Business

The results are 11% higher than last year. The group stresses that has strengthened its capital standing by 11.3%, 2.4 points higher than in December 2010.

Robert Casajuana warns, however, that Spain is "getting dangerously close" to offering yields of 7% for 10 year bonds, the point, according to him, "of no return"

The Catalan President has inaugurated the expansion of the facilities of the Boehringer Ingelheim pharmaceutical company in Sant Cugat. Artur Mas stressed that behind the crisis “is always the industry, companies turn ideas into products that give way to new opportunities”

Up to 80 daily operations take place between the Catalan and the Spanish capitals The fourth route with the greatest passenger volume is Barcelona to Palma de Mallorca.

Characterised as one of the most powerful men in combating the Spanish financial crisis, Catalan President Artur Mas presents his forceful economic strategy to the US newspaper

Unnim and CatalunyaCaixa would have 4.5% and 4.8% of core capital respectively. However, the provisions that all Spanish banks must have to face difficult times have not been taken into account as they did not exist in other European banking systems. With these funds taken into account, Unnim and CatalunyaCaixa would have approved the tests with 6.2% and 6.3% respectively. CaixaBank, the most important Catalan bank passes the test with 6.4%.

Demetrio Carceller, President of the company considers that internationalisation will be a priority in the new strategy plan that the Catalan company is preparing for next year.

American multinational Dow Chemical has chosen La Canonja (a town just 10 kilometers away from Tarragona) to locate a new pioneer water technology centre. The Global Water Technology Development Center has cost more than 10 million euros.

According to the consultancy firm Jones Lang Lasalle, the office rental rate for second quarter of 2011 in Barcelona has increased 42% compared to the same period in 2010. 74,500 square metres of new office space have been rented out between April and June 2011, 14% more than those registered during the first quarter. The “prime” zone has reached 2005 activity levels.

The Catalan Minister for Agriculture believes that the EU offer of compensation to farmers does not include enough products to meet the general losses in the sector provoked by the cucumber crisis.

Tunisia will benefit from the greatest investment with 73 million euros for the Kairouan factory. Besides, Ciments Molins is aiming to penetrate into the Chinese market with “a small two million euro investment” in prefabricated products, as a start. 87% of the investments will be channeled abroad, specifically in Tunisia, México, Argentina, Uruguay, Bangladesh, and China.

A new study by the Catalan savings bank corrects and improves the previous economic forecast. It is now believed that in 2011, Catalonia will grow at a 1.1% annual rate, and at 1.6% in 2012. However, without the public sector budget cuts, the Catalan economy will grow at 2% this 2011. The export sector has reached historical maximums, and will lead economic growth. However, economic growth in 2011 will not be translated into an improvement in employment.

The unemployment rate decreased for the third consecutive month. However, last June the reduction was inferior to that experienced in June 2010. June is traditionally a good month for employment figures, because of the high number of tourism-related new contracts.

The new bank becomes Spain’s third financial institution for its stock exchange value and the ninth in the Ibex-35 Spanish index. CaixaBank is the result of Barcelona-based savings bank La Caixa’s transformation into a private bank in order to strengthen its structure and position in the market, after the sector restructuration. The day CaixaBank was listed for the first time on the stock exchange, the rating agency Moody’s improved CaixaBank’s appreciation. However, after an initial increase CaixaBank’s value dropped by 1.1%. It is the first Spanish savings bank that concludes its transformation and trade on the stock exchange.

Gamelab is organised in Barcelona for the first time and it will take place in the Catalan capital at least until 2015. It is the video game fair of Spain, which is the sixth market in the world. The trade fair contributes to consolidate Barcelona as a technology capital.