Business

From the next summer season, the Irish low-cost airline will cancel 4 routes from Barcelona Airport and reduce the frequency of 20 others due to the increase in airport taxes imposed by the Spanish Government. This decision means that 170 fewer flights will operate through the Catalan airport per week. In addition, the number of passengers transported per year by Ryanair will also be reduced, dropping from 5.4 million to 4.2 million. Furthermore, it will mean the direct loss of 1,200 jobs at Barcelona El Prat Airport, according to the airline. Ryanair will also cancel routes from Madrid Barajas and it will eliminate the flight linking the Spanish capital to Girona airport.

The Spanish Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB), which is run by the Bank of Spain and the Spanish Government, has announced that it will re-start the auction proceedings to sell Catalunya Banc and Banc de València. The selling process was temporarily frozen on the 21st of June, so as to wait for a calmer financial environment. The FROB decided to put the auction on hold, in order to wait for the results of the two independent audits on Spain’s banking system made by Oliver Wyman and Roland Berger. In June, Catalunya Banc’s auction was only pending the final offers by six financial entities to be completed. In September 2011, the FROB took control of Catalunya Banc, which de facto was nationalised.

The number of passengers going through Barcelona’s Airport between January and October grew by 4%, compared to the same period last year. In just 10 months, the airport of the Catalan capital had more passengers than in the entire of 2010. The number of international passengers increased by 6.2% and those coming from the Middle East, non-Schengen Europe and Argentina grew by 25%. In fact, Barcelona El Prat’s expansion strategy is focused on international flights, especially increasing the number of intercontinental flights and their destinations. However, the number of domestic flight passengers dropped by 11.1%.

The Catalan economy contracted by 0.3% between July and September, although its results improved slightly compared to the previous quarter, when it shrunk by 0.5%. The tourism sector continues to grow and internal consumption continues to drop. Compared to a year ago, by the end of September, Catalan GDP has fallen by 1.4%.

IAG, the airlines group formed after the merger of British Airways and Iberia, has announced its plans to acquire 100% of Vueling’s capital. Iberia already has 45.85% of the Catalan airline. Now, IAG intends to buy the remaining 54.15%, equivalent to 16.2 million shares. IAG is offering €7 per share, 28% more than Vueling’s last trading price on the stock exchange market. Vueling is one of the few airlines in Europe making a profit. Catalan politicians are “worried” about the purchase, as Vueling is based in Barcelona El Prat Airport and is committed to its expansion. However, Iberia abandoned its plans to develop El Prat and has prioritised Madrid Barajas. A Catalan MEP has asked the European Commission about the possibility of there being a free competition obstacle.

The Catalan theme park PortAventura, located on the Costa Daurada, between Tarragona and Salou, will be completely controlled by Investindustrial, a fund run by the Bonomi family. Portaventura is the only profitable theme park in Spain and one of only a few in Europe. Investindustrial is buying the remaining 50% of the park for €105 million. Furthermore, they have announced a future investment of €80 million to foster the park’s international expansion. PortAventura is located next to the land where the €6 billion mega-resort Barcelona World will be built. The Italian group has a consolidated trajectory of investing large amounts of capital in businesses from a wide range of sectors to ensure growth.

During the first few hours of the implementation of the tourist tax, no problems were detected. The fee ranges from 50 cents to 2.5 euros per hotel per night depending on the accommodation category and zone, with a maximum of seven nights per person. Children under 17 and tourists from social programmes are exempt from paying the fee. Clients have not complained and most of them say that they understand the need. Hotel owners have adapted their software to include the tax payment, although they complain that they have to pay for this change. This type of fee is common in countries such as the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Morocco, Egypt and Japan. The Catalan Government expects the tax to raise €50 million, to be used for the promotion of tourism.

