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The Spanish Government wants the Catalan Government to pay for the private tuition of students who request to be taught in Spanish but find no offer in the public system. The 6,057 figure is, according to the Spanish Minister of Education, Ignacio Wert, a “compensation” similar to the cost of having a pupil in the public education system. The Catalan Minister of Education, Irene Rigau, said the figure is “a political decision” and rejected the move, which she thinks is “an offensive to destroy” the Catalan model of education. Recently, the State Council, the Spanish Government’s main advisory body, asked the Ministry of Education to “reconsider entirely” its decision.

Catalan parties welcomed the new King in a cold manner, and some were even directly absent from the coronation and participated instead in events in favour of a republican regime. However, after a few days of uncertainty, the President of the Catalan Government and leader of the Centre-Right pro-Catalan State CiU, Artur Mas, attended the ceremony in Madrid. Despite the fact that CiU did not give its explicit support to the King's succession, the CiU representatives were all present at the ceremony, although without showing enthusiasm. In addition, Mas insisted that he continues with his "wait and see" attitude, as the King's speech "did not offer anything new". Meanwhile, representatives from the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) did not attend the ceremonies, neither did representatives from the Catalan Green Socialist Coalition (ICV-EUiA), who participated in a small pro-republic demonstration in Barcelona at the exact same time the new King was swearing the Constitution.

A plasma fractionation plant installed in Clayton, North Carolina by the company Grífols was unveiled on Tuesday by the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, along with the President and CEO of the pharmaceutical, Víctor Grífols, and the State Governor, Pat McCrory. The new plant is 14,400 square metres big, will create over 200 jobs and represents an investment of 260 million euros. Expected to be operational by 2015, it will the largest and one of the most advanced plasma fractionation plants in the world. Grífols already has 2,300 employees in the state of North Carolina and it is among the world's top pharmaceuticals within the blood-derivates market. A few weeks ago, Víctor Grífols gave his support to the Catalan President and the self-determination process, which he confirmed on Tuesday.

The Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) stated it cancelled a debate on the EU Membership of an independent Catalonia because they could not find a speaker arguing that Catalonia would be excluded from the EU. However, the Catalan Government and the Catalan Public Diplomacy Council (Diplocat) suspect the Spanish Government pressured the CEPS to cancel the debate, as it already tried to do with previous events. The Spanish Executive denied the accusations, which are also rejected by the CEPS. The event was organised weeks ago and was supposed to take place on Tuesday at 9.30am at the CEPS facilities, which is the most prestigious think tank in EU Affairs. It was "postponed" on Monday evening, just a few hours before it was due to start. A prestigious Constitutional expert, who advises the Catalan Government, Carles Viver i Pi-Sunyer, was supposed to present a report arguing that Catalonia would remain within the EU.

The Catalan Government issued last Friday the public tender for granting licenses to build six mega-casino hotels in the Costa Daurada, next to PortAventura amusement park. These 6 Las Vegas-style recreational centres are the main part of BCN World, a $6 billion project that will create the largest holiday resort in Europe.  The main promoter of the project, Veremonte, announced on Friday they will be presenting an offer for each of the six hotel and casino licenses in partnership with international investors, such as Chinese casino giant Melco and US multinational Hard Rock. Veremonte also added they have “everything ready” to launch construction.  All candidates must submit a minimum initial investment of €300 million, as well as a business plan to prevent money laundering. The tender will have 2 eliminatory phases and bids have to be presented before 25July.

On Friday, the Spanish Government reacted to the publication by the Catalan Executive of the so-called "fiscal balances" for 2011, which calculate how much money citizens from Catalonia paid in taxes to the Spanish Government and how much they received back in terms of services, grants and investments. After the weekly cabinet meeting, the Spanish Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, stated that the Catalan Government is "making the calculations" that "interest for a political message". "All the elements have to be put on the table and with maximum transparency", she added. The Spanish Executive only published those figures once, in 2008 with data from 2005, not respecting the successive requests from Parliament and transparency standards. The Catalan Government has been calculating these figures for the last years, following the advice of independent university experts. Between 1986 and 2011, Catalan gave away an average of 8% of Catalonia's GDP each year, an amount representing €16 billion per year in today’s money.

The State Council, which is the Spanish Government's main advisory body, on Thursday called on the Ministry of Education "to reconsider entirely" the decree with the Education Reform that obliges the Catalan Government to pay for the private tuition of students who request to be taught in Spanish if there is no offer in the public system.  The top advisory body considered that the costs of the measure had not been seriously calculated and that limitations have not been included. The Catalan Minister for Education, Irene Rigau,  appealed to the Spanish Ministry of Education to remove this provision from the new Reform.  The latest disagreement is part of an ongoing conflict between the Spanish and the Catalan Governments regarding Catalan being the main language of instruction in schools.  

The Catalan Government issued on Thursday its own calculation of the so-called fiscal balances with the latest data available, which is from 2011. In that year, Catalans funded services and infrastructure in the rest of Spain for €15 billion, equivalent to 7.7% of Catalonia's GDP or €2,055 per citizen, using the monetary flow formula. Using the tax-benefit method, Catalonia contributed €11.1 billion, equivalent to 5.7% of its GDP. The two methods are "complementary", as the Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell stated, although the first one makes less assumptions and is closer to reality in times of economic crisis and high unemployment. "Catalonia is a net and generous contributor" to the whole of Spain, he said. In fact, the figures for 2011 confirm Catalonia's "sustained" negative "fiscal balance" for the 1986-2011 period, with an average 8.0% fiscal deficit. This has been for decades a very sensitive issue in Catalan and Spanish politics, and even more considering the self-determination debate.

