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This Sunday, 800 tourists from the UK landed at Lleida-Alguaire Airport (Western Catalonia) to go skiing in the Pyrenees. The high number of English passengers is mostly due to the commitment of British tour operator Neilson Thomas Cook to the Catalan airport, which will run flights from Manchester, Southampton, Birmingham, Gatwick and Bristol. Until March, 20,000 skiers are expected to land in Lleida, along with 15,000 other visitors, to make the airport’s total number of passengers reach 35,000. Many of them will then cross the border to enjoy ski resorts in Andorra. According to the Catalan Government’s Delegate in the Lleida Province, Ramon Farré, these figures still show that “this airport is far from other airports in Spain which are not so successful”.

The Catalan Government’s Advisory Council for the National Transition (CATN), formed of renowned independent experts, emphasised that Catalonia’s independence from Spain would not represent breaking their affective and historical bounds. Furthermore, they insisted on the need to continue and even to increase cooperation “based on a new principle of equality and mutual respect between both parties”. They have suggested different ways to cooperate, through different structures. For instance, they proposed the creation of the ‘Iberian Council’ bringing together Catalonia and Spain, as well as Portugal and Andorra if they wished to, which would mirror the Nordic Council or the Benelux. Furthermore, the CATN issued three other reports, including a detailed analysis of Catalonia’s tax agency.

The Catalan Government put 4 buildings up for auction this Friday, following a plan to rationalise the spaces it uses, reduce spending and increase revenue in order to reduce public deficit. The headquarters of the Catalan Finance Ministry, located in a 8,000 square metre Art-Nouveau building in Barcelona’s Rambla Catalunya, has been bought by an Italian pharmaceutical company through FINAF 92 for €23.2 million. The other building, with a surface of 7,200 square metres, was used by the Catalan Police and is located in front of Barcelona’s Ciutadella Park. It has been bought by the German hotel company MO Düsseldorf Immermannstrasse GmbH & CO. KG for €14.1 million. On Thursday, the Catalan Government announced a plan to reduce its office space by 45% in the coming year by concentrating services. The plan includes selling the most attractive buildings.

The Catalan Finance Minister presented on Thursday a ‘Space Rationalisation and Optimisation Plan’ that foresees to partially leave Barcelona’s city centre and set up offices in cheaper areas. Nonetheless, the measure does not include citizen information and care centres such as schools and community health centres. Furthermore, the initiative also plans to reduce the global office space by using previously-empty floors and concentrating services without laying off staff. The objective is to pass from holding 377,000 square metres to fully occupying 207,000 square metres, a 45% reduction. By doing so, the Catalan Government expects to reduce rents by a 20% average, to cut off indirect costs by 50% and to decrease energy spending by 30%. Furthermore, it will sell the most appealing buildings.

Andreu Mas-Colell, Catalan Finance Minister, considered the People’s Party (PP) to be “obstructionist” for blocking the approval of the Catalan Government’s budget for 2014, which was initially scheduled for this week. On Tuesday evening the PP – which runs the Spanish Government – confirmed it was freezing the implementation of the €29.31 billion budget because it included €5 million (0.0176% of the total spending) to fund “electoral processes and citizen consultations”. Mas-Colell warned that by delaying the budget’s implementation, the Catalan Government will lose revenue coming from new taxes and therefore it will have more difficulties meeting the deficit targets for 2014. All the parties in the Catalan Parliament criticised the PP’s initiative except the anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans (C’s), which backed the action.

On Monday the People’s Party (PP) announced they were considering freezing the 2014 Catalan Government’s budget of €29.31 billion. The reason is that they include €5 million (0.017% of the total spending) to fund “electoral processes and citizen consultations”, which they fear could fund a self-determination vote. The Catalan Government has the power to organise a consultation process, as well as to modify small items once the budget is approved. The PP was waiting for the Spanish Finance Minister’s green light, since blocking the budget’s approval could have consequences on the objective to reduce public deficit and on meeting the targets imposed by the EU. Cristóbal Montoro argued that, since the blocking would “only last some 30 days”, there is no such danger.

The Spanish Prime Minister replied on Tuesday to the President of the Catalan Government’s proposal to discuss in a private meeting the question wording, date, and procedure of Catalonia’s self-determination vote. The Financial Times had also urged the Spanish Government to negotiate and make an offer to Catalans, while adding that “the ingredients” for a solution can be found in Catalonia’s question. While Mariano Rajoy answered he was open to meet with Artur Mas, he added he has nothing to negotiate on and nothing new to say. “The [Spanish] Government will not make any concession” regarding Catalonia’s self-determination. In addition, Rajoy insisted the vote “will not take place”. Furthermore, he added that Catalonia will not have a special funding scheme.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, stated that he wants to meet with the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, in order to convince him “to allow or tolerate” Catalonia’s self-determination vote. In the yearly live interview at the Catalan Public Television Broadcaster (TV3), Mas challenged Rajoy to make “an attractive offer” to the Catalan people, instead of “saying ‘no’ to everything”. Mas proposed that Catalan citizens vote on the Spanish authorities’ offer and on the independence option. Furthermore, the Catalan President insisted he is willing to change the question wording and dateof the self-determination vote if the Spanish Government agrees on a formulation similar to the Scottish referendum.

