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Internet Catalunya

95% of Catalan businesses which access the Internet use a broadband connection. This percentage places Catalonia as the top European country in the use of high-speed Internet connections in business-related organizations. This is one of the conclusions of the Catalonia Internet Project (PIC) run by the UOC, financed by the Government and co-directed by the sociologist Manuel Castells, who gave a presentation yesterday.

“Catalonia was not a society which used the internet in 2001. Today it is”, said the sociologist Manuel Castells.

Those who do not use the Internet are largely people over 50 years of age, while people between 15 and 24 years old are regular users of technology (83%), and the percentage is up to 75% among the under 30 crowd.

 

Translation Catalan Online

Website created for translating Galician, Catalan and Spanish | A student from Galicia has created an online translation tool that allows users to convert a document between Galician and Spanish, Catalan and Spanish, Portuguese and Spanish and Catalan and English. What’s more, the translator - located at http://www.traducindote.com - is able to translate documents without having to convert them into another format.

Until now, the translator created by Óscar Hermida, who has just completed a course in Development of IT Applications, would only work with documents in the Open Office format — the open-source software that apes Microsoft Office, with a word processor, spreadsheets and databases.

However, the site now can work with Microsoft Office documents, text files created with Latex (another open-source word processor), and MySQL (a system used to create databases).

Catalonia endorses autonomy plan

Catalonia's president campaigned for a "Yes" vote Catalan voters have backed a new charter to give their region greater independence from Madrid. The results showed 73.9% voted for the autonomy plan and 20.8% against in a referendum on Sunday. But turnout was low, at 49%. Catalonia's regional parliament will now have enhanced powers in taxation and judicial matters. The Catalans will also have nation status within Spain. Catalonia will get more control over airports, ports and immigration. The plan was backed by the Spanish government, Catalonia's ruling Socialists and moderate nationalists - but opposed by both the conservative Popular Party and by leftists who favoured outright independence. But given the low turnout, it is uncertain how strong a mandate the new charter will have, the BBC's Danny Wood in Barcelona reports. 'Greater recognition' Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the people of Catalonia had "spoken clearly" in favour of the charter, which would bring "greater recognition of the identity" of the region. The referendum was the final step in a process which began last September, when Catalonia's parliament approved a new version of the Statute - the document that organises the relationship and the division of political powers between Spain and Catalonia. "I think it is a step forward for the country [Catalonia]," said 28-year-old "Yes" voter Marc Oliva. Other supporters said Catalonia deserved the extra powers in recognition of its large economic contribution - accounting for one-fifth of Spain's economy, even though it is home to less than one-sixth of the population. HAVE YOUR SAY The real question is not 'being a nation within', but more bureaucracy and more taxes Miguel, Madrid But "No" voters said Catalan politicians were playing with fire, and other regions could now demand greater independence. "I don't like the idea of Spain breaking up," said 38-year-old Gabino Escribano. Some critics of the plan have warned that the Basque country, which has suffered from an armed separatist struggle for more than 30 years, may now be encouraged to formulate its own demands. However, observers say the progress of Catalonia's autonomy plan may have influenced the ceasefire announced by the armed Basque separatists Eta earlier this year.

 

 

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Last Sunday's market in Pallafrugell - Costa Brava - Thousands of people doing their weekend shopping .

LOCAL Markets Costa Brava

Sunday-Palafrugell (also fruit and veg., fish and meat every day), L'Escala, St. Feliu de Guixols.
Monday-Torroella de Montgri, Cadaques.
Tuesday-Palamos, Pals, Girona.
Wednesday-Begur. St. Antonio de Calonge, Banyoles.
Thursday-L'Estartit, Figueres, Calonge.
Friday-La Bisbal, Platja d'Aro.
Saturday-Girona, Mont-ras.
1st Saturday of September, in Palafrugell, there is an antique fair.
In Begur, every Thursday during July and August, there is an antique fair.

THE SPANISH ARMADA

• April 2003: Ferrovial, the Spanish construction company, acquires Amey, the British support services group, for £81 million
• November 2004: Abertis Infraestructuras, the listed Spanish infrastructure group, acquires TBI, the Luton airport owner, for £551.2 million
• October 2004: Banco Santander Central Hispano, Spain’s largest bank, takes over Abbey, the British bank, in an £8.9 billion deal
• October 2005: Telefónica, the mobile giant, bids £17.7 billion in cash for O2, to transform itself into the world’s second-biggest player

Costa Brava to India - Catalunya Tourism Set To Explore Indian Market

Reema Sisodia - Mumbai

It is not only countries that are looking at India for tourism business but regions within countries are also hoping to get a bit of tourism traffic from India into their region. One such example is Catalunya tourism that held a road show in the last week of October to showcase the region as a distinct entity in Spain. Recently COPCA (Consortium for Commercial Promotion of Catalonia) along with Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) organised a road show in Mumbai to introduce the region in the area of tourism and trade. The tourism delegation had representatives from the Catalunya trade and hotel industry.

