commerce

Tourism, trade and citizens – the potential impacts on the territory and how the government is responding

Outcome could lead to "180-degree turn" in corporation's direction, potentially moving away from Madrid's approach

The rest of Catalonia's airports have seen a drop in passenger numbers in February whereas flight numbers went the other way

Estimation would mean continuing trend of GDP increase, higher than Spanish and EU average

President of organization says Catalonia did not receive full proposed budget in 2017

Growth foreseen for 2018 raised from 2.7 to 3.1%

Barcelona attractive for UK businesses after leave vote, says president of British Chamber of Commerce in Spain

50a50 presented on Tuesday an all-female list of candidates for president of Barcelona Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of Commerce presents revised report predicting GDP growth of 3.1% and labels threats to cut off funding to Catalonia “not viable” as an option for Spanish government

Catalonia may host the logistics hub for Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba for Southern Europe. According to Catalan Minister for Business Knowledge, Jordi Biaget, “no decision has been made yet” but the negotiations are already in the final stages. Although Alibaba is also considering France for the installation of its logistics center, the Catalan Government is working closely with the company so that Catalonia could be the chosen destination. Indeed, last February Baiget met with Alibaba’s board during a commercial mission to China and Hong Kong organized by the Catalan Government. Baiget also explained that the Catalan executive is analyzing more than 300 possible business investments in Catalonia.

The North American giant Amazon will open a new logistics center in Martorelles, 20 kilometers north of Barcelona, aimed at serving the European market. The 30,000 m2 plant will become operational in the fall and will be located in Martorelles’Can Roca business park. The new center will initially employ 200 people but is expected to create 650 jobs within the next three years. Martorelles’center will consolidate Amazon’soperations in Catalonia. It has already set up two plants near Barcelona while the main logistics center—which will be Amazon’s biggest in the south of Europe and will be located next to Barcelona’s ‘El Prat’airport—is expected to be operational by fall.

There has been a recent turn in British investment in Catalonia. While Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from the United Kingdom in the region was on a downward trend between 2013 and last June, the situation has reversed and Catalonia currently accounts for 4,4% of British FDI in Spain. Indeed, Catalonia is the third territory of Spain in terms of volume of British FDI. Ahead of Catalonia, stand only Madrid and the Basque Country, which received, respectively, €3,258 and €828 million from the UK between 2013 and last June. In the same period, Catalonia received a gross flow of €546 million, according to the Barometer on the Climate and Perspectives for British Investment in Spain and Catalonia, a report that analyses the evolution of direct investment from British companies in Spain.

Barcelona’s Chamber of Commerce reported this Thursday that 2015 was the worst year in the historical data series, which dates back to 1997, in the rate of state investment in the transport infrastructure in Catalonia. Specifically, the Spanish Government executed only 59% of the budgeted investment in Catalonia, below the average of all the Spanish Autonomous Communities, which stood at 72%. The president of the Chamber, Miquel Valls, lamented in a press conference that the low degree of implementation of investment occurs on an initial budget which is already relatively small for Catalonia. Last year, the Spanish executive budgeted for the region 9.9% of total state investment in transport infrastructure, despite the Catalan GDP accounting for 18.9% of the state’s overall GDP.

The leading e-commerce company plans to generate 1,500 jobs within three years of the opening of its new logistics centre, expected by autumn 2017. Amazon’s new infrastructure, which will have a surface area equivalent to that of 8 football pitches, will be located in El Prat de Llobregat, the same village where Barcelona El Prat airport is located, a municipality 10 kilometres away from Barcelona. The decision to expand its operations in the region is “not casual”, stated Amazon Spain Fulfilment’s Director of Operations, Fred Pattje and emphasised different assets besides El Prat airport such as Barcelona’s Port and “the economic sectors around the Llobregat delta”.

Barcelona’s Chamber of Commerce estimates that the Catalan economy grew by 3.2% in 2015, which is more than double the figure for 2014 and marks a return to pre-crisis levels, when the GDP increased by 1.5%. To “keep on advancing on the path of economic recovery” and to respond to Catalonia’s push for independence and “guarantee the territorial stability”, the president of Barcelona’s Chamber of Commerce, Miquel Valls, called for “the widest consensus possible” amongst the main parties with representation in the Spanish Parliament. He also emphasised the “fundamental” need to keep the relationship and the compromises established with the EU, as the 40-billion-euros rescue package for the banks in Spain led to the recovery of the risk premium and brought back the trust in the Spanish market.