Politics

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The Spanish Government will pay for the train tickets price reduction in the end

CNA

After the Spanish Governments announcement to reduce the price of local train tickets by 5% with the aim of fostering public transportation to save fuel, the Catalan Government, which manages the service in Catalonia, quantified in 26 million euros its loss in 1 year. Therefore, the Catalan Executive refused to pay for the measure. The Spanish Government will pay 6.75 million euros for 3 months of the measure.

March 9, 2011 09:21 PM

The Catalan President asks Barroso to make the Mediterranean Railway Corridor a European priority

CNA / Raquel Correa / Gaspar Pericay Coll

The President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso met with the President of the Catalan Government Artur Mas in Brussels. Barroso recognised the Catalan Government's efforts to reduce public deficit. Mas emphasised the importance of making Catalan an official EU language. Mas was accompanied by the Christian-Democrat Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida and the new Catalan Delegate to the European Union, Joan Prat.

March 4, 2011 12:42 PM

In the end, the Catalan Government’s deficit for 2010 is 3.86%

CNA / María Jose Fidalgo / Gaspar Pericay Coll

Spain saw 2010 end with 9.24% of public deficit; 4.97% corresponds to the Spanish Government, 3.39% to the autonomous communities and 0.64% to the local administrations. According to the Spanish Government, half of the autonomous communities saw the year come to an end far away from the objective of 2.4% - Catalonia included. The Catalan Government emphasised that the Spanish Government cut down the revenues of the autonomous communities.

March 1, 2011 11:59 PM

Tariq Ramadan: “Europe does not care about democracy in the Arab countries but rather its geo-strategic interests”

CNA / Maria Fernández Noguera / Ignacio Portela Giráldez

The Islamic intellectual, Tariq Ramadan was interviewed by CNA. “We are afraid of the arrival of immigrants, but the best thing to do is develop the countries of origin”. The grandson of the Muslim Brotherhood’s founder criticised Europe’s lack of commitment with the democratization of the Muslim world as revolts go on and racism grows in countries like Switzerland and Spain.

February 28, 2011 11:23 PM

The Spanish Government says now that both the Mediterranean and the Mid-Pyrenees Railway Corridors are priority

CNA / María Fernandez Noguera / Gaspar Pericay Coll

The Mediterranean Railway Corridor has been constantly overlooked even though it is a key infrastructure for Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia, Andalucía,and also for Spain and even the European Union. In the last few years, the Socialist Spanish Government was constantly pushing for the Central Pyrenees Corridor (going through the Pyrenees in Aragon) for electoral and regional equilibrium reasons but the Mediterranean one was hardly mentioned. Is the EU going to include the Mediterranean Railway Corridor in its agenda?

February 25, 2011 11:10 PM

The Spanish Government will formally ask to restore Pau Casals’ anthem for the United Nations

CNA / Maria José Fidalgo

The Catalan violoncello player and composer Pau Casals was asked in 1971 to create an anthem for the United Nations by the former Secretary General. However, after Pau Casals death and the change of UN Secretary General, the anthem was never played again. The Spanish Parliament’s Culture Commission came to an unanimous motion to ask the Spanish Government to push for the restoration of the United Nations official anthem.

February 22, 2011 10:28 PM

The former Spanish Ambassador to NATO will represent Catalonia in Brussels

CNA

The Spanish diplomat Juan Prat will become the next Catalan Delegate to the European Union, representing the Catalan Government’s interests in Brussels. Prat was the Spanish Ambassador to The Netherlands and used to be the Ambassador to NATO with former PM José Maria Aznar. He also served as the European Commission’s Director General for External Relations. Besides, Barroso and Mas will meet on the 3rd of March.

February 16, 2011 10:11 PM

The Catalan President rejects raising taxes and states that a 10% budget cut is enough

CNA / Pere Francesch / Gaspar Pericay Coll

Artur Mas, the President of the Catalan Government answered the Spanish Vice President for Economy, who yesterday suggested that he should raise taxes. He also wants to stop the debate about which percentage of the public expenditure should be cut, after the insistence from Madrid to go beyond the 10%. The Advisory Council for the Economic Recovery met today for the first time. Mas also announced a Catalan summit on economic recovery scheduled for the 25th of March.

February 11, 2011 11:02 PM

The Catalan Parliament allows the Catalan Government to issue new debt

CNA / Pere Francesch / Gaspar Pericay Coll

The Catalan Government’s initiative received the support of its own group (CiU) as well as votes from the opposition: the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), the Catalan People’s Party (PPC) and the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC). The Catalan Minister for Economy Andreu Mas-Colell explained the details of the legal initiative that was passed via an urgency procedure. The initial amount will be of 2,613 million euros.

February 9, 2011 10:34 PM

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