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The $6-billion BCN World has added another top international investor to those developing Europe's premier holiday resort, to be located next to the PortAventura theme park in Catalonia's Costa Daurada. Chinese casino company Melco, Spanish hotel network Melià and UK shopping centre developer Value Retail will build the first resort of the total 6. PortAventura, which will host Ferrari's theme park in Europe, will also build 3,000 additional hotel rooms. However, the company promoting BCN World, Veremonte, was waiting for the legal framework to be adapted in order to close deals with further investors. Last weekend, the Catalan Government and the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) signed an agreement to adapt the rules and this Wednesday, Veremonte announced the Hard Rock deal.  

The legal services of the Catalan Government have issued a report analysing last week's Constitutional Court judgement on the Catalan Parliament's Declaration of Sovereignty. The Constitutional Court rejected the idea that Catalonia was a "sovereign political and legal entity", but at the same time it recognised that "Catalan citizens' right to decide" fits into the Constitution. The Court rejected "the right to self-determination" but it recognised self-determination as a legitimate and therefore constitutional "political aspiration". On top of this, the Court urged the political powers to talk and find agreements, and it pointed out that all the parts of the current Constitution can be reformed. As far as the Catalan Government is concerned, the Court is backing a vote to find out the opinion of Catalan citizens as long as it is only a consultation and not a binding self-determination referendum.

Catalan Government announced its provisional budget deficit for 2013, equivalent to 1.97% of Catalonia’s GDP. The figure is above the 1.58% deficit target imposed by the Spanish Government, although it represents a reduction of €526 million on the 2012 results. In fact, the Spanish Government has praised Catalonia’s “significant” deficit reduction. The Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell, was “satisfied” with the deficit obtained in 2013, since he considers the fiscal consolidation effort imposed on the Autonomous Communities, which exclusively manage around 35% of Spain’s total public spending, “out of proportion”. “It is about time that the Central administration [Spanish Government] gets slimmer”, said Mas-Colell. The Spanish Government, responsible for 50% of Spain’s total public spending, posted a 4.33% deficit, instead of the 3.8% it had granted itself.

The Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) – which runs the Catalan Government – and the opposition Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) - which does not support the self-determination vote – have reached an agreement on the new legal framework to develop the macro-resort BCN World. This project, promoted by Veremonte and located in Salou (Costa Daurada), has already announced some of its international partners, but in order to attract the rest of the investors needed and start construction, the legal framework on gambling and the area’s town planning had to be upgraded. After months of talks, the CiU has finally closed a deal with the PSC, instead of doing it with the Left Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC), with whom it is promoting the self-determination agenda. The $6-billion BCN World will create some 17,000 jobs and will have mega-casinos, hotels, luxury shops, conference centres and beach clubs, among other things.

The Spanish government will offer a better fiscal arrangement for Catalonia but will refuse to authorise a referendum on independence. The Spanish parties are going to reject the Catalan government petition for a consultation during a debate on the 8th of April in the Spanish Congress. But the conservative PP will try to engage in conversations with the Catalan government about a new fiscal pact, hoping this offer could stop the “crazy environment” of tensions between Catalonia and Spain, PP sources confirmed to the CNA. The Catalan Government spokesman, Francesc Homs, said the referendum “cannot be swapped” for money and urged the Spanish government to put any offer to a ballot box test.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, stated on Wednesday that the self-determination process will go on despite the Constitutional Court’s ruling against the 'Declaration of Sovereignty' the day before. Mas insisted that the process "continues", since it is based on its democratic legitimacy, it adheres to its peaceful nature and will use all the existing legal frameworks. On the same day, the Catalan Vice President, Joana Ortega, sent a letter to all the Mayors in Catalonia to ask for their "compromise and co-operation" in organising a self-determination vote. Besides, the Catalan Parliament has elected the 3 MPs who will go to Madrid and ask for the transfer of referendum powers using Article 150.2 of the Constitution.

The Catalan Government is preparing a decree to launch a volunteer and personal register of citizens living abroad that might be used for the self-determination consultation vote, scheduled for the next 9^th of November. The decree does not explicitly mention the self-determination vote. It develops a law from 1996 regarding Catalan communities abroad. The news was disclosed by two newspapers and confirmed to the CNA by sources in the Catalan Government. These sources underlined that other Autonomous Communities have similar registers, such as Andalusia and Galicia. However, such a register would be quite useful to organise a self-determination vote without the Spanish Government's assistance.

On Wednesday evening the main Catalan small- and medium-sized enterprises association, Pimec, organised a protest conference in which they accused the Spanish and Catalan Governments of politically and financially "discriminating" against them. With the slogan #diguemprou (#wesayenough) 1,400 owners of SMEs and self-employed workers protested against both Governments for not taking SMEs into account and only working for the interests of large corporations. The protest was explicitly backed by 220 guilds and associations, as well as by 9 professional associations and that of self-employed workers. The event issued a manifesto compiling a list of grievances, split into 7 different areas: entrepreneurship; loans and funding; taxation; labour market; energy; training and employment; and internationalisation.

