Business

The European Commission has opened “an in-depth investigation” into whether public measures in favour of mining company Iberpotash gave it a selective advantage over its competitors, in breach of EU State aid rules. “The Spanish authorities fully financed EUR 7.9 million of costs to physically cover one of Iberpotash's waste heaps and reduce pollution” stated the EC’s press release. If confirmed, this would entail a breach in the 'polluter pays' principle since a public authority would have been bearing the clean-up costs rather than the company responsible for the pollution. Iberpotash already has a European infraction procedure against it, which has been pending since 2014.

The main Catalan trade association for small and medium-sized companies, Pimec, has repeatedly shown its support for Catalonia’s right to decide its political future. However, in an interview with CNA this Thursday, Pimec’s president Josep González called for the Government to keep the pro-independence process “within the law”. “Let’s do things, but let’s do them right and with common sense”, he stated. González also urged the new executive to approve a new budget as soon as possible and fight against unemployment. The association head went on to celebrate the election of the new Catalan Minister for Business and Knowledge, Jordi Baiget, and defined him as “prudent, open-minded and educated”.

Mobile World Congress 2016 expects 95,000 visitors, 2,000 more than in 2015. 2,100 exhibitors, 160 government delegates and 4,000 journalists from all over the world will also attend the fair, which is considered the most important in the mobile sector. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will feature, for the third year in a row, as one of the congress’ most high-profile speakers and F1 driver Lewis Hamilton will take part in a round table to discuss the implementation of wireless technology in the automotive sector. Giants from the sector, such as Google, Samsung, Sony and LG, will be present at the fair, while Apple will once again be the most notable absentee. The Mobile World Congress will generate a 460 million euros impact on Barcelona and its surroundings and will create 13,000 jobs. Security measures for this year’s edition will be increased due to the terrorist attacks which occurred in Paris in November.

The Catalan capital will host the first Amazon express delivery centre in Europe. Similar to New York’s recently opened Amazon ‘Prime Now’ delivery centre, Barcelona will have a centre to attend to customers’ demands quickerand deliver products on the same day. Amazon will establish this centre at 89 Rosselló Street, in Barcelona city. The building was previously the headquarters of the Editorial Gustavo Gili publishing house and its huge basement makes it an appropriate choice considering Amazon’s activities. This operation is to complement the creation of Amazon’s biggest logistics centre in the South of Europe, which will be built in El Prat de Llobregat, close to Barcelona El Prat Airport. 

39.7 million passengers used Barcelona’s El Prat Airport facilities this 2015, 5.7% more than last year. This figure sets a new record for El Prat, which is the second busiest airport in Spain, only beaten by Madrid Barajas. December was also a historic month, with 2,604,772 passengers whom passed through El Prat. The highest figure was registered in August 2015, were nearly 4.4 million passengers used El Prat Airport’s facilities. The passenger group which grew the most was international travellers, especially the Latin American market, which registered a 21.7% increase in comparison to last year. Regarding the number of operations registered, there were 288.878 take-offs and landings in 2015, which represents 1.8% more than in 2014. 

There were 515,668 unemployed people in Catalonia at the end of 2015, which represents 60,280 fewer jobseekers than there were at the end of last year. This is the lowest figure since 2008, according to data released by the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security. In December alone, the number of unemployed people in Catalonia decreased by 5,992, which represents a fall of 1.15%. In the whole of Spain, 2015 registered 4,093,508 people without a job, nearly 8% lower than at the end of 2014, which is the highest annual drop in the historical series. More than 1.5 million new contracts were signed in the whole of Spain during 2015, however less than 7% of them were permanent. 

The results of the 20-D Spanish Elections and the negotiations to form a new government in Catalonia, which are still ongoing, are worrying the business world. During the celebration of the eighth edition of the Carles Ferrer Salat Awards, which recognise remarkable initiatives in the business world, Foment del Treball’s president Joaquim Gay de Montellà highlighted the difficulties in forming “stable and strong” governments. “Everything would be easier if it would have been possible to start a dialogue process” he stated in a speech before current Catalan President Artur Mas and the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, José Manuel García Margallo. Gay de Montellà also announced that “the risk of recession has moved away and the economy is running”.

Companies, entities and citizens have European funding opportunities at their disposal to make their projects grow. To promote these EU resources and facilitate access to them, the Catalan government has launched a website which includes the available European funding opportunities and the calls for entry in progress. “We must break the myth of a lack of access” to the EU institutions, stated the Catalan Permanent Representative to the EU, Amadeu Altafaj, and added that “they are more open and more accessible than what people may think”. The Catalan Foreign Affairs Secretary, Roger Albinyana, encouraged everybody to “make the most of the European funding opportunities” and called Catalans to be “even more ambitious”.

