This year’s ‘Grec ‘Festival offers 68 plays, dancing, music and circus performances from July 1st to the 31st, 30 of them from international artists. Ramón Simó, the new director of the event, considers that this year’s Grec is more international, contemporany and multidisciplinary than ever before and its objective is to bring to Barcelona the best shows from Europe and the world.
The Summer X Games are expected to bring 140,000 people and generate an income of €70 million. The world’s most important action sports event, arranged by the U.S. sports broadcaster ESPN and ABC network, will be held in Catalonia’s capital between 2013 and 2015. Barcelona will host the Summer X Games, together with 5 other cities worldwide. The Summer X Games have championships in skateboarding, motocross, car rally and BMX.
In an international conference taking place in Barcelona of Ombudsmen from Europe, America and Africa, the Catalan Ombudsman, Rafael Ribó, has warned that the institution has “less influence”. Furthermore, in some areas of Europe there is a threat that they will “disappear”. The Ombudsmen have been discussing their role in the face of the privatisation of basic services. The conference has been organised with the ‘Cercle d’Economia’, which is mainly an economic forum, open to businesspeople, academics and economic professionals.
In the current times of crisis within the real state market, money from Russian tourists is particularly noticeable. Rich Russian citizens come to Tarragona’s Costa Daurada to buy houses close to the seashore. Their search is on for "exclusive homes'' with attached land to use them as summer houses or as a base to permanently relocate to. When not using the house, they may rent them.
The OBS performs a repertoire of Italian Baroque music. The concert was held at Santa Maria’s Cathedral, in La Seu d’Urgell, in the Western Catalan Pyrenees, next to Andorra.
The neighbourhood of Gràcia launches into its week long festival, with its famous decorations occupying streets and squares throughout the area. The CNA talked to residents of Carrer de Progrés about their 'Intergalactic' themed street.
There has been a 400% increase in attendance of official Barça summer schools (FCB Camp) with respect to last year. More than 18,000 children are enjoying the summer camps organised by FC Barcelona.
This year’s festival is dedicated to the Catalan rumba with the legend Peret and the band Sabor de Gràcia. Other artists, coming from 10 different countries, are: Irish accordionist Sharon Shannon, Algerian singer Neila Benbey, Blue, Nácara or 17 Hippies. The festival hopes to congregate 35,000 visitors between July 15th and 17th.
László T?kés, from the Hungarian minority in Romania and member of the European People’s Party, supports the “linguistic rights” of minorities in front of a European Union “sometimes too ignorant”. “I don’t like integration being replaced by assimilation”, he stated.
The Costa Brava received 6,5 million visitors in 2009. According to latest estimations of Costa Brava Tourism Council, up to 3 million tourists stayed at coastal apartments. The Costa Brava brand is currently the second most recognised destination for foreign tourists, just beaten by Barcelona.
A product labelled only in Estonian could be sold in Catalonia, but not a product labelled only in Catalan. The new rule authorises the Spanish Government to force all products in Spain to be labelled in at least one official language of the EU, and therefore ban products only labelled in Catalan from being sold within Catalonia. The new European rule aims to authorise Member States to prevent products from being labelled only in a non EU language, such as Chinese or Arabic, but it has consequences at local level. Three Catalan MEPs pushed for an amendment, but it was rejected.
This year’s the ‘Festival Grec’ pays special attention to French theatre and dance, both large productions and smaller innovative shows. It brings together both international and local productions, and includes theatre, dance, music and other stage arts. The festival begun on June 17th and will last until the end of July.
‘Blue flags’ recognise clean beaches, with quality services, and are awarded at international level by the Foundation for Environmental Education and the United Nations agencies for Tourism and the Environment. In Catalonia 83.42 kilometres of its beaches have been awarded a blue flag.
The measure is a reaction to the large number of people, many of them tourists, who in the summer months only wear swim suits across the city or walk with their naked torso, even in the underground. The area next to the more than 5 kilometres of beaches is excluded from the ban, although complete nudity will also be banned. Four weeks before the municipal elections, the two main parties at Barcelona City Council have agreed on the measures.
A Catalan company offers daily delivery of healthy and fresh vegetables harvested from the orchards to the big cities of Barcelona and Madrid. The family Barrabeig and Barraquer has found a niche market in the agricultural sector.