Business

Vueling will offer almost 1 million seats from Rome in eight different routes, including a new direct connection with Nantes. Rome will be Vueling’s third base abroad, after Amsterdam and Toulouse. “It is the first necessary step to consolidate Vueling’s growth in Rome and in Italy”, stated the Catalan airline’s CEO, Àlex Cruz.

Representatives from the Quebec Government have organised sessions to advertise job possibilities in their region. They are mainly looking for workers with technical skills, mainly in the sector of civil engineering, healthcare, and IT. The Catalan Government reached an agreement with Quebec to strengthen the professional mobility of Catalan workers. The participation of Catalan companies in the plans for economic development of the Quebecois Government is also promoted.

The Japanese multinational company has chosen Catalonia’s capital for a new international sales centre serving the entire European Union. The centre will create 300 high-qualified jobs by 2013, when it will be fully operational. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, unveiled the new centre, while he pointed out the strong business relationship between Japan and Catalonia. He also emphasised the “business friendly policy” of the Catalan Government.

The Alstom factory in Barcelona will build the 22 new tram cars that will serve the English city of Nottingham. This order completely guarantees the viability plan for 2012 and 2013, as the factory will be working at full capacity for the next 2 years. However, the French multinational has warned about the fact that no new orders have been placed in Spain since 2009. This has forced Alstom’s factory to focus on exports and has been building underground trains for Santo Domingo, Lima, Panama, London, Washington and Rabat.

Barcelona was declared the Mobile World Capital last summer, and the organising city of the Mobile World Congress until at least 2018. Being the Mobile World Capital means that Barcelona aims to become one of the main world centres for the mobile industry. Furthermore, several projects will be based in the Catalan capital, such as a Mobile World Hub. A foundation has been created to promote these projects and attract investments. It is funded with € 30 million each from Barcelona City Council, the Catalan Government and the Spanish Government, and it is open to the private sector.

The Port of Barcelona has topped the European ranking of passenger numbers once again. 2,642,493 people passed through Barcelona Port in 2011, a 12.69% increase compared to the previous year. Barcelona is also the fifth port in the world, just behind the Floridian ports of Miami, Everglades and Canaveral, and the Mexican Cozumel.

A study by a Catalan savings bank CatalunyaCaixa recommends helping young people to rent empty apartments in order to reduce the stock. The stock is expected to rise to 131,100 houses in Catalonia, while in the whole Spain the figures will reduce to 693,000 by 2015. However the situation is not the same throughout Catalonia, and some places such as Barcelona have a smaller stock in relation.

The Bank of Spain has decided to allocate the Catalan Unnim Banc to the BBVA. With the operation, the BBVA will become Spain’s largest bank, ahead of Banco Santander when considering asset volume. The BBVA will pay €1 for Unnim and €300 million for 20% of the expected real estate losses. The remaining 80% and the public funds already allocated, which correspond to almost €2 billion, will be assumed by the Deposit Guarantee Fund, paid by all the banking sector combined with public funds. Unnim was intervened by the Bank of Spain in September, since it could not reach the required core capital and was too exposed to toxic assets. Unnim was the result of the merger of 3 Catalan savings banks from the 19th century: Caixa Sabadell, Caixa Terrassa, and Caixa Manlleu.

Virtual desks, automatic cash points, a new packaging line or consulting services on innovation are some of the Catalan products displayed at CeBIT. This is the Europe’s biggest trade fair on digital industry. It is being held in Hannover from March 6th to March 10th.

Catalan hotels registered in 2011 a new tourist record of 48.029.385 overnight stays. Foreign tourism increased by 10.6% in 2011. However the economic crisis led to a 2.5% fall in domestic tourism. Catalonia hosted 16.5 million of tourists last year, a 5% increase regarding 2010 figures.

The main trade fair on mobile phones and technology in the world brought together 11% more participants than the 2011 edition and more than 1,500 companies, including the main multinationals in the sector. Barcelona was declared the Mobile World Capital last summer and will organise this top international event until at least 2018. The 2012 congress had a direct economic impact of €300 million for the city and Catalonia’s economy. The CEO of the organising company, John Hoffman, said that the 2012 MWC “has been a success in all aspects”.

Vueling had a net profit of €10.4 million last year. This marks a clear improvement of 8.4% on its results from 2010 despite the 40% price increase in fuel. Vueling transported 11.6% more passengers in total, and 9% through its European routes last year. The Catalan company reached in 2011 its passenger record, with more than 12.3 million people transported.

The Mobile World Congress has attracted more than 60,000 delegates from the most influential mobile companies on the planet to the Catalan capital. The event is the most important of the year, and it’s a great opportunity for developing business in the sector. The delegates will explore the way the mobile industry is redefining communication and will try to get business contracts related to the new era in smart phone technology. The organisation motto for this year’s edition is ‘Redefining Mobile!’

The metro strike organised by employees of Barcelona Public Transport (TMB) who were demanding a salary increase has been cancelled. The bus strike is still planned, although after the metro’s cancellation, bus workers would be also considering doing so. The strike was coinciding with the world’s main trade fair and conference of the mobile phone and mobile technology industry. However, it was not affecting taxis, tramways, airport buses, and commuter trains. The strike will only affect urban buses. The underground will be operating as normal. During rush hour buses will function at 50% of their capacity and the rest of the day at 20%.

The Catalan transport and telecommunication company ended 2011 with a net profit of €720 million. The profit increase is due to a growth in returns from Abertis’ airport business and the increase in traffic on its motorways in France and the United States. However, the Barcelona-based multinational experienced a drop in its telecommunication revenues.