Prices have started to recover. They increased by 0.3% this past November in Catalonia and broke the negative trend of the last three months. Thus, the annual inflation rate is now 0%, according to the Spanish Institute of Statistics (INE). This increase has been caused mainly by the stabilisation of fuel prices, which dropped in 2014, the increase in the cost of electricity in comparison to the same period last year and the rise in the price of clothing and housing in November. Barcelona is the only region where the inflation rate is slightly positive; it was 0.1% at the end of November, whereas the previous month it was -0.1%. In the whole of Spain, prices rose by 0.4% last month in comparison to October but the annual rate is still negative, at -0.3%. 

The 15-hectare plot is worth 30 million euros and is located in El Prat de Llobregat, the same village where Barcelona El Prat airport is located, a municipality 10 kilometres away from Barcelona. Now the leading e-commerce company has a month to formalise the transaction, but it has already celebrated the awarding and has expressed in a communiqué its will "to keep on expanding" its logistics network in Europe. "This means that we are attractive, that we are well-placed and that we have a future" stated current Catalan President, Artur Mas. The awarding arrives a few days after the largest business organisation in Catalonia, Foment del Treball, noted in its 'Report of the Economic Situation' that Catalonia's push for independence hasn't affected foreign investment in the territory. On the contrary, during the first half of 2015, Catalonia attracted 1.959 billion euros, which represents a remarkable increase of 281.2% in comparison to the same period last year.

Catalan Minister for Business and Labour, Felip Puig has denied that companies are withdrawing from Catalonia or moving their tax base to other parts of Spain due to the Catalan political process. On the contrary, Puig pointed out, more companies are leaving Madrid to set up their tax base in other Autonomous Communities. He went on to claim that "an orchestrated campaign with distorted data" has been carried out to induce "fear" in companies, investors and the whole of the Catalan citizenry. Puig also emphasised that some of the companies which have changed their tax base have kept the business and the production within Catalonia and noted the 281% rise in foreign investment in Catalonia. 

Catalan Minister for Agriculture Jordi Ciuraneta claimed that Spanish diplomacy “obstructed”the commercial mission to China of twenty Catalan companies from the meat, fish and citrus fruit sectors. According to Ciuraneta, Spain’s embassy interfered to “cancel”two important meetings between Catalan businessmen, representatives from the Catalan government and several Chinese organisations responsible for authorising the Catalan companies’exports, scheduled for this Wednesday. Ciuraneta considered it “institutional aggression”that “damages”the Catalan companies who travelled to China and their commercial mission. Catalan liberal party CDC MEP Ramon Tremosa stated that Spain’s executive “contradicts the European policies regarding the opening of new markets”and asked the European Commission to investigate what he described as “Spain’s diplomacy boycott”.

More than 723,500 vehicles were transported through Port de Barcelona during the first ten months of the year, 19% more than in the same period last year. Most of them, 374,554, were exports, although what grew the most from January to September were vehicle imports (+41%). Freight traffic during the first ten months of the year was 3% higher than in the same period last year, reaching 1.6 TEU, the transport unit which is equal to a 20-foot container. Goods exports were higher than imports and China and the USA topped the ranking of destination markets. Finally, from January to October Port de Barcelona received 3.3 million passengers, which is 6% more than the same period last year. 2.2 million of these were cruise liner passengers.

“It is indispensable and urgent to change Catalan politics’direction”, stated this Friday the Cercle d’Economia’s president, Anton Costat. The main Catalan economic forum open to businesspeople and academics warned that the declaration of independence, approved in the Parliament by pro-independence forces ‘Junts Pel Sí’and CUP “breaks the law”and could cause “a strong social fracture”, and emphasised that “a wide majority of society”didn’t support the text. According to Costas “there have been negative effects on business decisions regarding investment and location of corporate headquarters in Catalonia” since “the first minute”the declaration was approved. Such consequences, added the Cercle d’Economia, would be even greater if ‘Junts Pel Sí’and CUP finally reach an agreement.

A record figure of 14,000 visitors attended the fifth edition of the 'Smart City Expo World Congress' the summit of smart cities organised by Fira de Barcelona. 465 exhibitors, more than 400 international speakers and 500 cities from the five continents presented their experiences regarding urban solutions and innovative technology. "This confirms the consolidation of the congress" stated Smart City's director, Ugo Valenti. He also highlighted urban transformation as one of the greatest challenges of the future and the congress as "a really valid platform for knowledge and experience exchange". The Catalan government presented three projects from the 'SmartCAT' framework to promote intelligent cities. Telecommunications and Information Society general director Jordi Puigneró recapped the 50 initiatives that have been launched in Catalonia during the 'SmartCAT' project’s first year of implementation.