Barcelona based Galeria Mayoral at the Hong Kong's edition of Art Basel

From http://www.galeriamayoral.com/en/Fires/Basel%20Hong%20Kong/21/ (in English)

Barcelona-based Galeria Mayoral is attending the Hong Kong's edition of Art Basel, where there will be on display the highest quality of paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, photographs, video and artworks from the 20th and 21st centuries, by more than 2,000 artists from Asia and around the globe. Galeria Mayoral is going to display a Solo Show Miró, based on the works of renowned Catalan painter Joan Miró.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="414"] Personnages et oiseaux, by Joan Miró (Image from Art Basel website)[/caption]

Girona's restaurant El Celler de Can Roca awarded as best restaurant in the world

[caption id="attachment_2919" align="aligncenter" width="283"] Jordi, Joan and Josep Roca, World's Best Restaurant in 2013 (image from El Celler de Can Roca website)[/caption]

After two consecutive years in the #2 position, as Girona residents we are proud to share the news that the local restaurant El Celler de Can Roca has achieved the top position in the 2013 edition of the competition The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, organized by the British food magazine Restaurant and sponsored by San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna. Congratulations for such an outstanding achievement!

Here's a sample of the pictures of our visit to the restaurant in July 2011.

[caption id="attachment_2157" align="aligncenter" width="300"] El Celler de Can Roca[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2160" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Josep Roca displaying his wine sanctuary in El Celler de Can Roca[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2158" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Sampling the dishes of El Celler de Can Roca[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2159" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Sampling the dishes of El Celler de Can Roca[/caption]

 

El Celler de Can Roca
Can Sunyer 48
17007 Girona
Phone number: +34 972 22 21 57
E-mail: restaurant@cellercanroca.com


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Published booklet about the Chinese shop owners in Barcelona

From http://www.comercnouvinguts.pimec.org/ca/productes/72/colleccio--i-nosaltres-tambe-fem-ciutat-i-/llistat/els-comerciants-xinesos-de-barcelona (in Catalan)

PIMEC, the association grouping the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and also the self-employed workers of Catalonia, has launched a project for the city of Barcelona called "Nosaltres també fem ciutat" ("We also contribute to the city") that has the goal of improving the integration of the foreign shop owners into the city's commercial network. One of the documents that has recently been released is the booklet "Els comerciants xinesos de Barcelona" ("Barcelona's Chinese shop owners"), which emphasizes their entrepreneurial capacity and their hard-working attitude. The document can be downloaded as a pd file from the link http://www.webmini.cat/repositori/documents/productes/ca/webmini-not103-uy19kg.pdf or read it down here in its embedded form.

Tous expects to return to China and outnumber 450 stores by 2013

From http://www.flytobarcelona.org/?p=7460 (in English)

Rosa Tous announced that the return of Catalan jewellery Tous to China could take place this year. Three years ago, the company closed all stores in China had after breaking the contract with their local partner. Since then, the Manresa-based company has been looking for another group to return to the Asian giant. “We must be very careful in choosing our partner, but when we find it, we will come into the market in China with force,” she said. Tous jewellery chain is accelerating its international expansion and plans to open 40 stores in 2013, compared to the 30 jewellery stores it opened last year. The director of corporate relations for the company said yesterday that the openings will focus on markets where the chain already has a presence, with the aim of consolidating the brand.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Tous jewellery shop in L'Illa shopping mall in Barcelona (image from Tous Wikipedia entry)[/caption]

Industrias Químicas del Vallés to open subsidiaries in China and the United States

From http://www.flytobarcelona.org/?p=7358 (in English)

Catalan company Industrias Químicas del Vallés (IQV) announced the launch of two new subsidiaries in Valdosta, Georgia (United States) and Beijing (China) to augment its organizational structure abroad and continue increasing exports. These new subsidiaries will strengthen its presence in two of the world's main markets for phytosanitary products, doubling exports to those countries and reinforcing the company's commitment to international expansion. Based in Mollet del Vallès (Barcelona province), Industrias Químicas del Vallés already exports more than 50% of its production. Industrias Químicas del Vallés is investing in the United States and China in order to obtain the necessary authorization to market other products from its catalogue. These new openings are in addition to the subsidiaries the company already has in Spain, Italy and Portugal; local partnerships in Greece; and the 55 countries where Industrias Químicas del Vallés markets its products.

