ, has accredited the first 17, which are private investors’ networks, crowd-funding platforms, crowd-lending systems an invoice traders. According to the Catalan Business and Occupation department, this certification aims to promote and facilitate Small and Medium-sized Companies (‘PIMES’ in Catalan) and Catalan companies’ access to alternative funding systems, which are considered a key factor for innovation and internationalisation and are a growing trending in Europe.

Current Catalan President Artur Mas has been called to the court on the 15th of October for authorising and co-organising the 9-N symbolic referendum on independence that took place in 2014. Catalonia’s Supreme Court (TSJC), which pends on Spanish Administration of Justice, also confirmed the prosecution of former Vice-President Joana Ortega and Catalan Minister of Education Irene Rigau for the same charges. The official prosecution of Artur Mas and 2 other members of the Executive arrives two days after the 27-S elections and takes the current political conflict a level higher. The Catalan Government considered the TSJC decision a “democratic anomaly” and described it as a “political judgment”.

The Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy offered “dialogue and negotiation” to the new Catalan government that would form after the 27-S elections, but warned that this “loyalty” would be subject to legality and “always within the law”. He emphasised that if the Catalan authorities “are planning to break the law and make declarations that contradict the Spanish Constitution and the Catalan Statute of Autonomy” Spain will fulfil its duty and make sure that “the law is adhered to”. Meanwhile, former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar has blamed Rajoy for leading the PP into “the worst possible scenario”. In a communicate published through the FAES foundation, the PP’s think tank over which he presides, Aznar stated that the PP “can’t ignore” the “the fifth warning” that Catalans have sent to the party.

The winning coalition in the 27-S elections, pro-independence unitary list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ insisted that their candidate to run for President of the Catalan Government is Artur Mas. Mas himself stated that what matters now “is the roadmap”and not who is the candidate for President. He addressed this warning to radical left pro-independence CUP, which would bring an absolute majority for pro-independence forces in the Parliament if they join ‘Junts Pel Sí’ but whom refuse to instate Artur Mas as Catalan President. “Now we have a shared responsibility” assured Mas and highlighted that “the priority” was to know if the 72 MPS who favour independence would be able to work together.

“The EC does not comment on regional elections” stated EC spokesperson Margaritis Schinas. He added that the EC won’t express “a position” regarding the 27-S results in Catalonia, which it considers “a domestic issue for Spain”.The EC spokesperson confirmed that EC President Jean-Claude Juncker “was informed” of the election results but that he “didn’t have any immediate contact” to evaluate them with the Spanish nor the Catalan governments. “I have nothing else to say” stated Schinas, who denied any consideration of whether the EU should promote dialogue between Madrid and Barcelona. However, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Anne Brasseur, stated at a press conference that “the vote of the people of Catalonia must be respected” and added that “there must be dialogue from both sides”.

The figure is almost 7 points higher than it was at the same hour, 18.00 (CET), on the day of the 2012 elections and it has grown in the four regions in Catalonia, according to official data published by the Catalan Government. The region with the highest rate of participation so far is still Girona, with more than 65.3% and the least Lleida with 61%. The participation in Barcelona is 63.2% and in Tarragona is 61,8%, with the highest growth; more than 8 points higher than in 2012. 

The figure is 5.7% higher than it was at the same hour, 13.00 (CET), on the day of the 2012 elections, according to official data published by the Catalan Government. The region with the highest rate of participation so far is Girona, with more than 38%, followed by the Tarragona region with 35.53%, Barcelona with 34.7% and Lleida with 33.8%. The regions which have registered the highest increase in participation so far, compared to the 2012 elections, are Tarragona and Lleida, with a rise of 7.3%.

Only 7% of the 200,000 Catalans living abroad voted in the 2012 Catalan elections and the figure isn’t likely to increase much in the upcoming 27-S elections. Spain’s Electoral Roll Office ignored the Catalan Government’s request to extend the postal vote for those living outside of Catalonia, with the Spanish body only extending it for those who lived in other parts of Spain, not overseas. With just a few days left before Election Day and amidst complaints of ballots arriving too late, confusing processes and the new ‘requested vote’ system seem to have deprived many voters abroad of their right to decide. 

EC clarified this Wednesday that Brussels didn’t authorise any official answer regarding a hypothetical Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Catalonia. This clarification arrives after the confusion surrounding the two different answers in English and in Spanish given to the same question from PP Member of the European Parliament Santiago Fisas. “The English version is the one agreed to by President Juncker” stated EC spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud. The answer said “it is not for the Commission to express a position on questions of internal organisation related to the constitutional arrangements of a particular Member State”. The Spanish version stated that “the determination of the territory of a Member State is established by its National Constitution and not by an autonomous parliament’s decision contrary to that Constitution”. The Catalan Government called for an enquiry on the alleged manipulation and defined the Spanish text as “extremely disturbing”.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy ran out of arguments this Tuesday when he tried to claim that Catalans would lose their Spanish nationality in the event of Catalonia’s independence. In an interview with Spanish radio station Onda Cero, Rajoy failed to answer when the Spanish journalist Carlos Alsina told him that Spanish nationality “can’t be removed” and that even if Catalonia were to become an independent country, Catalan citizens would keep both their Spanish and European nationality. Rajoy concluded by saying that “such a disquisition was a dead-end”. Catalan Government spokeswoman, Neus Munté, stated that Rajoy exposed himself and made clear that “he doesn’t know the Constitution that they mention and exhibit everywhere”.

The Catalan government admitted to being “very surprised” with the Electoral Roll Office’s decision, which it described as “contradictory”. The Spanish body agreed this Thursday to extend the postal vote but only for those who live in Spain, and not for those Catalans who live abroad. The Catalan Minister for Public Administration, Meritxell Borràs, claimed that the Electoral Roll Office is committed to “not facilitating” the vote of those who live abroad. According to the data, more people applied for a postal vote this year than in the last Catalan elections, in 2012. Compared to last time around, 4,000 more Catalans living abroad requested the postal vote on the 16^th of September, the day before the deadline.