Business

In Napa Valley, California, 8 companies, 7 wineries, and 2 chefs from Catalonia will participate in the World of Flavors conference on the 22^nd of April. The event is renowned as the leading conference in the field of gastronomy in the United States. This year, 800 restaurant chains, hotels, chefs, and operators will attend the conference to check out the latest culinary trends and techniques. Catalonia’s participation in the conference is part of a business mission led by ACCIÓ, a project of the Generalitat to promote Catalan business competition, innovation and cooperation around the world. Catalan Ministry for Business and Knowledge Jordi Baiget will also accompany the culinary participants to the United States, making several stops in California, Miami, and Washington D.C. to discuss Catalan business expansion in the country. 

In its first annual collection, a tax raised on banks and other financial institutions maintaining empty flats has generated €11.3 million. When it was first approved, the tax was only expected to raise €8 million. The revenue from the tax is a “very positive” first assessment according to Catalan Minister for Public Administration and Housing, Meritxell Borras. The revenue gained from taxing 198 institutions with flats that remained empty for two years or more will be used to purchase 260 properties for public housing in Catalonia. However, Borras is concerned that the tax will be “endangered” by potential interference by the government in state functions. 

The Catalan Government collected €43.5 million in tourism tax revenue in 2015, an increase of nearly 5.5% from 2014. Quarterly analysis shows a growth in revenue from hotels, cruises, and tourist homes used by those visiting Catalonia. Additionally, the Catalan Government said that 2015’s numbers show widespread growth in touristic revenues across almost all areas of Catalonia, with Terres de l’Ebre leading with an 11.6% growth from 2014. Catalan Ministry for Business and Knowledge Jordi Baiget said the increase in revenue is “parallel to the increase in tourists” who visit Catalonia — especially those who visit during the last quarter of the year, which in 2015 proved to be the most successful. 

Barcelona’s Port registered an 8% growth in container traffic this March in comparison to the same period last year, reaching 493,000 TEUs (one TEU = one 20ft container). Both exports and imports saw a growth of more than 5%, along with an increase in container cargo coastal trade. All in all, 11.1 million tons of merchandise were registered from January to March of 2016. This is also represented by an increase both in liquid and solid merchandise in bulk. Meanwhile, the Barcelona El Prat airport experienced a rise in passengers in the first trimester of 2016, marking 16.1% more than the same period of the previous year, at a total of 8.5 million people. Along with this, both the Girona-Costa Brava airport and Reus airport, located in the Girona and Tarragona provinces respectively, witnessed an augmentation in traffic in the month of March. 

Half of the 14 Spanish projects selected by the European Commission from the State are from Catalonia. The 7 innovative SMEs, or small and medium enterprises, will receive a total of €9 million to launch their projects and receive business advice along the way. The Commission selected 50 SMEs across 14 different countries to invest €73 million in after phase 2 of the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument. In Spain, the 14 SMEs selected focus their projects primarily in the areas of information and communication, transport, energy efficiency, and food production. Since the start of the instrument in 2014, this has been Spain’s most successful year, with the 14 selected projects receiving €15.4 million — more than any other country in the programme. 

20.4% more passengers used Barcelona El Prat Airport’s facilities this past February than in the same month last year. According to data released by the European airport trade association (ACI Europe), Barcelona’s airport leads the ranking of EU airports in terms of growth and tops group 1, which includes those airports with more than 25 million passengers per year. Dublin holds second position, with a registered growth of 17.2% in February, followed by Copenhagen (+16%) and Madrid Barajas (+15.5%). Regarding those European airports which are not within the EU, Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen is the only airport whose increase in the number of passengers surpassed that of Barcelona (24.3%). The increase in the number of passengers using El Prat is double the average growth registered for February in the EU overall, which was 10.3%. 

The Catalan vice president and Catalan Minister for Economy and Tax Office, Oriol Junqueras, stated that the Government “won’t make any cuts”and emphasised that Catalonia already allocates 70% of its budget to social policies and that 90% of the Government’s expenses are final. Junqueras’ statements come after the Spanish Finance Minister, Cristóbal Montoro, sent a letter to several Autonomous Communities in Spain urging them to “comply with the budget stability”. Montoro also nuanced that Catalonia’s deficit target in 2015, which was 2.7%, surpassed the maximum deficit established by the Spanish government by 0.7%. “If the Spanish Ministry wants to make cuts or shut down hospitals, it will have to come and do it itself”, warned Junqueras. He also emphasised that “the Spanish Finance Ministry has imposed so many cuts in the last years that any additional ones are simply inapplicable”.