Sinalunya mentioned in Catalan weekly magazine Presència

On Sunday, March 17th 2011, our blog was highlighted for the second time on the internet pages of the Catalan weekly magazine Presència, thanks to the recent interview by the Catalan News Agency. We would like to thank them for including Sinalunya again in their section.

[caption id="attachment_2055" align="alignleft" width="174"] Cover of Presència 17 March 2013[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2054" align="alignleft" width="174"] Sinalunya - Presència 17 March 2013[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2056" align="alignleft" width="300"] Detail of the Sinalunya piece - Presència 17 March 2013[/caption]

 

Sinalunya featured in some Catalan media

Links:

• http://www.acn.cat/acn/704605/Noticia/text/Noticia.html


• http://www.vilaweb.cat/noticia/4090748/20130303/sinalunya-projecte-multidisciplinari-potenciar-relacions-xina-taiwan-singapur-catalunya.html


• http://www.lavanguardia.com/encatala/20130303/54367958384/sinalunya-un-projecte-multidisciplinari-per-potenciar-les-relacions-entre-xina-taiwan-singapur-i.html

Recently our project has been featured in some Catalan media, thanks to the journalist of the Catalan News Agency, Nerea Guisasola, who interviewed us a couple of weeks ago. The news has written text and a picture, but also a piece of audio was featured on the radio. We would like to thank her for helping us to spread the word of what we would like to do and also for writing about our project in such an enthusiastic way.

[caption id="attachment_2034" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Sinalunya team: Chia-Chi Liao and Lluís Sala[/caption]

 

Catalan meat processing industry Càrniques Juià aims at Chinese market

From http://www.elpuntavui.cat/noticia/article/4-economia/18-economia/619600-carniques-juia-construeix-un-nou-magatzem-frigorific.html (in Catalan)

Càrniques Juià is a 27-year old company processing pork meat based in the town of Juià (Girona province), located some 50km from the French border and some 100km from important maritime shipping docks. Their total sales reached 500 million € in 2012 and they export 80% of the 11,000 pigs they annually process. Despite already selling their meat products to Eastern Asian markets such as Southern Korea and Japan, Càrniques Juià has invested 16.5 million € to enlarge their facilities and increase their exports to China, Australia and New Zealand.

Desigual opens two new shops in Malaysia

Frm http://www.icex.es/icex/cda/controller/pageICEX/0,6558,5518394_5519005_6366453_4644994,00.html (in Spanish)

Catalan clothing company Desigual has just opened two concept stores in the international airport of Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia. As usual, Desigual shops offer colorful clothes and accessories and with innovative designs of graffiti and patchwork. Every season Desigual presents a collaboration around a specific concept and this year it is the turn of the Cirque du Soleil and the French designer Christian Lacroix. With these new shops, Desigual products are already available in more than 80 countries.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Image from the Desigual blog[/caption]

 

 

Ficosa reorganizes its activity in China after deal with Canadian company

From http://www.expansion.com/2012/12/04/catalunya/1354636661.html (in Spanish) and http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2012/12/04/509418/10014509/en/SMTC-and-FICOSA-Announce-Strategic-Arrangement.html (in English)

SMTC Corporation, a Canadian global electronics manufacturing services provider, and Ficosa International S.A., a global leader in automotive systems and parts, have signed a strategic manufacturing agreement. Founded in 1949, Ficosa has its headquarters in Barcelona and has an operating presence in 19 other countries across the globe. Under this agreement, Ficosa will transition the manufacturing of selected programs to SMTC's Suzhou plant in China, including production engineering, system integration and logistic services, among others. The Catalan company will benefit from SMTC experience in the control services of the supply chain, whereas SMTC is expected to grow as provider of  automotive industry.

