Business

In the first 9 months of 2010, more than 10 million tourists chose Catalonia as their vacation destination. After the Balearic Islands, Catalonia is the most visited territory on Spain.

Banc Sabadell received 27.4% less profit compared with the same period in 2009. The net profit has been calculated after deducting a provision to cover a potential increase of debtors. The financial entity saw credit loss provision increases of 38% until its third trimester.

The difference between what an autonomous community produces in terms of revenues and what it finally receives, once the Spanish State has redistributed those revenues among all the communities, has only officially been quantified once in history. It was in 2005, following an agreement of Prime Minister Zapatero with the Catalan nationalist forces. Catalonia’s political and business class have called for the systematic publication of the “fiscal balances” several times.

Today Iberia unveiled its colossal reparation hangar, able to host the giant A-380 airplane. In addition, after 5 years of decreasing its flights from Barcelona, especially at an international level, Iberia announced that it will operate direct flights linking Sao Paulo and Miami with the Catalan capital.

Cargo ships with containers going through the Barcelona harbour will now be served faster. The TCB group will invest 70 million euros within the next 3 years to duplicate its operating capacity for containers. The investment includes renewing the harbour rail terminal and adapting the rails to European standards.

These levels have not been recorded since November 2008. However price raises stabilised in relation to August, particularly because of the price decrease of organised trips.

Catalonia has experienced the 8th month in a row of continuous increases in housing sales in relation to the same month of last year. This data confirms the slow recovery of the sector. However, in comparison to July 2010, housing sales dropped 6%.

700 workers from the Martorell factory next to Barcelona will temporarily lose their jobs. They will return to work in June of 2011. The company still has to negotiate the conditions with unions.

The EU Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) will be reformed. Catalonia wants to have a say in the future of the CAP. To do so, it is lobbying together with other European regions that lead fruit and vegetable production. A joint declaration with 10 ways to improve the sector has been agreed on.

The new subsidiary company of Gas Natural Fenosa, Gas Natural Fenosa Renovables, has been created for the development of renewable energies. The new company puts together all the green energy assets of the group. It will jointly compete with Alstom Wind in the Aeolian Competition of Catalonia.

A study presented today by the Catalan Government states that the industrial added value could grow 1.9% each year in a good economic context.

The Spanish Government is investing 2,000 million euros less than what it should according to current binding legislation, stated the President of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce. The investment in Catalonia stands at 16.8% of the investment for the whole of Spain. 18.6% is the minimum investment fixed in the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, which has also been approved by the Spanish Parliament and is thus a binding law.

Activity reports for the Institut Català de Finances (ICF), the Catalan public financial institution delivering official credit, were released on Tuesday. The number of credit requests rose by 34.1% in 2009 while activity grew by 2.5%.

Juan María Nin lectured at the London School of Economics about the current economical situation in Spain. He argued that Spain will recover if the markets continue to trust in the country’s capacity to meet its debt.

The Governor of the Bank of Spain, Miguel Angel Fernández Ordoñez, warned about the need to limit the capacity of local and autonomous communities’ administrations to increase their public debt. He wants legal limits. He also alerted that a plan B is needed if the economy worsens.