catalan

On Tuesday the Catalan Council for Constitutional Guarantees (CGE) declared that the Spanish Government decree cutting €3 billion in education does not respect 2 Constitution articles and 5 other articles from Catalonia’s Statute of Autonomy, being thus unconstitutional and going beyond Madrid’s jurisdiction. The Catalan Government following the CGE’s unconstitutionality assessment decided to bring the education decree to the Constitutional Court(TC), as it did last week with Rajoy’s health decree. However, after the Spanish Government threatened to bring approved initiatives from the Catalan Executive to the TC, the Catalan Government decided to modify the decrees through dialogue and bring the decrees to the TC as a last option.

On its 75th anniversary, the company has demonstrated the keys to its success: innovation and the study of the healthy properties of food. The President of the Catalan Government has said that Gallina Blanca is an example of solid-working practices which fight speculation and help to improve the economic situation.

This weekend, 14,500 people rocked at the Palau Sant Jordi, in Montjuïc, in a charity concert that brought together the most famous Catalan singers and bands. Singer songwriter Lluís Llach interpreted a poem with former F.C. Barcelona Manager, Pep Guardiola, who finished with the verse: “Everything is to be done, and everything is possible”. 20 more artists participated in the concert, which turned into a cry against AIDS and for the independence of Catalonia.

Compared to the rest of industrialised countries, Catalonia’s industrial sector improved its competitiveness index by 0.7% between October and December 2011, compared to the same period a year earlier. Catalan industrial prices have been improving their competitiveness since 2009.

How can you reach out and touch the sky with your fingers? Is it better alone or together with others? Ram Devinevi and Cano Rojas give a clear answer to this question in their documentary which shows how three different cultures -the Catalan, the Indian and the Chilean- all with a common aim: to build the highest human constructions. A formidable challenge which can only be achieved thanks to the huge effort of three hundred bodies climbing and the technical guidelines of an experienced coach.

According to the Bank of Spain’s Deputy Governor, the Catalan bank would need an additional amount of €4.5 billion to meet the capital requirements of the last decree approved by the Spanish Government. Before this announcement, the Spanish State had already allocated €2.97 billion to rescue CatalunyaCaixa. Novagalicia would also need €4.5 billion. Combined, these €9 billion are to be added to the €19 billion for Bankia. The Spanish Government refuses to give the total figure required by the entire banking system, as it waits for the independent audit’s results. However, the IMF leaked that Spanish banks might need €40 billion.

The Barcelona-raised sociologist Manuel Castells has received the 2012 Holberg International Memorial Prize in Bergen, Norway. This award is considered to be the equivalent of a Nobel Prize in the field of sociology. The jury considered his book ‘Communication Power’ to be “essential for a new understanding of politics”. Castells holds the Wallis Annenberg Chair at the University of Southern California, he is Research Professor at Catalonia’s distance-learning university (UOC) and Professor Emeritus at the University of California (Berkeley).

The Enramades of Arbúcies, a small town near Girona, is one of the oldest traditional celebrations in Catalonia. Each year this event takes place from June 7th to 13th. However, the most spectacular day is the ‘street flower carpet’ championship, which took place last Sunday. The neighbours from each street (including children, youngsters, adults and elders) all work together in this process.

The multinational chemical company explains that they would invest more money if the Mediterranean Railway Corridor were already a reality. This infrastructure is being delayed by the Spanish Government and it would enable the transportation of freight on international standard width railway from Catalan ports to Central Europe, and vice versa.

La Patum is a historical and immensely popular representation, born and derived from the ancient and medieval theatre performances held during the week of Corpus Christi. It is held in Berga, in Central Catalonia and it has been declared by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. 100,000 people expected at Berga for this Corpus Christi Festival.

Sixty Catalan companies work out of the country and more than 2,400 export to the Argentinean Republic. “The lack of legal certainty in Argentina is not new, […] so the firms that do business […] have learnt to coexist with constant changes in the legislation”, stated AIS Sales Director.

The Catalan company counterbalanced its fall in the Spanish market with benefits from international sales. Foreign market activity contributed 42% of the profit from the first quarter to Gas Natural Fenosa, in contrast to 36.6% in 2011.

PEN International has presented at the Catalan Government’s Palace in Barcelona the Girona Manifesto on Linguistic Rights. Catalonia’s President regretted that the Catalan language still “suffers from the intolerance or belligerence of some bodies of the [Spanish] State”. The manifesto, which had its origins in the World Conference on Linguistic Rights held in Girona in 1996, aims to defend linguistic diversity throughout the world. The Manifesto has already been approved by the PEN General Assembly. The 10 point document has already been translated into 18 languages.

Following the advice of the Catalan Council for Constitutional Guarantees (CGE), the Catalan Executive will appeal the Spanish Government’s decree to save €7 billion in healthcare this year. However, it will continue implementing the decree until a judicial decision is made. According to the CGE, the decree violates 3 Spanish Constitution articles and 3 others from the Catalan Statute of Autonomy. The decree does not guarantee equality among all citizens, since it limits access to public healthcare. In addition, it invades the Catalan Government’s powers. Left-wing Catalan parties were the first to ask for CGE’s opinion, since they consider the new decree violates basic social rights.

There were 630,932 people registered as unemployed with the Catalan Public Employment Service. It is the third consecutive month with an unemployment drop. In Spain, unemployment decreased by 30,113 in May, leaving the total number of people without a job and looking for a new position at 4,714,122. In absolute terms, Catalonia is among the Autonomous Communities where unemployment decreased the most in May.