Albert Batlle, in charge of Catalonia's prison network during the former left-wing Cabinet (2003-2010), has been appointed the new Director General of the Catalan Police Force, called Mossos d'Esquadra. The Catalan Government, run by the Centre-Right pro-Catalan State Coalition (CiU), appointed Batlle on Tuesday, emphasising he is "an independent person", "with experience". Batlle is a former member of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), which is part of opposition in the Catalan Parliament. He will have the challenge to direct the Mossos d'Esquadra after years of controversy linked to the police's use of force. The Catalan Minister for Home Affairs, Ramon Espadaler, asked him "to guide police action" and "to introduce a degree of common sense and calm". Batlle earned prestige as a manager of complex issues and he was one of the key people in the organisation of the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) intends to make the terminal it runs in Barcelona's Port the most productive in the world, according to Clemence Cheng, Managing Director of HPH Europe. Cheng said that in its first two years the terminal has exceeded all expectations.  The Chinese company will therefore increase its ''commitment'' to Barcelona and will effect the second phase of investment at a cost of €150 million, in addition to the €315 million already invested two years ago. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, participated on Friday in a ceremony to mark the kick-off of the new phase of construction and took the opportunity to claim the right of self-determination is also in order for Barcelona's Port to have maximum autonomy and not depend on decisions taken far away in Madrid.

The Centre-Right pro-Catalan State Coalition, Convergència i Unió (CiU), which runs the Catalan Government and was an essential part of Spain's Transition from dictatorship to democracy, will not vote in favour of the law regulating the King's abdication. The CiU, which has played a crucial role in Spanish politics, has decided to abstain in the Spanish Parliament's vote, in line with its support of Catalonia's self-determination process. All other Catalan parties are expected to oppose the succession process, with the exception of the Catalan socialist Party (PSC) –part of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) – and the Catalan branch of the People's Party (PP). In his first speech after his father's abdication announcement, the soon-to-be Felipe VI promised "to serve […] our beloved Spain", "a nation, a political and social community, united, diverse, which deepens its root in a millenary history".

The Barcelona Metro will reach El Prat Airport by the first half of 2016, perhaps even earlier, according to forecasts announced on Wednesday by the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas. The L9 line connecting Barcelona municipality to El Prat Airport and other cities has been under construction since 2002, and was originally anticipated to open in 2008, but the financial crisis and the state of public finances have delayed its full completion. An initial stretch of the line became operational in 2009, located at the opposite end to the airport. Once fully finished, the underground line will consist of two branches spanning across the Barcelona metropolitan area, making it the longest automatic metro line in Europe. The entire project will represent a total investment of €16 billion, €3 billion of which is for the airport connection. The test phase of the airport stretch will begin this autumn and should be completed by early 2016 or earlier.

The South-African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has travelled to Barcelona to receive the XXVI Premi Internacional Catalunya, the highest tribute the Catalan Government accords following an independent jury's decision. The award recognises people who have made significant contributions to Humankind. Addressing journalists on Tuesday morning, ahead of the evening award ceremony in Barcelona, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate spoke of the Spanish authorities' necessity of an open dialogue about Catalan independence. Tutu was surprised that such a vote could take place in Scotland but not in Catalonia. He stated that Spain's denial of the strong support for self-rule only exacerbates the problem. At the press conference, the Archbishop also touched upon the subject of King Juan Carlos' abdication, saying he believed a monarchy could be a force for good when "it helps draw people together", although he also underlined that all human beings are equal.

After the abdication of King Juan Carlos was announced this Monday morning, the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, made a statement in which he emphasised that Catalonia's self-determination process was continuing. Mas wished the Crown Prince and soon-to-be new King Felipe "good luck" and "to make wise decisions and be successful, because we want things to work out for Spain, and the monarchy represents the Spanish State." However, he asked the new King and the rest of Spanish institutions "to respect the Catalans' will" to hold a self-determination vote in order "to decide on our collective future, based on mutual respect and loyal cooperation". Such a vote has been scheduled by a large majority of Catalan parties for 9November, 2014.

The Spokesperson for the Catalan Executive, Francesc Homs, today stated that the results of the European elections and the turnout increase in Catalonia make the ruling cabinet feel “stronger”. “It is clear that the political project managed [by the Catalan Government] has great support”, he said. The centre-right pro-Catalan state coalition Convergència i Unió (CiU), which runs the Executive, increased its support by 100,000 additional votes compared to the 2009 elections, although its percentage of the vote did drop slightly from 22.4% to 21.9% due to a higher turnout. Overall, parties supporting this November’s independence vote obtained more than 55% of the votes cast, while those totally opposed to self-determination lost out, receiving less than 16% of the votes. For this reason, Homs asked the Spanish PM, Mariano Rajoy, to start talking again about how to authorise a self-determination vote.