Highlights

“Unity gives us strength as a country”, stated Artur Mas, President of the Catalan Government, in the New Year’s official speech, which is broadcast annually on 30 December. Mas emphasised that “the [Spanish] State wants us to be divided”, because this way “we are weaker and more vulnerable”. The Catalan President makes this statement in the middle of the talks he is carrying out with the opposition left-wing independence party ERC in order to decide whether to run together in early elections that should be transformed into a ‘de facto’ independence referendum. However, the left-wing ERC is reluctant to run with Mas and members of the centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU, which he leads. In his address, Mas also spoke in praise of the symbolic independence vote held on 9 November, which was “an exercise of democracy”, which “should call for dialogue and negotiation, instead of criminal prosecutions”.

The Academy of Catalan Cinema has released the nominees for the 7 Gaudí Awards, the main annual prizes recognising Catalan motion film productions. ‘El Niño’, by Daniel Monzón, tops the ranking with 15 nominations, including Best Non-Catalan Language Film, Best Director and Best Script. However, the movie is nominated twice in two categories (Best Actor and Best Secondary Actor), so it could only win 13 awards at the most. It is followed by ‘Stella Cadente’, with 13 nominations; ‘[REC] 4: Apocalipsis’ with 9; and ’10,000 KM’ and ‘Rastres de Sándal’, both of which have received 8 nominations. The 4 nominees for Best European Film are ‘Ida’ by Pawel Pawlikowski (Poland); ‘La grande bellezza’ by Paolo Sorrentino (Italy); ‘La isla mínima’ by Alberto Rodríguez (Spain); and ‘Magical Girl’ by Carlos Vermut (Spain). The awards ceremony will take place in Barcelona on 1 February.

Public employees of the Catalan Executive will receive their full salary in 2015. For the last 3 years, they have earned some 7% less in order to meet the strict deficit targets unilaterally imposed by the Spanish Government. The Catalan Government has approved a decree on Tuesday setting the full salary’s restitution, but the measure will not be “100% guaranteed until the new budget for 2015 is approved”, stated the Catalan Minister for the Presidency, Francesc Homs. The governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU and the opposition left-wing independence party ERC are currently negotiating this new budget, although the ERC has thus far been reluctant to support it. The CiU and the ERC have been negotiating for the last few weeks over whether to call early elections in order to transform them into a ‘de facto’ plebiscite on independence, and whether they should run together or not. The 2015 budget is also part of this debate.

The Spanish Government is carrying out “increased recentralisation” of powers, according to the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, and that of the Basque Country, Íñigo Urkullu. Catalonia and Euskadi are the main stateless nations within Spain, with most of their citizens calling for greater levels of autonomy or full independence. They are Spain’s main industrial centres and combined they represent 25% of its GDP (€270 billion) and 20.5% of its population (9.7 million people). The President of the Generalitat and the Basque Lehendakari met on Sunday in Vitoria and agreed on “working together” to face the centralist and homogenising policies of the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy. In addition, they will also work to defend their nations’ right to self-determination.

Logs that poo presents, men with 365 noses, and cakes with hidden surprises, Christmas in Catalonia has many of its own unique traditions. These include 'Caga Tió' - a log that brings edible goodies  to children; live nativity scenes featuring 'El Caganer' - a humorous hidden figure to bring good luck, and 'El Tortell de Reis' a cake that can turn you into a King. While the Santa-led celebration on the 25^th is becoming increasingly important due to marketing and globalisation, in Catalonia traditionally the biggest day (when children receive presents) is the 6^th of January, which is the 'Dia de Reis' (Day of the Kings), when kids wake up and discover presents brought by the Three Wise Men. The night before, the Three Kings parade around the main cities and towns, forming a big colourful and festive procession.

The Spanish Finance Minister, Cristóbal Montoro, has confirmed a new fiscal measure to increase the Autonomous Communities’ revenue, benefiting the Catalan Government as well. After the Council on Fiscal and Financial Policies (CPFF) held on Tuesday evening, Montoro confirmed that interest rates will be set at 0% for the loans given to the regional governments since 2012 through the Liquidity Fund (FLA). The measure will also be in place for 2015. However, the Autonomous Communities that have already met the deficit targets will also be granted a 0% rate for 2016 and 2017. The Catalan Government welcomes the measure but is sceptical about its details. The Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell, demanded an entirely new funding scheme, since the current one expired a year ago. Montoro is not renewing the inter-territorial funding scheme and instead is using this loan system, which obliges regional governments to return the transferred funds.

The world famous opera singer Montserrat Caballé reached on Tuesday a prejudicial agreement to avoid trial for tax fraud committed in 2010. The Catalan soprano, aged 81, admitted that her fiscal residence was not set in the fiscal haven of Andorra that year and therefore had evaded paying taxes to the Spanish authorities. Caballé, who is considered one of the greatest sopranos ever by both critics and fans alike, accepted the Public Prosecution’s petition of a 6-month jail sentence and a €240,000 fine, which corresponds to almost half of the evaded money. Since the jail sentence is shorter than 2 years and Caballé has no criminal record, she will not have to be imprisoned. The fine is to be added to the €508,000 she already deposited in the spring to compensate the Spanish Tax Agency. On top of this, she will still have to pay €75,000, corresponding to the interest on the money evaded.

