Thursday, May 5, 2011

Slight decrease of unemployment in Catalonia in April

From http://www.expansion.com/2011/05/04/catalunya/1304506796.html (in Spanish)

Unemployment rate in Catalonia decreased by 1.59% in April as compared with the previous month due to the fact that 9.728 people found a job in this period. The main decrease happened in the Girona province (5.24%), followed by Tarragona (3.51%), Lleida (1.15%) and Barcelona (0.86%). Total number of unemployed people in Catalonia is 601.541, of which 54.064 are below 25 years old.

Singapore Airlines refuses to become a Spanair stockholder

From http://www.expansion.com/2011/05/04/catalunya/1304492852.html (in Spanish)

Swee Wah Mak, Executive Vice President of Commercial at Singapore Airlines Ltd., has denied that rumours that were indicating that Singapore Arlines might become a stockholder of the Star Alliance member, Spanair. Singapore Arlines will remain as a commercial partner of Spanair and values the opportunity that Barcelona airport of El Prat offers as an alternative hub to the Madrid Barajas airport for flights to South America. Sales of Singapore Arlines in 2010 totalled 7.2 billion euros and the net profit reached 122 million euros.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Second Spanish-Chinese Water Forum held in Nanjing

From http://www.marm.es/es/prensa/ultimas-noticias/notas-de-prensa-din.aspx?tcm=tcm:7-155979-16 (in Spanish)

The Spanish Secretary of State for the Rural Environment and Water, Josep Puxeu, has opened the Second Spanish-Chinese Water Forum held in Nanjing, China, together with Vice Minister of Ministry of Water Resources, Hu Siyi. During his speech, Josep Puxeu has claimed the importance of the collaboration between the two countries in the water sector, both a the private and the public levels. Both goverments are willing to cooperate on technology transfer and on integrated resources water management, as well as on wastewater treatment, water reclamation and reuse and desalination. Other agreements were the establishment of a cooperation link between the Júcar and Liao river basins and the organization of the Spanish-Chinese Water Forum every two years.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Spanish-Chinese Water Forum (Image source: http://www.mwr.gov.cn)"]Spanish-Chinese Water Forum (Image source: http://www.mwr.gov.cn)[/caption]

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

University of Girona explains Catalan touristic development in China

From http://www.udg.edu/Noticiesiagenda/Reculldenoticies/tabid/2575/language/ca-ES/Default.aspx?p=19398 (in Catalan)

Professor Lluís Mundet, Dean of the Faculty of Tourism of the University of Girona, has recently visited China to explain the pattern of touristic development in Catalonia, most specifically the one in the Costa Brava, in the Girona province. He held meetings about these issues with the direction team at the School of History and Culture (Tourism) of the Sichuan University in Chengdu. He also promoted the degree and master courses offered by the University of Girona related to touristic activities, such as the European Master in Tourism Management, the Master in Cultural Tourism and the Master in Tourism Management and Planning. After the willingness of Zhangzhou city council to recreate the village of Cadaqués in the Xiamen bay, the touristic development in Costa Brava may become another point of interest by Chinese tourism promoters.

[caption id="attachment_510" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Cala Boadella, Lloret de Mar, Costa Brava"]Cala Boadella, Lloret de Mar, Costa Brava[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_512" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="View of Cadaqués, Costa Brava"]View of Cadaqués, Costa Brava[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_511" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="View of Roses Bay from Sant Salvador de Rodes, Costa Brava"]View of Roses Bay from Sant Salvador de Rodes, Costa Brava[/caption]

Sinalunya highlighted in Catalan weekly magazine Presència

On Sunday, May 1st 2011, this blog was highlighted on the internet pages of the Catalan weekly magazine Presència. We would like to thank them for considering that Sinalunya.com was interesting enough for this section.

[caption id="attachment_501" align="alignleft" width="218" caption="Presència, front page 1 May 2011"]Presència, front page 1 May 2011[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_502" align="alignleft" width="218" caption="Presència, internet pages, 1 May 2011"]Presència, internet pages, 1 May 2011[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_503" align="alignleft" width="236" caption="Detail of the comment on Sinalunya.com, Presència, 1 May 2011"]Detail of the comment on Sinalunya.com, Presència, 1 May 2011[/caption]

China economy grows 9.7% in first quarter of 2011

From http://cmp.hku.hk/newswire/#2eb0c94b16718b2c1d9b14cc054037fe (in English)

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's economy grew almost in the double-digit range -9.7%- during the first quarter of 2011.

Monday, May 2, 2011

China, main import and export destination for traffic through Barcelona port

From http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/business/container-traffic-passing-through-barcelona-port-increases-23-between-january-and-marc (in English)

Despite the increase in traffic to some destinations such as North Africa or Turkey, China has remained as the main import and export destination of traffic through Barcelona port. According to the Barcelona Port Authority, between January and March 2011 overall container traffic has experienced a 23% increase during this period, totalling 538,700 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units).