Unemployment increased over the third quarter of the year in Catalonia, with 18,800 more people being added to the lists of the Catalan Public Employment Service. By the end of September there were 840,000 people without a job and looking for a new one, 98,400 more jobseekers than a year ago, according to the latest Active Population Survey (EPA), published by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). In the whole of Spain, the unemployment rate reached 25.02% at the end of September, with 85,000 more jobseekers registered than three months ago. According to the EPA, Spain has reached an historical high of unemployed people with 5,778,100 individuals recorded.

The production of the new Seat León, the brand’s flagship model, guarantees 1,600 direct jobs and 6,000 indirect ones in the supply industries. The car manufacturing company, owned by Volkswagen, has its only plant in Martorell, Greater Barcelona. The company has great expectations of the new Seat León, which will be distributed worldwide from Catalonia. The new car model is the milestone of Seat’s commercial and strategic plan for this year, with the objective of becoming profitable again. It will be sold in three different versions: a five-door and a three-door model, and a station wagon car.

Catalonia hosts one of the world’s five active potash mines. The company Iberpotash has started to implement its Phoenix Plan, which foresees investing €600 million until 2020. The first phase of the project is the construction of a 4.7 kilometre tunnel to transport the potash mineral extracted from the mine to the treatment plant. The tunnel represents an important environmental improvement, as lorries carrying potash will no longer pass through the town of Súria. They will pass through the tunnel 900 metres under the ground. This first phase will enable the improvement of the mine’s productivity to between 30 and 40%.

The Catalan company presented its strategic plan for next two years, which fosters its main hub, Barcelona El Prat Airport, by adding 28 new routes from next summer. Vueling plans to transform Barcelona Airport into the main European hub for short and medium distance flights. Currently, it is already the second continental hub in this category. Furthermore Vueling will strengthen its offer to business travellers by unveiling the ‘Excellence’ flying class and direct flights between Barcelona and London-Gatwick or Frankfurt. In addition, the Catalan airline will end 2012 with a profit for the fourth consecutive year.

The chemical industries based in Tarragona, such as BASF, Dow Chemical and Repsol, expect their turnover to increase by 4% in 2012 compared to a year ago. In 2011, they exported 60% of their production, while in 2000 they were only exporting 30% of it. Furthermore, they have requested transport infrastructures to be improved and criticised the increase in energy taxes. About Catalonia’s hypothetical independence, they stated they “will respect what will be decided and will adapt to it”. These companies represent around 7% of Catalonia’s GDP.

Barcelona will hold, at least until 2018, the status of being the world’s mobile industry capital. Every year Barcelona hosts the world’s main event in this industry, the Mobile World Congress. This event is part of a broader project: the Mobile World Capital, which plans activities and events throughout the year and works to make Barcelona the greatest business and technological centre of the mobile industry. The Spanish telecommunication giant Telefonica announced it will bring €7.8 million to develop this project. Furthermore, it will allow MWCapital to use 1,800 square metres of a building located in Barcelona’s main square – Plaça Catalunya – to show the latest technological developments.

By early 2013 the Airport of Lleida-Alguaire, located in Western Catalonia next to the border with Aragon, will have a maintenance centre with a capacity to host up to 50 airplanes like the Airbus model A320. The private company AirHoster will invest €3 million in building the initial facilities. 75 jobs will be created, as well as a school to train technicians. The Lleida-Alguaire Airport has received very few flights since it opened its doors in January 2010, most of them run by tour operators bringing skiers to the Pyrenees.

However, CatalunyaBanc would need a maximum of €10.83 billion in the most stressed scenario. According to the independent audit by Oliver Wyman, with KPGM, Deloitte, PwC and Ernst & Young, the Spanish banking system would need a maximum of €53.75 billion in the worst case scenario. 4 banking groups would concentrate 86% of these additional funds. In total, 7 banking groups would need additional funds, while 7 groups would be strong enough, with their own resources, to resist a hypothetical scenario with a 6.5% recession between 2012 and 2014, 27% unemployment, a 85% drop in land prices and a 55% decrease in housing prices.