Business

The Valencian Association of Businessmen and ‘Cercle d’Economia’, the main Catalan economic forum open to businesspeople and academics organised a summit this Monday to urge the Spanish Government to build the Mediterranean Railway Corridor. “The main problems are the lack of political will”, stated Vicente Boluda, president of the Valencian Association of Businessmen. In a similar sense, ‘Cercle d’Economia’ President, Joan José Brugera, called for convincing politicians that “the Corridor is in Spain’s general interest, since it improves the competitiveness of the Mediterranean area”.The conference was attended bya representation of 300 businessmen from Catalonia and Valencia, who lamented the repeated delay in the corridor’s construction. The infrastructure, which is set to transport freight and passengers non-stop from Gibraltar to Central Europe, would connect the Spanish Mediterranean ports.

The number of passengers whom passed through Barcelona El Prat Airport this January grew by 11.4% in comparison to the same month last year. According to the Spanish Airport Authority (AENA) 2,804,092 passengers used Barcelona El Prat Airport's facilities in the first month of 2017 and there were 20,848 operations registered. The number of flights to and from Latin America and the Caribbean grew the most, by 35.8%, followed by those to and from the Middle East (16.9%), Africa, which grew by 10.4% in comparison to January 2016, and North America (9.3%). Cargo transportation also grew in January, increasing by 11.4% in comparison to the first month of 2016 and totalled 10,330 tonnes. In terms of cargo, routes from within the Spanish state saw the biggest growth, 40.5%, while international cargo registered a 10.2% increase in comparison to January 2016.

The Catalan Ministry for Business and Knowledge will invest 1.2 MEUR this year to increase Catalonia’s trade and investment office network abroad. In particular, six new centres will be opened in 2017, which will be added to the 36 which are already functioning on each of the five continents. The new offices will be located in Havana, Los Angeles, Tehran, Zagreb, Amsterdam and Nairobi. Thus, Catalan business will be represented in 109 economic regions. “Now Catalonia’s presence in the business field worldwide will be comparable to and even bigger than that of other states”, explained Núria Betriu, Director of Industry of the Catalan Department for Business and Knowledge.

Tourists from outside of Spain spent 17,328 MEUR in Catalonia in 2016, which represents 3.7% more than in 2015. According to the Tourist Expenditure Poll (Egatur), published by the Spanish Statistics Institute, Catalonia achieved its best result in the historic series and became, once again, the region which takes in the highest amount of tourist expenditure in the whole of Spain. Indeed, Catalonia was the focus of 22% of tourists’ total expenditure in Spain, followed by the Canary and the Balearic Islands. Those tourists who spent the most were the British, followed by Germans and the French, according to figures corresponding to the whole of Spain.  

The number of people unemployed and registered as such with the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC) at the end of January increased by 278 people compared to December’s figures, a slight growth of 0.06%, according to data released this Thursday by the Spanish Ministry of Employment. Thus, the number of unemployed in Catalonia totalled 453,923. Despite this increase, the unemployment rates in annual terms has declined for 43 consecutive months and there are 64,157 fewer unemployed now than at the end of January 2016, which represents a 12.38% decrease. In Spain as a whole, unemployment has also grown and stood at 3,760,231 people at the end of January. This means that registered unemployment increased by 57,257 people in Spain, representing a 1.55% rise in comparison to last December.

Catalan company ‘Vallfirest’ has designed and exported worldwide a self-protection kit for firefighters which increases their safety. The equipment “exponentially increases firefighters’ chances of survival” when trapped in a fire, according to ‘Vallfirest’ chairman, Javier Baena. The kit, which has been exported for the last two years, was presented to the public during the 14^th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit, organised by the International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) from the USA, which took place this past Tuesday in Barcelona. The summit gathered together more than 300 experts and members of the global wildland fire community to discuss best practices in safety and training operations and to explore new approaches.

The port of Barcelona closed last year with unprecedented figures. The transport of shipping containers rose by 14.5% with a record figure of 2.2 TEU containers handled. This according to the data presented on Tuesday by the Port President, Sixte Cambra, who said that exports rose by 3.8% while imports increased by 8.7%. The Asian-Oceania market now represents 77% of imports and 43% of exports from the port. In fact, China alone accounts for 43% of the import containers, with a 13% increase during 2016. It is also to China that most of the exporting containers go. The American market represents 25% of exports and 9% of imports from the Port of Barcelona. Catalan exports being handled from the Port of Barcelona are mainly food, equipment and chemicals. Imports are basically textiles, equipment and other manufactured products.

The Spanish president, Mariano Rajoy, is not going to offer a new fiscal deal to Catalonia similar to the one already enjoyed by the Basque Country and Navarre. In an interview with Spanish radio, Rajoy said that he is against such a deal because it would “create enormous problems” in Spain. The People’s Party leader also confirmed that he will never allow a referendum on independence in Catalonia. “I cannot do it and I don’t want to do it”, he said, after the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, stressed in Brussels that his government wants a referendum agreed with Spain. Rajoy warned that he won’t act “against Spanish unity, national sovereignty or the equality of all Spaniards”. “For me, the 7 million Spaniards that live in Catalonia are the same as those in the rest of Spain”, he stated.