Hundreds of citizens have pled guilty in solidarity with the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, Vice President, Joana Ortega, and Catalan Minister for Education, Irene Rigau, who are being prosecuted by the Spanish authorities for having authorised and co-organised the symbolic vote on independence that took place on 9 November. On Tuesday morning, citizens queued to plead guilty in front of Catalonia’s Supreme Court. This comes a day after the Court launched a judicial investigation on the criminal complaints against three members of the Catalan Government filed by a few individuals, extreme-right organisations and the Spanish Public Prosecution Office, whose Director is directly appointed by the Spanish Government. The solidarity campaign is organised by the civil society association that organised the largest pro-independence rallies of the last 2 years, the Catalan National Assembly (ANC). Many leading politicians are also pleading guilty and all the parties in Catalonia, except the Spanish nationalist ones, have come out in protest against the penal prosecution of the Catalan Government on account of a political issue.

After 11 months of restoration work, the world-famous Art-Nouveau building located on Barcelona’s Passeig de Gràcia boulevard and officially known as ‘Casa Milà’ is once again showing its unique façade. Designed by the Catalan architectural genius Antoni Gaudí, this wonderfully innovative residential house, also known as La Pedrera (The Quarry), was completed in 1910. With its undulating façade made of white stone and twisted wrought iron decorating the balconies (mostly designed by Josep Maria Jujol), the building initially shocked Barcelona’s bourgeoisie. However, after a few years it had become an iconic symbol of the Catalan capital. Nowadays, it represents perhaps the greatest masterpiece of Catalan modernism and Gaudí’s most famous building together with the Sagrada Família Basilica. 

Catalonia’s Supreme Court (TSJC) has accepted all the criminal complaints filed against the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, Vice President, Joana Ortega, and Catalan Education Minister, Irene Rigau, for having authorised the non-binding and symbolic vote on independence that took place on 9 November. However, it rejected all the complaints filed against other politicians and civil servants, such as mayors and school directors. The TSJC will finally launch a judicial investigation for “alleged disobedience” after charges were pressed by several individuals and organisations, including the Spanish Public Prosecution Office, whose Director is appointed by the Spanish Government. In fact, the official prosecution of members of the Catalan Executive by the Spanish authorities has been extremely controversial. Pro-independence civil society organisations are organising a solidarity campaign, through which individual citizens will plead guilty for participating in November’s vote. Meanwhile, the Catalan Government insisted they acted in the correct manner.

Pedro in the first minute, Luis Suárez with his first goal in the Spanish League, Piqué with a header and Messi with a late brace scored the goals as FC Barcelona defeated Córdoba 5-0. The win means the Catalans will spend Christmas just one point behind leaders Real Madrid, who don’t play this weekend.Saturday afternoon got off to the perfect start when Barça took the lead in the very first move of the game. Ivan Rakitic chipped the ball forward and Pedro met it with a wonderful piece of control before slamming home the opener. The rest of the half saw Barça in complete control and having plenty of chances to extend their lead. Barça couldn’t have wished for a better end to 2014, and now it’s time for the players to get a well-earned rest over the festive season.

For the first time in the last two years, the number of people opposing independence from Spain would be more than those supporting the separation, according to an opinion poll released on Friday by the Catalan Government’s Survey Institute (CEO). 45.3% of the interviewees would oppose independence, while 44.5% would support it. According to the CEO’s Director, Jordi Argelaguet, these figures indicate “a technical draw”, since there is only a 9-person difference out of the 1,000 interviews carried out in early December, following the 9 November’s symbolic self-determination vote. However, the figures show two important trends: the higher mobilisation of citizens opposing independence and the slight decrease of support for independence. 7.5% of those interviewed would be undecided and 2.8% preferred not to answer the question.

The Catalan economy grew by 1.5% at the end of the 3^rd quarter of 2014 in annual terms, while at the end of June it was growing at a rate of 1.3%. Catalonia has therefore accumulated 4 consecutive quarters with positive annual economic growth. However, although the economic recovery has slowed somewhat, growth remains positive, as other figures show. In quarterly terms, Catalonia’s GDP increased by 0.3% between July and September, which represents a drop from the 0.5% growth registered for April – June and also for January – March. Meanwhile, in Spain as a whole, the economy grew by 1.6% in annual terms at the end of September and by 0.5% in quarterly terms. The European Union is posting the same growth rates as Catalonia: 1.5% in annual terms and 0.3% in quarterly figures.

The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) presented the awards for the year 2013. Messi has been honoured as the highest goalscorer in the world’s main football leagues, and Iniesta as the best playmaker in the world. On Friday, Andrés Iniesta and Leo Messi received the awards at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper from Robert Ley, vice-president of the IFFHS. This is the second consecutive time that Iniesta has won the award after he also collected it in 2012, thus succeeding his team-mate Xavi Hernández, who has won it four times. Messi has also won his award for the second time in a row.

The Catalan Parliament approved on Thursday the Law on Transparency, Information Access and Good Governance with 81% in support and 2% in opposition. This bill comes a few months after the Catalan Government was graded 100 points out of 100 by Transparency International Spain for the information it makes available to citizens through its website about public contracts, tenders, subsidies and elected officials. However, these measures also come after years of corruption scandals, which have not only occurred across Spain, but also in Catalonia. The main parties have backed the new law, while two other parties abstained and one voted against the bill because they said they did not trust the governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU. With the new law, access to information will become a citizen’s right, which can only be limited when it affects people’s intimacy or a few other exceptions, including public security.