Penedès News in English

Penedès is not only white wine and fabulous cava, but also four comarques (Alt Penedès, Anoia, Baix Penedès and Garraf) west of Barcelona which historically were united in one administrative unit – a vegueria. Here is a summary of local news from this area, for the period February 1-7, 2010, starting with the Penedès as a whole, and then split by comarca.

Penedès

The Catalan tripartit government makes a proposition to create seven vegueries, which means that Penedès will be split between Barcelona (Alt Penedès and Garraf), Central Catalonia (Anoia) and the so called Camp de Tarragona (Baix Penedès). (LaVanguardia) (Avui) (DdV) (ElPunt)

The CiU, PP and CUP opposition, respectively criticize the proposition for not being in line with the desire of the territory. The platform for a Vegueria Penedès pinpoints ERC as the party responsible for this “treason”. ERC maintains that the reform is a first step and that Penedès will be united during the next Catalan legislature. (LaVanguardia) (Avui) (VD) (Avui) (PD)

A protest against the government’s decision on vegueries for last Saturday was anounced via Facebook by an anonymous person, but in Vilanova i la Geltrú the plaça de la Vila was empty and in Vilafranca del Penedès only some 20 people from the Penedès platform turned up. (ElPunt) (EW)

The Penedès roller hockey derby between Proinosa Igualada and Vilanova ends 5-5. (ElPunt) (VD)

The new strategic plan of the foundation Pro Penedès will, for the first time, include Anoia and Garraf. (3de8)

Garraf

Sitges expects to host over 300.000 people during some of the carnival evenings and a helicopter will be contracted to monitor safety and order from above. To accommodate all participants and spectators, l’Arribo (Friday) and l’Enterro (Ash Wednesday) will be celebrated at the remodelled beach Sant Sebastià, and the route of the parades Rua de Disbauxa (Saturday) and Rua d’Extermini (Tuesday) will be extended to the avinguda Sofia and C/ mossèn Llopis Pis. (Avui) (ElPunt)

“I have a dream” – an exhibition where artists make their reflections on Martin Luther King and commissioned by Sitges in order to build its international brand, has, after a tour through the USA, now opened at the edifici Miramar. (VD)

The PSC government of Sitges defends that renovation plans for the museums Maricel, Can Rocamora and Cau Ferrat do not violate the architectonic protection of the buildings. (ElPunt)

The ajuntament of Vilanova i la Geltrú makes more and more pavements handicap friendly. (VD)

A real estate agent in Vilanova takes the Generalitat to court for a 400 € fine which he has received for not providing signs in Catalan on his sales office. (LaVanguardia) (Avui)

The construction works of a new Mercadona supermarket at Les Salines of Cubelles have started. (DdV)

Alt Penedès

In Vilafranca del Penedès, the construction works to transform the road C-15 into motorway have now started. (ElPunt)

Gelida launches a new tourism brand: "Gelida – has de pujar-hi" ("Gelida – You have to come up here" - my translation). (3de8)

Singer Cesk Freixas from Sant Pere de Riubitllets presents his new album La mà dels qui t’esperen. (PD) (ElPunt)

Baix Penedès

The PSC opposition of el Vendrell criticizes that the ajuntament has an outdated web page although the CiU government seven months ago informed that a new one was about to be finalized. (PD)

Fàtima Ghailan, the cultural mediator of Cunit, has been hospitalized for anxiety and stomach ache as a result of her argument with an imam for not wearing a veil. (3de8)

A new telecommunications mast in Cunit will improve the reception of digital TV (TDT) and broadband in rural areas. (PD)

Spanish state funds will be invested in improvements of the fresh water network and street lighting in Segur de Calafell. (ElPunt)

The roller hockey club CP Calafell wins the tournament IV Copa del Prìncep, beating San Antonio from Pamplona 5-4. (3de8)

Anoia

The association TIC Anoia - open for businesses and professionals - celebrates its first birthday. (AD)

The Unió de Pagesos has organized a tractor manifestation at Calaf, disturbing the traffic as a protest against imported agricultural produce. (AD)

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My objective with these summaries is to, in English, present news which might be of interest to expats living in anyone of the municipalities covered, but I do not claim that local news from, for example, Vilanova, automatically are of interest to the inhabitants of the other towns of Penedès.

The idea behind the format is to present all items as extended headlines, with a focus onwhat, who and where. Readers who want more facts, like the hows and whys, will have to follow the link to the source articles. The answers to when will be the time period stated in the opening paragraph.

The main sources are AnoiaDiari·cat, Avui, Penedès Digital, El Punt, El 3 de Vuit,LaVanguardia and Vilanova Digital.

L’Extra - the only news service which treats the Penedès as a united entity – and our local newspaper Diari de Vilanova, serve as inspiration, but are usually not presented as sources since their digital formats either are incomplete or do not allow you to link to individual articles.

The signature EW signals that I am personally the source of information. Any opinions expressed are my own. Earlier editions can be found under the blog label Penedès News.

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