The number of passengers whom passed through Barcelona El Prat Airport in 2016 grew by 11.2% in comparison to the previous year and set a record 44.1 million passengers. According to the Spanish Airport Authority (AENA) there were 307,864 operations registered in 2016, 6.6% more than in 2015 and both national (+11.4%) and international flights (+11.2%) grew in comparison to 2015. Cargo transportations also grew in 2016, increasing by 13.3% and totalling 135,754 tonnes. The busiest month was August, when 4.7 million passengers passed through El Prat Airport while February registered the highest growth; 2.7 million passengers used El Prat airport facilities that month, representing a 20.4% increase in comparison to the same month in 2015.

Swedish multinational company IKEA will set up its distribution centre for online purchases in Valls, 15 kilometres north of Tarragona. The centre will not only supply the whole of the Spanish State but also Portugal and the South of France. Ikea aims to buy a 50,000 m² smallholding located next to the ‘DC 1 – Distribution centre’ which the company already has in the same industrial park. Thus, the two Ikea centres in Valls will be located in a strategic enclave, nearly at the intersection of the main highways AP7 and AP2 and equally close to Tarragona’s port. Ikea will pay 2.8 MEUR for the plot to Incasòl, the Catalan Government's subsidiary that manages public land throughout Catalonia. The new distribution centre is expected to employ more than 100 workers.

The number of people registered on the unemployment lists in Catalonia at the end of 2016 stood at 453,645, some 62,023 fewer than at the same time in 2015, according to the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security.This is the best figure since 2008 and represents a 12% decrease in comparison to the unemployment registered at the end of 2015. Most of those who are still unemployed belong to the services sector (315,305), while nearly 56,000 correspond to the industry sector, more than 44,000 belong to the construction sector, nearly 11,500 to the agriculture sector and more than 26,500 were already unemployed. In the whole of Spain, 2016 finished with 390,534 fewer unemployed, who totalled 3,702,974 people. This is the biggest decline in the historic series and represents a 9.54% decrease in comparison to December 2015.

The support of 2 MPs from radical left pro-independence CUP, the main partner of governing cross party 'Junts Pel Sï', allowed the budget for 2017 to overcome the appeals presented by the oppoistion groups in the Parliament. Catalan Vice President and Minister for Economy and Tax Office, Oriol Junqueras, defended this Tuesday the budget for 2017. According to Junqueras, the draft especially focuses on “fiscal justice” and social expenditure, which he defined as fundamental pillars for economic growth. “We have many difficulties and many more are being put in our way, but it is clear that our economy and our society are capable of making it through”, he stated on the first day of the two-day session during which the Parliament will vote on the budget for 2017. “This is the best budget possible”, he assured in November, right after presenting the bill to the Parliament’s Bureau and emphasised the social orientation of the draft budget. Indeed, more than 74% of the total bill for 2017 is allocated for social expenditure and €1.1 billion more has been allocated for this purpose in comparison to the budget for 2015, which had to be extended for 2016.

Autonomous Communities in Spain should have “greater power to mobilise their own revenues”. This is one of the main pieces of advice the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gives in its monitoring report of the Spanish economy. The text stresses that “without reforms”, the Spanish regional financing framework remains “a risk for the achievement of fiscal targets”. “Reforms should aim to improve regions’ incentives to comply with fiscal targets while accounting for their different economic capacities”, adds the report. In this regard, it proposes a “more automatic and stricter enforcement of targets” and giving the regions greater autonomy to mobilise their incomes. Furthermore, the IMF urges Spain to reduce value-added tax exemptions and excise duties and environmental levies.

The winter season in the clothing and footwear industry, as well as an increase in the price of electricity, led to a 0.3% increase in the price index during November in comparison to the previous month and brought the annual inflation rate in November in Catalonia to 1%. This is the highest annual rate recorded in Catalonia since August 2013, when the figure reached 1.7%. However, the evolution of annual inflation, in minimum rates, is still being restrained by fuel prices, which fell in November, in comparison to the stability that was recorded during the same month last year. According to data released this Tuesday by the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE), the annual inflation rate in Catalonia is the highest in Spain, followed by Navarra (0.9%), Asturias (0.8%) and the Canary Islands (0.8%).

Unemployment in Catalonia increased by 4,573 people in November and reached 462,969 individuals registered on the lists of the Catalan Public Employment Service (SOC). According to the data released by the Spanish Employment Ministry and Social Security, unemployment saw a 1% rise in monthly terms. This increase in jobseekers is the highest registered in November since 2013. The Catalan Secretary General of Employment, Social Affairs and Families, Josep Ginesta, warned that the reduction of unemployment in Catalonia is “slowing down” due to the dependence on seasonal economic sectors. In this vein, he proposed the reconversion and reindustrialisation of Catalonia to create “more and better” jobs.  In annual terms, registered unemployment has decreased, with 58,681 less jobseekers, an 11.25% drop.