valencia

The 629 migrants on board the Aquarius are currently en route to Valencia, with support from Italian boats

Two Italian ships will escort the rescue boat to Spain

Spanish president Pedro Sánchez offers to take in stranded ship to avoid humanitarian crisis as Barcelona also makes its port available

València’s celebration of all things pyrotechnic features Trump, Putin, Puigdemont and Rajoy as sculptures to be set on fire on Monday

In this preview for the enormous statues to be set ablaze at the world-famous festival, satirical works on the independence roadmap made an appearance

CaixaBank and Banc Sabadell close 2017 with big turnover, despite crisis between Catalonia and Spain

The Catalan and Valencian governments, together with social and economic representatives, have created a common front to push for the execution of the plan for the Mediterranean Corridor Railway. On Monday, they urged the Spanish Government to change its attitude and undertake pending investments within a “credible timeframe”. In a document presented after the bilateral summit celebrated at Valencia’s Generalitat Palace, the representatives demanded the realisation of the Corridor’s technical configuration and the designation of a Technical Coordinator in order to build a piece of infrastructure that should have a “high capacity” and be “efficient”. The delays in the construction of the infrastructure are affecting private investment: in Catalonia and Valencia pending investments are worth €300 million, according to the Catalan Minister for Planning and Sustainability, Josep Rull.

With a huge advantage in hand (7-0), Barça are hoping to secure a new club record along with booking their place in the Copa del Rey final. The seven-goal lead from the first-leg has allowed the manager to make a few changes, as several youngsters from Barça B and one from the Under-19 team, who had been training with the first team this week, were included in the 18-man squad announced by the coaching staff on Wednesday morning. Barça’s coach, Luis Enrique admits that Wednesday’s game is “a bit strange after the result of the first leg” but is adamant that the team will, as ever, “play to win”.  Regarding the much talked-about chance to surpass Pep Guardiola’s 28-match unbeaten streak, the Asturian said: “Numbers are great as long as they help us towards titles”.

Valencia were supposed to be a tough test, but Luis Enrique’s squad passed with flying colours, squashin Valencia by a score of 7-0 and leaving FC Barcelona's coach a happy man. Luis Suárez's four goals outdid Messi's three and Barça will take towering lead to Mestalla for next week's second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals. The monumental win extends FC Barcelona’s unbeaten streak to a whopping 27 games across all competitions, just one shy of tying the Club’s all-time record. It is also their seventh straight victory at Camp Nou, during which they have scored 30 goals and given up only three. "After the number of games we’ve played recently, to see the team respond with fluidity and confidence is deserving of congratulations,” stated FC Barcelona’s coach, Luis Enrique Martínez. "We have a very important objective — to continue conquering titles and providing enjoyment to the fans," he said.

Catalonia's GDP increased by 3.5% between June 2014 and June 2015 and was the Autonomous Community with the third-highest level of economic growth, leading Spain's economic recovery.  Spain as a whole grew at a 3.1% annual rate in the same period, according to figures released on Thursday by the Spanish Independent Fiscal Authority (Airef). Ahead of Catalonia in terms of GDP growth are the Balearic Islands – with 4% growth – and the Valencian Country (also called Valencian Community) – with growth of 3.9%. They are followed by Catalonia (3.5%), the Canary Islands (3.4%) and the Madrid region (3.2%). According to these figures, the eastern part of Spain has been the most dynamic during the last few months, and Catalonia, which is the wealthiest Autonomous Community and has one of the highest growth rates, is the region contributing the most in absolute terms.

The Institut Ramon Llull (IRL) is a public body in charge of promoting Catalan culture and language abroad. On Thursday, "it expressed optimism for the first time" about a collaboration with the new Governments of Valencia and the Balearic Islands, both led by left-wing coalitions. The Director of the institute, Àlex Susanna, said that, following the May 2015 elections, "positive signs" are emerging but still could not confirm any conclusive agreement. According to him, the new political landscape opens a "great opportunity" to promote the international mobility of artists and intellectuals from Catalan-speaking territories. Asked about the new Head of Barcelona City Council – part of the consortium constituting the institute – Susanna said that he foresees "continuity" with the work of previous local Executives.

FC Barcelona are one win away from taking the 2014/15 La Liga title. Barça's win over Real Sociedad, combined with a Real Madrid's 2–2 draw against Valencia, puts Luis Enrique's men four points ahead of Los Blancos and one victory from the Spanish League title. A win against Atlético Madrid next week would mathematically hand Barça the league championship. FC Barcelona will have two chances to be proclaimed champions. The first will be next Sunday at 7.00pm CET when they take on Atlético at Vicente Calderón. A Barça victory — or a tie combined with a Real Madrid draw or loss — will hand the title to Barça. The second chance, if necessary, comes on Saturday 23 May at Camp Nou against Deportivo La Coruña.

The game itself was just as heavenly, a thrilling end-to-end affair for all 90 minutes, even if the biggest plays of the day — a first-minute Luis Suárez goal, immediately followed by a saved penalty kick by Claudio Bravo, and a record-breaking 400^th career goal by Leo Messi — came at the very beginning and at the very end. While Valencia put forth a back-breaking effort in between, it wasn’t enough to slow down FC Barcelona, which secured a 2–0 victory at Camp Nou. The win keeps Barça two points clear at the top of the Spanish League table.

The People's Party (PP), which runs the Spanish Government and holds an absolute majority in the regional parliament of the Valencian Community (also called Valencian Country), has approved the Law on Identity Signs with votes from party members only. The Law entered into force this Friday. The new regional rule sets what are Valencia's identity symbols and traditions, and also insists on defining Valencian as a totally different language from Catalan, going against all scientific studies and experts. It also foresees sanctions for any organisation which states that Valencian is a dialect of Catalan. During the last few decades, Valencian regionalist politicians – most of whom have a strong Spanish nationalist ideology – have been working on differentiating the Valencian dialect from Catalan spoken in the rest of the territories that have Catalan as their native language. The PP has strongly contributed to this split, politicising the unity of Catalan language and also splitting Valencian society over identity issues.

This year is the 20^th anniversary of the death of Valencian singer Ovidi Montllor who, along with other artists, promoted Catalan music during the Franco dictatorship and the transition years to democracy. Though not well-known internationally, Montllor was an important figure in the Catalan music world and especially in the opposition to the dictatorship. Back then, he started to accompany his poems with music and those of renown Catalan poets like Joan Salvat-Papasseit. For this reason, throughout the year there will be a lot of events and tributes paid to him. One of these tributes is a book to be published in March written by Catalan writer Jordi Tormo made up of photographs, poems and a review of his career.