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BARCELONA

VIDEO: Qatar Airways launches ‘Barça Land’ ad

The prestigious airline has launched an innovative TV commercial set on an island shaped like FC Barcelona’s shield where many of the team’s stars take up roles away from the football field.

VIDEO: Qatar Airways launches 'Barça Land' ad
Quatar Airways will have the right to between 50 and 60 more advertising campaigns with the Spanish champions after paying a staggering €95 million for a three-year deal. Photo: YouTube

Gerard Piqué as a customs officer, Andrés Iniesta as a painter and Gary Lineker as a taxi driver.

What sounds like a surreal dream by a Barça supporter has been turned into a reality by Qatar Airways.

The Middle-Eastern airline has launched the original TV commercial on the day they announced they will be the Catalan giants’ official new sponsor.

They chose to kick-start their advertising partnership with a dreamlike ad which also features entertaining performances by Messi as a football-ballet coach and Carles Puyol as a, well, a man who bashes plant pots with his head.

Quatar Airways will have the right to between 50 and 60 more advertising campaigns with the Spanish champions after paying a staggering €95 million for a three-year deal.

Additional advertising will appear on the team’s jersey, on the stadium’s façade and seats as well as in the club’s official museum.

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ENVIRONMENT

Why has the expansion of Barcelona airport prompted mass protests?

Around 10,000 people demonstrated against the expansion of the El Prat airport in Barcelona on Sunday.

Why has the expansion of Barcelona airport prompted mass protests?
People march during a demonstration against the expansion of the Barcelona-El Prat airport. Photo: Pau BARRENA / AFP

Several ecological and agricultural organisations, have demanded that the expansion be stopped due to the fact nearby wetlands and farms would have to be destroyed.

The demonstration took place on Calle Tarragona in the Catalan capital between Plaça d’Espanya and Plaça dels Països Catalans.

The protests still took place, even though last week, Spain suspended the €1.7 billion airport expansion project, citing differences with the Catalan government, after president Pere Aragonès said he wanted to avoid destroying La Ricarda lagoon, a natural reserve next to the airport. 

Environmentalists decided not to call off the march, in case plans for the airport expansion still went ahead.

READ ALSO: Six things you need to know about Barcelona airport’s €1.7 billion planned expansion

Political representatives from ERC, En Comú Podem and the CUP also attended, as well as the leader of Más País, Íñigo Errejón; the Deputy Mayor for Ecology of the Barcelona City Council, Janet Sanz, and the Mayor of El Prat de Llobregat, Lluís Mijoler.

People from neighbourhoods across the city marched towards Calle Tarragona and could be seen holding placards that read Nature yes, airport no and shouting slogans such as “More courgettes and fewer planes” and “Fighting for the climate, health, and life”. 

One of the largest groups of people were those from El Prat de Llobregat, the municipality which is home to the airport, who were led by tractors. 

People march during a demonstration against the expansion of Barcelona-El Prat airport. Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP

In addition to protesting against the expansion of the El Prat airport, people were also demonstrating against the Winter Olympic Games in the Pyrenees and extensions to airports in Mallorca and Madrid. 

A representative of Zeroport, Sara Mingorría said “We are here to defend not only La Ricarda, but the entire Delta”. 

The philosopher Marina Garcés also argued that the expansion of the airport would mean “more borders, more mass tourism, more control and more precarious jobs.” 

The leader of the commons in the Catalan parliament, Jéssica Albiach, who also attended the protest, asked the PSOE for “coherence”: “You cannot be passing a law against climate change and, at the same time, defend the interests of Aena [the airport operations company]”, she said. 

She also urged the leader of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, to “definitely say no. 

If the airport expansion in Barcelona goes ahead, environmentalists say that CO2 emissions would rise by a minimum of 33 percent. These levels would surpass the limits set by the Catalan government’s climate targets.

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