Speaking about the interest in the Indian market, Ignasi de Delas, director of Catalunya Tourism, said, "We are definitely aiming to sell our region in the Indian market as Catalunya, with its capital Barcelona, is one of the most prominent tourism destination of the world. We have more tourists than our population. Selling the destination to honeymooners and film producers is part of our plan."

The Barcelona tourism board also had individual representatives who came in to showcase the city. The Barcelona city mayor and the deputy mayor were also part of the delegation. The conference also emphasised on working out an agreement to start direct flights from India to Barcelona.

uesday, November 22, 2005

Catalunya's Golden Goose - 36 Airlines choose Girona!!!

From a small beginning - three years ago Girona Airport Costa Brava landed 300,000 passengers, with the arrival of RyanAir passenger figures rise every year. The Golden Goose for the Baix Emporda continues to increase trade. with in excess of 4.5 million visitors this year so far. Girona Airport Forcasts 6 million visitors for 2006. Now boasting the following regular services: Adria Airways, Air Europa, Air Exel, Air Malta, Air Polonia, Alitalia, Arcus Air, Britannia, Brittish Midland, City Connect, Croatia Airlines, Dutch Air, European Aviation Air Charter, First Choice Airways, Fischer Air, Futura, Hapag Lloyd, Iberia, Lufthansa, Maersk Air, Monarch Airlines, My Travel, Pskovavia, Ryanair, Sobelair, Spanair, Sterling Airways, Swiss, Thomas Cook Airlines (UK), Titan Airways, Transavia, Travel Services, Ty Rulean Airways, Wizz, Air Hungary, KFT.

Spanish bank BSCH bails out of Bolivia
Spanish banking giant BSCH agreed on Monday to sell its 96% share in the Bolivian Banco Santa Cruz for €31 million to the Banco Mercantil in the wake of the troubles experienced by Spanish energy company Repsol-YPF in that country. The...

Soccer referees' strike still on for next weekend
Although the Spanish football federation had claimed that the threatened referees' strike for next weekend's matches had been called off, the refs' spokesman, Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez, said, "The strike is on and has not been called off, and it is...

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English Speaking Tourists

Three-quarters of all tourists visiting Barcelona elect to stay in a hotel of between 3 and 5 stars in the centre of the city, according to data collected by the Gremio de Hoteles de Barcelona, the city’s hotel guild. Their survey also showed that 26% of all visitors were from either the United Kingdom or the United States.

39.22% of the tourists who made a hotel reservation in the Catalan capital stayed overnight in a 4 star hotel, a percentage which almost matches the percentage of hotels offered in that particular category (43%). Only 2.99% of visitors made reservations to stay in a hotel with 5 stars whilst 33.17% opted to stay in a 3 star hotel.

The data, collected through the barcelonahoteles.es web portal, showed that people travelling from the United Kingdom or the USA formed the largest grouping to make hotel reservations (26%), close to the percentage of Spanish tourists to do so (26.27%). Visitors from Germany made up 5.93% of all reservations; France 3.91%; Holland 2.87%; and Belgium 1.71%. Travellers from as far afield as Nepal, Vietnam, Trinidad & Tobago, Moldavia and the Fiji Islands also made a reservation within a Barcelona hotel.

63% of all visitors preferred to stay close to the city centre, against 15% who sought accommodation in the Llobregat area, 20% in Besós and 1% who stayed in a hotel in the Barcelona metropolitan area. Almost 71% of visitors to Barcelona who made an official reservation through the Gremio de Hoteles de Barcelona website made a reservation with a double room.

15.01% asked for a single room, 5.59% for a double room for a single person, and 8.61% for a three person group. The barcelonahotels.es website offers accommodation provided by almost 350 establishments associated with the Gremio de Hoteles de Barcelona.

Help at hand

Clara Reinicke and Santi Navarrete, originally from Bilbao, came to Calonge in 1985. Clara, who is half German and half Spanish, worked several years for an international company through which she met many visitors who wanted to settle in Catalonia. Clara and Santi founded “Al Vent” in 1997 to provide foreign residents with an all round service and a meeting point. Many foreign residents only spend part of the year in the region and amongst the services Al Vent provides is looking after properties while the owners are away. This starts with a basic cleaning contract but it can also include looking after swimming pools, house inspection and ventilation, all types of repairs and garden maintenance. Often foreigners need relocation services; Al Vent assists in providing insurances, translations and administrative services such as obtaining residency papers, car import documents, national health, etc. Clara speaks Spanish, Catalan, German, English and French. If you drop into Al Vent´s office, you will receive a warm welcome.
Al Vent, Av. Catalunya, 19 – Ed. Puig Sapera, 17252 Sant Antoni de Calonge.
Tel/Fax: 972 65 21 19, alvent@encomix.es

16 Million pounds for La Manzana

The most expensive property in Spain

If the Great Gatsby were house hunting in Spain today, he would probably buy Casa La Manzana in Sotogrande, at the western tip of the Costa del Sol.

On the market for EUR 24 million (GBP 16.5 million), it's the priciest place in the country.

source Expatica