The former Secretary General and 'number 2' of CDC, which is the Liberal Party and larger force within the two-party Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), has been indicted for another alleged offence: bribery. Oriol Pujol had already been indicted a year ago for influence peddling regarding the network of Technical Vehicle Inspection garages (ITV). Back then, Pujol temporarily stepped down from his party responsibilities and as Chairman of the CiU group within the Catalan Parliament, but he continued as MP. The case is still under investigation by a judge from Catalonia's Supreme Court (TSJC), who has now added bribery to the list of alleged felonies. The judge stated that he believes Pujol might have earned €30,000 through his wife's company for a specific vote in Parliament. The CDC and the Spokesperson of the Catalan Government – run by the CiU – emphasised that they believe in Pujol's innocence and hope the judicial process will clarify the situation as soon as possible.

On Wednesday, the parties supporting the petitions to transfer to the Catalan Government the powers to organise referendums, using Article 150.2 of the Constitution, welcomed the Spanish Parliament's decision to fix the debate as early as possible, particularly before the summer break. The Catalan Parliament had approved a motion urging the Spanish Government for such a transfer in order to organise a self-determination vote. However, the Spanish Parliament might have scheduled the corresponding parliamentary debate in September or October. For this reason, the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) and the Catalan Green Socialist Party (ICV) filed their own petitions using their MPs in Madrid in order to speed up the debate. Finally, the Spanish Parliament's Board, controlled by the People's Party (PP), decided to group all the petitions and to hold a single debate on the issue in April.

Marcel·lí Antúnez Roca, one of the founders of the Catalan theatrical group ‘La Fura dels Baus’ has presented an exhibition in Arts Santa Mònica, a cultural centre run by the Catalan Government in Barcelona's famous Les Rambles. The display showcases the artist’s unusual dramatic method, which he names ‘Sistematúrgia’. This concept conceives theatre as a combination of robotics, corporal interfaces and audiovisuals systems. Apart from the exhibition, which will be open to the public until April 4th, this initiative also includes live performances by Antúnez once a week. ‘La Fura dels Baus’ produced the opening ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

According to a poll issued by the Centre of Opinion Studies (CEO), run by the Catalan Government, 59.7% of Catalans would agree with Catalonia becoming "a new European State". Specifically, 40.2% of the interviewees "totally agree" with the idea, 19.5% of the interviewees tend to agree, 10.8% tend to disagree and 18.9% are "totally against" it. Furthermore, 87.3% of the interviewees affirm they would accept the result of a self-determination referendum while 9.3% state they would not accept it. Furthermore, 74% of Catalans believe that the best way to decide on Catalonia's political future and its relationship with Spain is through a referendum, while 21.7% think the opposite.

The Catalan Government announced that, if the Spanish Executive finally decides to recentralise Catalonia's own taxes, they will take the issue to the Constitutional Court. The Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell, stated that, if confirmed, "it would be a very provocative proposal" and "would make totally transparent, if it is not already transparent by now, the recentralising assault and the policy to dismantle the [current] Autonomous Community model". On Thursday an expert committee handed a report to the Spanish Government suggesting 270 measures to completely reform Spain's taxation system. The text states that the Spanish Government will "order" all the taxes, including those of the Autonomous Communities. Regional governments might continue having their own taxes but market unity will be a higher priority and taxes will always be "coordinated" by the Spanish Finance Ministry.

The Catalan Parliament held on Wednesday a monographic session on poverty, which has increased over the past few years, spurred by the financial crisis. According to a report published by the Red Cross this week, there are 200,000 families in Catalonia which live below the poverty line and since the crisis started, 88 Catalans a day have crossed such a line. With a population of some 7.5 million and a GDP per capita of around €28,000 (similar to the UK's) Catalonia posts a 22.3% unemployment rate and a 26.4% child poverty rate. Opposition parties asked for greater efforts and further measures to fight the poverty increase. The Catalan Government emphasised budget figures and detailed several actions in different areas to show they are tackling the issue. In this vein, the Executive criticised that child poverty stood at 22% in 2006, in prosperity years. Furthermore, they complained about the limited fiscal powers on taxation and public deficit, which seriously reduce spending possibilities.

Answering a question about dialogue and democracy regarding Catalonia and Spain, the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy talked about Crimea, where there is a pre-war situation. On Tuesday before the Spanish Senate, Rajoy has once again closed the door to any talks with the Catalan Government to hold a legal and agreed consultation vote, similar to the one scheduled in Scotland. Instead, Spain's PM preferred to use as an example the current situation in Crimea, where the regional parliament has declared independence and organised within 10 days a ratification referendum while pro-Russian troops have occupied the peninsula and a war with the Ukrainian Army could start at any moment. Rajoy highlighted that the international community has appealed to the territorial integrity of states in this case. He was answering a question from Josep Lluís Cleries, Senator of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), which runs the Catalan Government.  Cleries asked him "to be brave" and "talk in depth" with the Catalan President.