Society

Catalonia shows commitment to fight climate change. Coinciding with the inauguration of the Barcelona ‘Innovate4Climate’ conference, the Catalan Minister of Territory and Sustainability, Josep Rull, confirmed on Wednesday that the Catalan Parliament will approve a law before summer to fight climate change. In declarations to the press after opening the conference, the minister highlighted that this law “will be the first one in this field in the south of Europe” and that the Catalan government’s aim is to guarantee a "minimum impact" of climate change on people and the environment. Rull also highlighted that it is an "ethical commitment" for companies and administrations to fight climate change, and stressed that is also actually a “profitable business”.

The Spanish Minister of Health, Dolors Montserrat, defended on Wednesday that the current political debate in Catalonia, where the government plans to hold an independence referendum in autumn, does not damage Barcelona's candidacy to host the European Medicines Agency. In comments to the press from Brussels, where she held meetings with the Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis and the Secretary-Generals of the Commission and the Council, Montserrat said that “no one” had raised the issue of independence. “We are the government of all Catalans and we want the EMA in Barcelona. I am strongly convinced that (the independence debate) does not affect this at all. No one has asked me about it,” she insisted. Montserrat said that the Catalan capital is already “ready” to host the 900 EMA staff members at the iconic Torre Agbar building and said that Barcelona “fulfills” all the criteria.

The president of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Arthur Brooks, explained in an interview with the CNA how the impact of an independent Catalonia on the European Union “could in a strange and paradoxical way have the greatest benefit that Europe could imagine”. The renowned American social scientist said that Catalonia, with its entrepreneurial culture, could become “an example” to other countries and have a “resuscitation effect” on a “struggling” Europe. Brooks also stated that “the Catalan independence movement is not populist”. Brooks was invited by the Catalan Council of Public Diplomacy (DIPLOCAT) to give a conference on “Populism and Human Dignity” in Barcelona on May 17.

The Spanish Ministry for Education has requested a “detailed report” on the content of the textbooks used in Catalonia. The petition, processed as a matter of urgency, aims to analyze whether there is “partisan indoctrination” in the Social Studies textbooks used in the 5th and 6th grades of primary school, said the association who complained about it, “Action for the Secondary Education Improvement” (AMES). AMES compared textbooks from seven different publishers used in Catalan schools and concluded that the books emphasize the differences between Catalan and Spanish citizens and minimize their common points. The Secretary of Education Policies in the Catalan Government, Antoni Llobet, expressed the “government's bewilderment” of his government at this unprecedented initiative. Publishers defended their professionalism and described the attacks as “biased and false”.

The new nuclear plants tax, a tax on environmental risk, transport and handling, and safe-keeping of radiotoxic elements will provide 20% of the revenue in the Terres de l’Ebre and Camp de Tarragona, two areas in the south of Catalonia. The two main nuclear plants in Catalonia are in Ascó and Vandellós, both in the southern region. The money will arrive at the beginning of 2018 and the Catalan Government is creating a working group to agree on investment strategies in those zones. The total tax receipts will reach 12 million euros.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) approved on Tuesday a €125 million loan to the Council of Barcelona to build 2,198 affordable houses. The money will help to finance 23 promotions from all over the city and will cover 50% of the projects budget. The rest will be paid through the Council own resources (31%) and other financial sources, including public and private institutions (19%). Gerardo Pisarello, from the Barcelona Council, said that the EIB loan will help the city save up to €45 million in interests, as the financing conditions set by the European Investment Bank are much more favourable than those of other banks. The Council of Barcelona is planning to build 8,800 affordable flats until 2025.

Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, traveled to Lebanon to assess the Catalan cooperation projects which are being carried out there. Indeed, the Government is involved with 17 projects in the country in cooperation with several NGOs, the UN, and the Lebanese authorities. “We want to collaborate in building the necessary response to tackle the crisis in the Mediterranean,” said Romeva and added that “society is demanding” that Catalonia reaffirm its commitment with the refugees. Romeva made these statements after visiting the refugee camp and medical center in Halba, a village located in the Akkar area, next to the Syrian border, where 35% of the population are refugees.

Catalonia will offer a pioneer testing ground for autonomous and connected cars. This Thursday the Catalan Minister of Business and Knowledge, Jordi Baiget, and the Catalan Home Affairs Minister, Jordi Jané, announced the project launch at the Barcelona Automobile congress, currently taking place, from 11 to 21 May in the Fira exhibition center. The ‘Catalonia Living Lab’ project, designed by the Catalan Government, the industry and sector agents, aims to offer vehicle and component manufacturers to conduct tests and validations of this technology on Catalan roads, circuits, and in cities. To begin with, the ‘Catalonia Living Lab” tests areas will include 7 routes of almost 200 km, 7 areas of more than 12 square kilometers, and 3 circuits in different places around the country.

