planeta

Penguin Random House is also following the political situation in Catalonia closely, saying it will evaluate "accordingly"

In 2013, the UNESCO-supported Starlight Foundation granted Montsec Observatory, located in the Catalan Province of Lleida, its own Tourism certification, for having "one of the clearest skies in the world". On 14 March, Montsec's Centre for the Observation of the Universe (COU) reopened its doors for its seventh season. This year its multimedia facility - the Eye of Montsec – has been converted into the first 'Open 3D' planetarium in the world. With a capacity of around 70 people, it is now equipped with highly advanced audiovisual equipment, recreating total-immersion virtual environments. Moreover, thanks to its retractable dome and front wall, viewers can enjoy an uninterrupted view of the sky.

José Manuel Lara Bosch, President and partial owner of the Barcelona-based Grupo Planeta – the world’s largest publisher in Spanish language – died on Saturday in the Catalan capital aged 68, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. His funeral was held on Monday in Barcelona and it brought together top representatives from Catalonia’s and Spain’s political, business, media and cultural worlds. Grupo Planeta owns many publishing houses as well as TV channels, radio stations and newspapers. It also grants each year the biggest prize in Spanish literature. In the late 1960s, Lara Bosch started to hold top positions in the family’s publishing house Planeta, founded by his father. In the 1980s, he was behind the business’ expansion, buying many publishing houses. His brother’s early death in 1995 made him become the group’s ‘number 2’ after his father, who passed away in 2003. In the 1990s and 2000s, Bosch transformed Planeta into a multimedia giant.

The 20^th edition of the Manga Fair is taking place between Thursday 30^th October and Sunday 2^nd November at the Fira de Barcelona's Montjuic exhibition space. The Manga Fair is an annual event that celebrates the popular Japanese anime, bringing together fans from all around the world, through a series of exhibitions and activities in Barcelona. This year, the space has increased to 50,000m², and the opening times will be extended. There will be a variety of special guests attending, including the author Kengo Hanazawa, artist Takeshi Obata from Japan, and Ken Niimura, a Spanish author of Japanese descent. There will also be a number of musicians participating, such as the Japanese pop group Loverin Tamburin. The programme features various exhibitions on Japanese authors and illustrators. On the catering side, the event will feature Michelin-star chefs including Ricardo Sanz and Jordi Roca.

On Wednesday evening, at an award ceremony in Barcelona, the Mexican author won the prestigious literary award the Planeta Prize, with his novel 'Milena o el fémur más bello del mundo' ('Milena, or the most beautiful femur in the world'). The Planeta Prize, now in its 63^rd edition, is an award bestowed on unpublished books in Spanish that are submitted under pseudonyms, and with false titles, in theory to avoid judges being biased by author’s reputations. In the case of the winner, the work was presented under the pseudonym Eduardo Nevado, with the fake title 'Los crímenes del cromosoma XY ('XY chromosome crimes­'). A finalist to the prize, was Barcelona journalist Pilar Eyre, who submitted her work 'Mi color favorito es verte' ('Seeing you is my favourite colour'), under the alias Coral Teide and title 'Se llamaba Sébastien' ('His name was Sébastien').

The novel ‘La vida era eso’ by Carmen Amoraga has won the Nadal Award, in the 70^th anniversary of this literary prize given by Destino publishing house. Albert Villaró with his roman ‘Els ambaixadors’ was awarded the Josep Pla Prize for prose in Catalan, also given by Destino, on the same evening. Amoraga’s book tells the story of a woman who dives into the social networks after the death of her husband. The novel by Villaró invents an alternative outcome of the historical facts that happened in October 1934, when the Catalan President Lluís Companys proclaimed the “Catalan State of the Spanish Federal Republic”.

Through the open dome of the planetarium, visitors can experience ?Music under the Stars?, listening to music as they explore the universe