Business

The insurance group of the Catalan savings bank ‘la Caixa’ earned 19,5% more than in 2009. The acquisition of Adeslas is a positive result for the VidaCaixa Grup.

Andreu Mas-Colell, the Catalan Minister for Economy, reflected on the issue at a ceremony, where savings bank La Caixa and Catalan universities were giving away up to new 20 grants for research projects. The objective is to prevent a possible brain drain in Catalonia. Mas-Colell said that once the sector reforms were accomplished, the financial entities would get more freedom.

The HP International Centre of Barcelona will be fostered in order to get “the maximum efficiency and effectiveness […] avoiding the dispersion in different European centres and countries”. The company will focus its image and printing business’ marketing services for the entire Europe, Middle East and Africa in Catalonia.

The multinational clothing company Inditex has announced the expansion of its logistics centre in Tordera (North of Barcelona coast), which will create 500 direct jobs. According to the company, the centre will become the largest and most modern clothing distribution centre in Europe. Inditex CEO announced the decision after a meeting with the Catalan President.

This year’s edition of the world’s leading congress on cell phone technology, which was celebrated in Barcelona for the 6th consecutive year, had 20% more visitors than in 2010. More than 60,000 people attended the congress.

The low-cost airline Ryanair is cutting 28% of its routes from Girona airport and not replacing them with routes from other Catalan airpots. Although Ryanair promised to stay in Girona a few months ago, now the Irish airline company has accused the current Catalan Government of not respecting their agreement, for which it was receiving public subsidies. The Government is surprised by the decision and has reminded Ryanair of its current obligations.

International media focus on the world’s leading congress on mobile phone technology.

From this Monday to the coming Thursday, the Catalan capital is hosting the annual world’s most important cell phone technology event, the Mobile World Congress. About 55,000 people and 1,300 companies will attend the conference, which will generate more than 200 million euros of profit for the local economy. Barcelona needs to do its utmost best this year, as the host city from 2013 onwards is still not decided.

The Catalan Minister for Agriculture Josep Maria Pelegrí visited Berlin this week to greet the 23 Catalan companies that were exhibiting at the Fruit Logistica fair in Berlin. Catalonia has a significant fruit production industry and it exports fruit all over Europe.

Compared to 2009, real estate sales increased by 21.4% in Catalonia. The Catalan market’s activity triples the Spanish average. However, forecasts for 2011 are no so optimistic due to the VAT increase and the end of the fiscal deduction for purchasing houses and flats.

According to the new German Chamber of Commerce Managing Director in Spain, the Central European country could promise young Catalans not only training and competitive salaries but also job stability. He also explains which are the obstacles in his view that stop German investments in Spain and Catalonia.

The Catalan airline Pyrenair postponed all flights that were connecting Lleida and Vigo. For the moment, they will continue operating between Lleida-Alguaire airport and Madrid and will replace the previous flight with a new one to and from A Coruña.

The figure represents approximately 40% of the Catalan Government’s deficit in 2010. Barcelona’s Chamber of Commerce maintains a growth forecast of 0.8% for the Catalan economy in 2011.

Companies and agencies from the tourism industry have joint together to highlight the potential of the Asian tourist market and stress the obstacles for its growth. Currently, Barcelona has only two direct flights with Asia per week, a figure that is expected to largely increase. As an example of this potential, China exported almost 57 million of tourists abroad per year, but only 90,000 visit Barcelona.

Barcelona is hosting lawyers and legal experts from all over the world this week for the international legal trade fair and the Euro Mediterranean's annual conference for lawyers.