Passengers complained on social media networks on Monday about long queues once more at the Barcelona airport’s passport controls. Sources at the Catalan Department of Territory and Sustainability confirmed a 40–50 minute wait, almost twice as long as normal. The Department claims the delay was due to a lack of police staff. According to the same sources, the situation went back to normal once staff was reinforced. On the other hand, the Spanish police said that this Monday there was more personnel at the passport controls than a week ago and attributed this one time situation to the fact that several flights arrived together in a very short period of time.

The Spanish police has detained three suspected jihadists this Monday morning accused of being part of a DAESH cell in Badalona, Salou, and Tangier. In Catalonia the arrested are two men aged 21 and 32 of Moroccan nationality. In addition, with the collaboration of Morocco's General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DGST) a member of the same cell has also been detained in Tangier. The two arrested in Badalona and Salou were in regular contact with other members in Spain now arrested for belonging to DAESH, and also with important members of this terrorist organization in Syria and Iraq, where, according to Spanish police, they were supposed to go to fight in “jihad” and die as martyrs. 

The Migra Studium foundation calls for the closure of the Zona Franca detention centre and all similar detention centers for immigrants in Spain (CIE) because “they break Spanish immigration law”. The foundation’s annual report on the detention center for immigrants in Barcelona warns of an increase in the number of minors, an important lack of interpreters and that many detainees do not fulfill the requirements to be expelled from the state. The foundation acknowledged the support of the Barcelona city council, which has tried to close the Zona Franca CIE alleging the lack of an activity license. According to Migra Studium these “are good news, because it shows a raising awareness about the severe situation of the detained immigrants”.

Barcelona is one of the cities which has presented a proposal to host the European Medicines Agency, which will have to relocate from London due to Brexit. Moreover, it is the preferred option of its nearly 900 employees, who say they will be happy to relocate here. “This makes our candidature the only one which could guarantee that the essence of the EMA will remain the same, since its employees and therefore the talent will maintain,” explained Catalan Minister for Health, Toni Comín. He was one of the main speakers this Tuesday in London at the presentation of Barcelona’s candidacy to host the EMA. He was accompanied by Spanish Minister for Health, Dolors Montserrat and Barcelona’s deputy mayor, Jaume Collboni, who emphasized that the three levels of administration are “working together” to bring the EMA to the Catalan capital.

Following the advice of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Generalitat has approved a new tax on sugary drinks, “because of the effects these drinks have on people’s health”. “Its principal aim is to encourage a change in consumption habits” as the WHO recommends. The new tax goes into effect this May 1, 2017 and it supposes between 8% and 50% of the product’s final price, according to the trade association AECOC. Nevertheless, consumers will not start noticing the price increase on the first day, but “in a week or 10 days, depending on the bars’ and stores’ stocks,” says the tax office’s secretary, Lluís Salvadó.

The upcoming report from the UN Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances reaffirms the lack of progress in Spain when it comes to historical memory, justice, search and identification of Spanish Civil war and Francoist dictatorship victims. The text, which is to be approved at the next group meeting between May 8 and May 17 in Geneva and officially published in September, confirms that a vast majority of the United Nations’ demands presented to Spain in 2013 “are still pending”. “Regretfully, there have not been any changes,” said the head of the mission to Spain, Ariel Dulitzky, in an interview with CNA. Indeed, the only improvements the UN experts have observed are at the regional level. “In Catalonia we have already seen some advancements, which have continued after our visit. When taking into account the Spanish government’s inactivity, the initiatives at an autonomic level are even more relevant,” underlined Dulitzky in the interview with the Catalan News Agency. Over the last several months, the Generalitat has launched a program of identification and opening of mass graves, and another program on genetic identification of the remains, aimed at helping families find their loved ones.

The number of international tourists which visited Catalonia during the first trimester of 2017 grew by 4% in comparison to the same period last year, totaling 2,988,238. Thus, Catalonia continues to be the second most popular destination for international tourists which visit Spain, after the Canary Islands, which welcomed 3,661,246 visitors during the first three months of 2017. Indeed, one out of four international tourists in Spain went to Catalonia. In March alone, 1,151,664 visitors from across the globe travelled to Catalonia, 7% more than in the same month in 2016. Most of them (22%) came from France whereas 14% came from other countries in Europe.