Business

The BIZBarcelona fair, geared towards ‘solutions for SMEs and entrepreneurship’ has begun, taking place at the Fira de Barcelona fairground facilities in Montjuïc. Since its opening on Wednesday, the number of accreditations has already increased by 30% compared to last year, according to director of the event Aleix Planas, showing a large number of young people in attendance. BIZBarcelona is ideal for entrepreneurs who want to speak to all the people necessary to start or grow their business, but in a matter of hours instead of weeks. However, according to the director, the crowd is “very heterogeneous”, as attendees range from all ages, including seniors. As regards the economic and unemployment situation of the country, Planas adds that the fair is a true picture of reality

The American airline has started this Thursday its summer travel season launching the service between Washington-Dulles and Barcelona-El Prat airports. The flight will be offered until the 29th of October and will leave Barcelona every day at 11.15 am and arrive in Washington at 14.30 pm the same day. The return leg will take off from the United States at 18.10 in the evening and land in Barcelona at 08.05 the following morning. The Barcelona-Washington non-stop daily flight is the latest addition to the intercontinental offering from the Catalan airport, which also has connections with New York and Sao Paulo, amongst others.

Ferrari Land, the international brand’s first theme park in Europe, is closer to its opening in Vila-Seca, a town in the southern Catalan region of Tarragona. Over the next few weeks the operators will carry out the urbanisation of 60,000 square metres of the amusement resort, located next to the Port Aventura theme park. Ferrari Land represented a €100 million investment and will include simulators, shops, restaurants, as well as replicas of Italian buildings. However, one of its main attractions will be ‘Cavallino Rampante’, Europe’s tallest rollercoaster, reaching 112 metres high. The attraction should allow visitors to feel the acceleration experienced by a F1 driver, reaching 180 km/h in 5 seconds.Ferrari Land is set to increase by 20% the number of visitors to Port Aventura, which will break all records achieved since it opened in May 1995.

Three Catalan business schools were ranked in the fifty best in the world category, according to the the 18^th edition of the elaborate analysis by the Financial Times (FT) Executive Education 2016. The three schools that received the highest scores were the Iese Business School (in first place), the Esade Business School (in eighth place) and the Eada Business School Barcelona (in 44^th place). The final analysis was a composite of two separate rankings, a combination of Customised Programmes and Open-Enrolment Programmes. The Iese Business School was placed as number one in the Customised Programmes Ranking and number two in the Open-Enrolment Programmes Rankings, “coming closest of any school since the survey was launched in 1999 to topping both rankings”, according to the Financial Times. 

The Catalan company Grífols announced on Tuesday that they have purchased 20% of Singulex, the American multinational life science product provider based in Alameda, California. The acquisition was made after signing a capital increase worth $50 million, according to a statement given by Singulex to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). Singulex, which is valued ‘pre-money’ at $200 million, works in the field of diagnostic technology, such as technology used for screening blood and plasma donations, which could be used in the future to ensure the safety of transfusions and other similar procedures. The acquisition will not only grant Grífols a place on the American company´s board, but will also give the Catalan company access to the worldwide licence for the use and commercialisation of Singulex technology.

The Catalan Government wants to put a stop to ‘binge tourism’ and will therefore expel from the Catalan Tourism Agency (ACT) those establishments which promote it. The decision came after a meeting with representatives from the Association of Tourism Employers of the Counties of Penedès and Garraf (ADEPG). Director General of Tourism Marian Muro called on businessmen of the sector “to be brave” and preserve Catalonia as a prestigious tourist destination and “contribute” so that its image “won’t be damaged”. Indeed, an operator that organised the so-called ‘Karibean Spring Break’ in Salou, which was promoted directly to young foreigners and used binge drinking and the expectation of sex as a promotional tool to lure the young tourists, has withdrawn this tourism package from the market.

Abertis, a multinational company specialised in the management of toll roads and telecommunications infrastructure based in Barcelona, announced on Tuesday that it is to acquire 51.4% of the A4 Brescia-Padua Italian motorway. Spanning 146 km and acting as an important connection between the North of Italy and Central Europe, the route sees a circulation of approximately 91,000 vehicles per day. Abertis has also acquired the Italian motorway A31, which enjoys a strategic position thanks to its potential in becoming the fastest and shortest route to Eastern Europe. The total amount of the acquisition is €594 million, to be paid by January 2023, except for €5 million which will be paid when the transaction is closed in the coming months; the acquisition may bring in revenue of around €610 million for the Catalan company. 

