Thursday 4 March 2010

Penedès News in English

Penedès is rivalry, at least in roller hockey since four of the teams in the Spanish top league – OK Lliga – come from here. But it is also unity – four comarques (Alt Penedès, Anoia, Baix Penedès and Garraf) west of Barcelona which historically belonged to one and the same vegueria. Here is a summary of local news from this area, for the period February 24 to March 3, 2010, starting with Penedès as a whole, and then split by comarca.

Penedès

A new bus line between Vilanova i la Geltrú and Vilafranca del Penedès will result in a 60% increase in the capacity of public transport between the towns, and up to 14 daily connections. (ElPunt)

The socialists (PSC) of Alt Penedès and Garraf consider that it is time for these two comarques to reinforce their cooperation within the vegueria Barcelona, where they now belong. (PD) (VD)

During its general assembly, the Institute of Penedès Studies (IES) presented the news service l’Extra, to the Foment Vilanoví and to the Centre de Recursos Pedagògics d’Alt Penedès with “medals of honour”, either for their co-operation with IES, or for their commitment to the Penedès. (Extra)

After “for technical problems” having failed a fusion with Caixa Laietana, Caixa Penedès now announces that it will opt for a less far-reaching “virtual fusion” (SIP – Sistema Institucional de Protecció) with an entity based outside Catalunya. (Avui)

CP Vilanova beat Noia Freixenet 4-2 in a Penedès derby of OK lliga in roller hockey. (ElPunt) (VD)

A train break down caused a half-hour delay on the line Rodalies R2 South, connecting Baix Penedès and Garraf with Barcelona. (LaVanguardia)

Garraf

There are now over 12.000 unemployed people in Garraf. With an unemployment rate of 10,3%, Sitges is the only town clearly below the average of 15,9%. (DdV)

The 250 inhabitants of the comarca Garraf who were tortured or illegally detained during the Franco dictatorship, were officially recognized in a ceremony held in Vilanova. (ElPunt)

The Generalitat approved the incentive based bonuses which the PSC government of Sitges will introduce for some civil servants in leading positions. (ElPunt)

The government of Sitges has decided to increase taxes related to graveyard services and entrance fees at the municipal swimming pool. (DdV)

The local police of Sant Pere de Ribes have started a 14 days drive to improve how people take care of their dogs in public places. (ElPunt)

The Vilanova i la Geltrú based real estate agency Nevot, which challenges the Generalitat over a fine for not presenting store signs in Catalan, lost its case. A court ruled that the autonomous communities have the right to adopt local laws in order to promote the use of their co-official languages. The real estate agency will now appeal to the Spanish Constitutional Court. (Avui) (LaVanguardia) (VD)

Leaders of youth organisations, representing 14 either European or Mediterranean countries, are meeting in Vilanova to develop a “peace bag”, in a project financed by the Anna Lindh foundation. (ElPunt)

The old parts of Vilanova will get a different street lighting, of which the first lamps can now be seen in plaça de Neus. (DdV)

The Spanish police caught a network of 43 people for distributing child pornography. One of the detained operated from Vilanova. (Avui)

An mechanic died while carrying out maintenance work on the elevator of a public building in Vilanova. (VD)

CP Vilanova surprised everyone and reached the final of the Spanish roller hockey cup (Copa del Rei), but was there beaten 2-4 by ruling champions Roncato Vic. (ElPunt)

Alt Penedès

A man in Sant Pere de Riudebitlles has died of a shot from a firearm after a fight in a bar. (Avui) (LaVanguardia) (ElPunt)

Sant Sadurní d’Anoia will follow Vilafranca del Penedès and develop municipal on-line services so that the inhabitants do not have to be physically present to carry them out. (ElPunt)

Vilafranca del Penedès will have to borrow money in order to meet its obligations according to the renovation program llei de barris. (ElPunt)

Vilafranca celebrated the 75th anniversary of its first secondary school (institut). (Avui)

Baix Penedès

The Business Association CEPTA of Tarragona warns the Baix Penedès area not to focus too much on logistic services when it plans for future work opportunities. (ElPunt)

The town council of Calafell has presented its old parts (nucli antic) as a candidate for the renovation program “llei de barris” by the Generalitat. Segur de Calafell cannot hope for this financial support since less than 50% of the houses there are used by inhabitants registered (empadroanats) in the municipality. (ElPunt)

Some of the real estate agents of Calafell will try cooperation instead of competition as the way to win new customers in times of crises. (ElPunt)

In Sant Jaume dels Domenys, the wall of a house under renovation has collapsed and caused light injuries on one individual. (Avui) (LaVanguardia)

A 34-year-old has died from an electric shock which he suffered while carrying out a repair job at the train station of Sant Vicenç de Calders (el Vendrell). (Avui) (3de8)

On Sunday February 28, el Vendrell was the biggest municipality to take part in the second round of platform referenda on the independence of Catalonia. The voter turnout in this town reached only 8,8%, while the overall turnout was 21,6%. (Avui) (LaVanguardia)

Seven people who worked for a cleaning company contracted by the court of el Vendrell, have been detained for stealing mobile phones, laptops etc, stored as evidence. (LaVanguardia) (3de8)

The Arab Cultural Association of Baix Penedès declared that its support the town council of el Vendrell when it stresses the importance of respecting the law. The statement followed a riot where inhabitants of the area Pisos Planas violently attacked the Mossos d’Esquadra for having detained a young man for possessing hashish. (Avui)

A resident of el Vendrell has been condemned to 12 years in prison for having murdered his partner in the shack where they used to live. (ElPunt)

Anoia

Anoia now has 11.537 unemployed. February figures show a continued, albeit weaker growth. (AD)

Trade unions and business associations of Anoia join forces to defend the construction of a new industrial area in Òdena, since the Generalitat wants to reserve a part of the same space for the future Eix Transversal railway link. (Avui)

The town council of Piera has voted through a new municipal zoning plan (POUM) on which the inhabitants will now be able to present their opinions. (AD)

The Mossos d’Esquadra has broken up a criminal gang which had specialized in burglary in local administrative offices above all in the Lleida province but also in Anoia. (LaVanguardia)

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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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Technorati tags:
Anoia, Catalonia, Garraf, Igualada, Penedès,Sitges, el Vendrell, Vilafranca, Vilanova

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