 

Catalan exports increase by 7.4% in the first semester of 2012

From http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/business/catalan-exports-increase-74-first-half-year (in English)

Foreign exports by Catalan companies reached €5.13 billion in June, a 6.6% increase compared to June 2011. This figure adds to those of the previous 5 months to reach a total of €29.14 billion, a 7.4% increase compared to the first semester of 2011. The main exporting sectors in Catalonia in June 2012 were chemical manufacturing with €1.32 billion (a 5.3% increase over June 2011), consumer goods with €940 million (a 7.7% increase over June 2011) and the automotive sector with about €880 million. The latter has seen the biggest change in June with an increase of 22.3% over June 2011. For Spain, the increase in June was of 5.1%, with a turnover of €19 billion this June. Catalonia contributed €5.13 billion to the Spanish total, representing 27% of the overall amount.

Prices stagnate in Catalonia over July 2012

From http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/business/prices-catalonia-stagnate-july-increase-26-compared-year-ago (in English)

Prices in Catalonia stagnated (no variation) over the month of July compared to the previous month. Compared to July 2011, they increased by 2.6%, whereas the last 12-month comparison (June 2011 to 2012) showed an increase by 2.2%. This annual inflation rate registered in Catalonia in July was the highest this year, despite the heavy recession environment. For the Catalan provinces, the prices in Barcelona also stagnated, with a 12-month increase of 2.6%; in Girona they increased by 0.2%, with a 12-month increase of 2.3%; in Tarragona prices increased by 0.5%, with a 12-month increase of 2.5%; and in Lleida they decreased by 0.1%, with a 12-month increase of 2.8%. For the whole of Spain, the annual inflation rate at the end of July was 2.2%.

Taiwanese company Toro chooses Barcelona as site for its European headquarters

From http://www.europapress.cat/economia/noticia-fira-taiwanesa-toro-escull-barcelona-per-installar-seva-seu-europea-atreta-per-mwcapital-20120731114842.html (in Catalan)

Taiwanese company Toro Development Limited, specialized in the development of digital wallet platforms and mWallet, will establish its new operation and R&D office in Barcelona in 2013. These offices will be located in the city's Mobile World Hub and they will directly serve the European market and also create international exchange opportunities for company employees. The company has started the selection process of 10 engineers from the Barcelona area, who will immediately travel to Taiwan to complete the training before taking their new responsabilities. Agustín Cordón, vicepresident of the Mobile World Capital’s Executive Committee, said that “Toro is undoubtedly one of the world’s leaders in NFC solutions and will play a decisive role in our mWallet program" and also that "Toro has extensive experience in the transformation of mobile devices into mobile wallets so we are very happy to have them onboard and are already looking forward to jointly develop new solutions in this field.”

Catalan man honored in China after baby rescue

From http://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20120519/54295500296/catalan-buen-samaritano-salvar-nino-china.html (in Spanish) and http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2012-05/19/content_15335867.htm (in English)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="270" caption="Josep Solà-Niubo and Tang Shanlu with the boy they saved and his mother in Changshu, Jiangsu province (Image from China Daily website)"][/caption]

Catalan Josep Solà-Niubó has been honored in Changshu (常熟), a city in East China‘s Jiangsu (江苏) province, after saving the life of a 2-year-old boy. He and another man, a young Chinese named Tang Shanlu, heard the mother's boy scream and saw the baby floating face down in a pond. Tang Shanlu rescued the baby from the pond and Josep Solà-Niubó, who knows how to perform first aid, immediately began giving the boy cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Because of this fact, Josep Solà-Niubó has been deemed "good Samaritan" in Changshu and  has also been awarded 2,000 yuan ($316) by the Changshu Foundation for Justice and Courage. According to Shen Jingxue, director of the Changshu Foundation for Justice and Courage, Josep Solà-Niubó is the first foreigner to receive this distinction since 1994, when they started to award people in Changshu who made great efforts or had extraordinary achievements to help others.