2,500 employees of the Chinese multinational conglomerate Tiens were awarded a six-day trip throughout Spain, ending in Catalonia. Recognisable because of their bright turquoise garb with the company logo, the several thousand people had 20 aircraft and over 1,500 hotel rooms reserved for them. The trip was also business related. Indeed, the company expects to sign new “strategic alliances” with Catalan companies, noted Li Zongmin, son of billionaire tycoon, philanthropist, chairman and founder of Tiens, Li Jinyuan. The primary business allegiance is currently with pharmaceutical factory Eladiet Papiol, located east of Barcelona. Li Zongmin also added that Catalonia’s push for independence would not affect future business decisions.

The port of Palamós on the Costa Brava will receive more luxury cruises this season, but will also lose almost 20,000 passengers compared to 2015. Although the number of cruise liners stopping at the Catalan coastal town will not vary substantially, there will be a decline in the number of passengers due to the fact that the two cruise ships with the greatest capacity, the Thomson Dream and the Island Escape, will not dock this season. The former has changed its route to the Caribbean, while the latter has been sent to the scrapyard. The president of Ports of Catalonia, Ricard Font, says that this decline is not a “major concern” because it responds to “objective reasons” and that the port of Palamós is still highly valued. Proof of this, he points out, is that 59% of the companies that will dock from now until November are luxury cruise liners that carry passengers coming to spend three times more money than conventional cruise travellers. In 2016 the port will also open the maritime station, which has been remodelled and is almost ready for when Palamós becomes an external border within the Schengen zone.

Tourists spent 2.467 billion euros in Catalonia in the first quarter of 2016. This sum is equal to 6.7% more than the same period last year, according to the Tourist Expenditure Survey (Egatur) published by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). In March alone, the amount that foreigners spent in Catalonia was 922 million euros, a decrease of 5.6% compared with March of last year. On a country-wide scale, foreigners spent 12.255 billion euros in all of Spain in the first quarter of 2016, 7.4% more than last year. These figures indicate that Catalonia absorbed 20.1% of foreigners’ expenditure in Spain in the first three months of the year.

Unemployment in Catalonia at the end of the first trimester of 2016 totalled 660,000 people, 98,100 fewer than in the same period last year. Thus, the unemployment rate was 17.42%, the lowest since the third trimestre of 2010, according to the latest Active Population Survey (EPA). Between January and March 2016, 25,700 joined the labour market and occupation grew in the industry sector. However, it decreased in the services, construction and agricultural sector. In the whole of Spain, unemployment rose by 0.25% this past trimester, setting the unemployment rate at 21% and totalling 4,791,400 people without a job. 

From the 25th to the 28th of April, Barcelona Gran Via will host a new edition of Alimentaria, one of the most important trade fairs in the world focusing on food and drinks and the second most important in the Catalan capital after the Mobile World Congress. Amongst the newest trends to be featured in 2016 are superfoods, local food and organics. The event is also celebrating its 40^th anniversary with several novelties, the most prominent of which is the Multiple Foods trade fair, a more diverse exhibition which will bring together different companies. Additionally added are beverage and frozen food manufacturers in Restaurama, Vinorum Think, and Halal Concept. The exhibition has a projected economic impact of 170 million euros for Barcelona, already manifesting in the high hotel reservations. 

In Napa Valley, California, 8 companies, 7 wineries, and 2 chefs from Catalonia will participate in the World of Flavors conference on the 22^nd of April. The event is renowned as the leading conference in the field of gastronomy in the United States. This year, 800 restaurant chains, hotels, chefs, and operators will attend the conference to check out the latest culinary trends and techniques. Catalonia’s participation in the conference is part of a business mission led by ACCIÓ, a project of the Generalitat to promote Catalan business competition, innovation and cooperation around the world. Catalan Ministry for Business and Knowledge Jordi Baiget will also accompany the culinary participants to the United States, making several stops in California, Miami, and Washington D.C. to discuss Catalan business expansion in the country. 

In its first annual collection, a tax raised on banks and other financial institutions maintaining empty flats has generated €11.3 million. When it was first approved, the tax was only expected to raise €8 million. The revenue from the tax is a “very positive” first assessment according to Catalan Minister for Public Administration and Housing, Meritxell Borras. The revenue gained from taxing 198 institutions with flats that remained empty for two years or more will be used to purchase 260 properties for public housing in Catalonia. However, Borras is concerned that the tax will be “endangered” by potential interference by the government in state functions. 

The Catalan Government collected €43.5 million in tourism tax revenue in 2015, an increase of nearly 5.5% from 2014. Quarterly analysis shows a growth in revenue from hotels, cruises, and tourist homes used by those visiting Catalonia. Additionally, the Catalan Government said that 2015’s numbers show widespread growth in touristic revenues across almost all areas of Catalonia, with Terres de l’Ebre leading with an 11.6% growth from 2014. Catalan Ministry for Business and Knowledge Jordi Baiget said the increase in revenue is “parallel to the increase in tourists” who visit Catalonia — especially those who visit during the last quarter of the year, which in 2015 proved to be the most successful.