The number of young Catalans living abroad will be tallied and efforts will be continued to encourage their return. The Department of Youth estimates that more than 3,000 young people left Catalonia to move abroad in 2014 and there were 242,070 Catalans living abroad by May 2015, according to data released by the Catalan Institute of Statistics (Idescat). Projects are being set forth to aid in providing access for entrepreneurs to profiles that are outside Catalonia, job opportunities in the field of research, and promote entrepreneurship within the region. Móncat, the web platform focused on employment opportunities, will also be geared towards connecting Catalans living abroad to opportunities in Catalonia. 

The region which attracted the fourth-most foreign investment in Europe in 2015 was Catalonia. According to the Financial Times’ FDi Markets report, the Catalan economy attracted €5.224 billion throughout 2015, the highest figure of the data series, which sets Catalonia as the leading region in the Western European area. The sector which attracted most foreign investment was ICT, which according to Catalan Ministry for Business and Knowledge, Jordi Baiget, proves the “traction effect” of the Mobile World Congress for the Catalan economy. Baiget explained this good result as being due to Catalonia’s geographic situation and the neighbouring markets, as well as to its qualified workforce and its solid, diversified and innovative business network. In March, the Financial Times report FDi European Cities and Regions of the future 2016/2017 recognised Barcelona as the best city in Europe for foreign investment.

The number of unemployed registered in Catalonia totalled 499,991 this past March, which represents 10,246 less than in February. According to the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security, this drop was mainly due to Easter seasonal hiring. This figure is below 500,000 unemployed, which hasn’t happened since July 2009. Moreover, the decrease registered this past month is the highest for a March month since the data series began, in 1996. Although unemployment fell in all the sectors, the one which registered the highest drop in the unemployment rate was the services sector. Unemployment in Catalonia now seen 33 months of annual decreases and continues to lead the unemployment decline in Spain. In the whole of Spain, the number of unemployment people reached 4,094,770, some 58,216 fewer than in February.

After more than 10 years of negotiations between the Catalan government and the Spanish Ministry for Transport and many changes on the route, the railway connection to Barcelona’s port will be a reality in two years’ time. The final project will cost €104 million and will be 50% funded by Port de Barcelona and the Spanish Ministry for Transport. The railway connection to Barcelona’s Port has been long-awaited by the Catalan government, as 13% of the containers and 30% of the cars that pass through the port are transported by train. The acceleration of this connection emphasises the need to start the construction of the Mediterranean corridor, one of the government’s main goals in terms of infrastructure, which is set to transport freight and passengers non-stop from Gibraltar to Central Europe.

2015 was the second best year, in terms of foreign investment, since the historical series began in 1993. Catalonia attracted €4.8 billion this past year, 57.8% more than the foreign investment registered in 2014, and only exceeded by the record €4.9 billion registered in 2010. Thus, Catalonia attracted 22% of the foreign investment received in the whole of Spain, second only to Madrid, which attracted 46.5% of the international investment. However, foreign investment in Madrid decreased by 1.2% this past 2015 in comparison to 2014. These data indicates that Catalonia’s push for independence is not dissuading foreign investors, on the contrary; during the first trimester of 2015, Catalonia was the leading region in Continental Western Europe in terms of investment. 

After eight years of losses, SEAT has pulled itself out of the red, earning €6 million in profits after taxes in 2015. This marks an end of a period of struggle with a record turnover of 8,332 million (up 11 percent on 2014), stated SEAT CEO Luca de Meo. He also hopes that the success in 2015 will help the company maintain its momentum as it pushes into 2016 with the manufacture of a new SUV vehicle as well as the release of three other car models over the next 18 months. Although the company has faced significant challenges in the face of a recovering auto industry, SEAT has seen increasing demand from southern Europe in Italy and Spain, as well as in Germany, where the company made 90,000 of their 400,000 car sales in 2015. 

In 2015, Barcelona saw 740 million euros from American home-sharing website Airbnb, through which over 800,000 guests connected with over 9,000 hosts. This number marks an increase in guests, in amount earned, and in overnight stays. This year also saw a shift in lodging location as the rented spaces are no longer primarily centred in the historic ‘Ciutat Vella’ neighbourhood. By the website´s data, Barcelona is now the fourth most important destination, preceded by Paris, London, and New York. CNA spoke to CEO of Airbnb in Spain and Portugal Arnaldo Muñoz, who explains the negotiations in progress between the company and the Catalan and Barcelona authorities. 

The Barcelona airport at El Prat de Llobregat registered an increase in almost all aspects in the month of February. Thanks to the Mobile World Congress (MWC), international passengers registered an increase of 22% while the number of domestic passengers rose by 16.9%. These numbers contributed to the 20.4% overall growth in total passengers for the month, along with a 13.3% growth in the number of operations. Compared to the same period in 2015, the amount of cargo and merchandise transported also grew, registering an increase of 18.3% and 18.6% respectively. The Catalan airport also saw an increase in annual terms, with 17.4% more passengers and 9.4% more operations than before.