Catalan bank "La Caixa" publishes booklet for Chinese immigrants in Spain

From http://obrasocial.lacaixa.es/StaticFiles/StaticFiles/0df7346e60c50210VgnVCM200000128cf10aRCRD/ca/Guia_xino.pdf (in Chinese)

As one of their welfare projects, "La Caixa" Foundation has published a booklet addressed at the Chinese immigrants and residents in Spain. The booklet, entitled "这里是一个怎么样的国家?" ("What does this country look like?"), contains all kind of useful information for the Chinese people that have chosen Spain as their country to live, like information about legal affairs, residence, work, health and education, among others. This booklet is also available in Spanish, English, Russian, Romanian and Urdu, and as a pdf file it can be downloaded from La Caixa Foundation website in French, Arab, Russian, Romanian and Spanish, apart from the above mentioned Chinese.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="375" caption="这里是一个怎么样的国家?"][/caption]

El Celler de Can Roca awarded as second best restaurant in the world for second consecutive year

From http://www.theworlds50best.com/awards/1-50-winners/el-celler-de-can-roca/ (in English)


[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="461"] The Roca brothers, owners of El Celler de Can Roca (image from the restaurant's website)[/caption]

Girona-based restaurant El Celler de Can Roca has maintained the #2 position already achieved last year in the ranking of best restaurants in the world, according to the website The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. With this distinction, the Catalan family-run restaurant, that also has three Michelin stars, remains on the elite of world's gastronomy. El Celler de Can Roca has been ranked right after restaurant Noma, from Denmark, which has remained on top of the list for third consecutive year.

Last year we were fortunate enough to taste their exquisite creations. Here there is a sample of what we were offered :-)

[gallery columns="4"]

 

Beijing Foreign Studies University will teach Catalan language

From http://www.diaridegirona.cat/espanya-internacional/2012/03/09/universitat-xinesa-ensenyara-catala-partir-lany-vinent/551272.html (in Catalan)

The Beijing Foreign Studies University has announced an agreement with the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in order to start teaching Catalan language and culture in 2013, as part of the 4-year degree on Spanish Studies. This will be the first experience of its kind in a Chinese university.

Chinese Catalans, portrait of an emerging and entrepreneurial minority

From http://www.presencia.cat/index.php?Itemid=1080 (in Catalan)

[caption id="attachment_1316" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Cover of Presència 12 February 2012"][/caption]

Catalan weekly magazine Presència has devoted the main report of its last edition to the Chinese community living in Catalonia. The title of the report is "Chinese Catalans, portrait of an emerging and entrepreneurial minority" and it explains what is the situation of the growing Chinese population in Catalonia. Chinese immigrants are the fifth most numerous minority (around 50,000 inhabitants), after the Moroccans, Romanians, Ecuadorians and Bolivians, and they mostly live in the Barcelona metropolitan area. Out of those 50,000 inhabitants, some 8,000 are entrepreneurs, the highest percentage among any other group, including the natives.  The report also includes interviews with Jia Jia Wang, owner of Jia Jia Ediciones, a publishing company she created in order to help teach Chinese language to local children. Other interviews are those of Zheng Lingteng and Ma Yinping, teachers of Chinese at the Girona-based language school, Nipponia, and Lam Chuen Ping, president of the Association of Chinese Entrepreneurs of Catalonia. The scans of the report can be seen on the Sinalunya Flickr site.

Discouraging news for Catalan economy

From http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/politics/unemployment-rate-catalonia-reaches-205-end-2011 and http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/business/spanair-calls-voluntary-bankruptcy-and-prepares-mass-layoff-its-2065-workers (in English)

Last week was a sad one for Catalan economy, since two terrible news were announced. The first one was about the latest unemployment figures, which  kept raising until 20.5% by the end of 2011. These numbers were still slightly below the Spanish average rate of 22.85%, an absolute record value. The second one was about the call of voluntary bankruptcy filed by Catalan airline Spanair, laying off 2,065 workers and making the 140 million € invested by Catalan government a useless effort.

Celebrations of Chinese New Year in Barcelona

From http://www.casaasia.cat/actividad/detalle?id=205220 (in Catalan)

Celebrations of Chinese New Year in Barcelona will be held from 27-29 January 2012 at the Moll de la Fusta, organized by the Union of Chinese Associations of Catalonia, the Barcelona City Council and Casa Àsia, among others. This year's events will include tastings of Catalan and Chinese gastronomy, and dance and martial arts exhibitions. The complete program can be downloaded as pdf on Casa Àsia website.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Chinese New Year 2012 in Barcelona - Image from Casa Àsia website"][/caption]