The People’s Party (PP) – which runs the Spanish Government – has announced it is looking at the possibility of freezing the approval of the Catalan Executive’s own budget. They are considering blocking the €29.31 billion budget because it will allocate €5 million (0.017% of the total spending) to a “citizen consultation”. The approval of such a budget is essential to meet the 1% deficit target for 2014. However, the PP fears this money could be used to organise the self-determination vote in 2014. The PP’s leader in Catalonia, Alícia Sánchez-Camacho, has announced she was talking with the Spanish Finance Minister, Cristóbal Montoro, on blocking the budget’s approval. The CiU, running the Catalan Government, has stated it is “a mistake”.

The Catalan Parliament will formally ask the Spanish Parliament to transfer the powers to organise referendums to the Catalan Government, following Article 150.2 of the Spanish Constitution on devolution. This procedure is similar to the one used for Scotland’s referendum, when Westminster Parliament transferred such powers to Edinburgh. On Friday, the 4 parliamentary groups that reached an agreement on an exact question wording and date for Catalonia’s self-determination vote have drafted a bill at the Catalan Parliament to start this petition’s process. Since they hold 64.5% of the seats, the bill should be approved in the coming weeks. In addition, after its weekly Cabinet Meeting, the Spanish Government insisted once again it “will not negotiate”. However, the Spanish Constitution has already been changed and the constitutional consensus from 1978 is broken.

The Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), led by Mas and running the Catalan Government, emphasised that “today we are writing history”. In addition, the Christian-Democrat force within the two-party coalition CiU, UDC, highlighted that having an “inclusive and clear” question was possible. The Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) recognised it was not their preferred question but it is now theirs it directly asks about independence. The Catalan Green Socialist and Communist Coalition (ICV-EUiA) pointed out that the question also suits those defending a Catalan State within a federal Spain. The radical left-wing and independence party CUP accepts the question in order to have the widest possible pact. The parties appeared together before the press to present the pact and answer questions, joined by the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, who announced the question and date.

“Do you want Catalonia to become a state? If yes, do you want this state to be independent?” This is the “inclusive” and “clear” question that the parties supporting Catalonia’s self-determination vote have agreed on this Thursday. The parties also agreed on holding the vote on November 9, 2014, “giving the Spanish institutions time to negotiate with the Catalan institutions within the legal frameworks, which are numerous”. The agreement was explained by the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, in a solemn appearance, joined by the leaders of the parliamentary groups supporting the vote. The question is “a compromise”, as “it allows voting for a change of the status quo” and “also allows voting on independence”. It is backed by 4 parliamentary groups, representing 64.5% of the Catalan Parliament’s seats.

With the title ‘Spain against Catalonia: an historical overview (1714-2014)’, this academic symposium aims to discuss the political, economic, social and cultural repression the Spanish State has carried out against Catalan institutions and people throughout the last 300 years. The event will offer more than 20 lectures given by prestigious university chairs. It is organised by Catalonia’s Science and Language Academy (IEC) and by the Centre of Contemporary History of Catalonia, which is linked to the Catalan Government. The symposium has raised controversy with its title. The People’s Party (PP), which runs the Spanish Government, has made cancelling the event a condition for holding a dialogue with the Catalan Executive. Furthermore, the PP, the anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans (C’s) and the Spanish nationalist and populist UPyD have filed a complaint against the symposium for “spreading hate”. Paradoxically, UPyD compared the symposium with “Nazism”.

Multinational corporation T-Systems has officially unveiled one of its four operations centres at world level, based in Barcelona. The German company has invested €2.5 million in the centre, creating 170 new jobs in 2013. 350 more employees are expected to be hired in 2014, according to T-Systems. The Catalan Minister for Business and Employment, Felip Puig, who also attended the press conference, stressed that T-Systems is “one of the Catalan Government’s most valuable partners in the field of technology”. Puig added that the Catalan Executive and the German multinational had signed various agreements, lasting from 6 to 10 years, which were worth € 400 million and would generate 2,000 jobs.

The Catalan Government wants energy companies not to cut off the domestic power supply to people in financial difficulties who are temporarily unable to pay their bills. The Catalan Ministry of Business and Employment aims to fight so-called ‘energy poverty’: people who are obliged to do without electricity or gas because they simply cannot afford the bills. In the current economic crisis, thousands of Catalan households (around 20%) are facing this problem, which means they cannot use the heating during winter or they have problems cooking meals. In order to achieve this objective, the Catalan Executive is looking at modifying Catalonia’s Consumption Code to include this initiative fighting ‘energy poverty’.