caixa

Some 350 pre-book tickets to visit the first cultural exhibition to return amid Covid-19

A new exhibition from London's V&A Museum covers 400 years through eight major works and the cities in which they premiered 

Strategic plan 2019-2021 aims to “optimize” network in Spain and prioritize digital banking

The Catalan financial giant expects the deal to go through at the end of 2018 or start of 2019

Two institutions will continue to work together putting on new exhibitions in CaixaForum centres between 2020 and 2024

The exhibition 'Drawing Versailles. Charles Le Brun (1619-1690)', from the Paris Louvre Museum's collection, will be displayed in Barcelona’s CaixaForum until the 14^th of February. The exhibition shows the preliminary cartoons and sketches that painter Charles Le Brun did for the Staircase of the Ambassadors and the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. The drawings include studies of characters, allegorical figures, trophies and animals that formed part of the artist’s compositions, conceived as a great symbolic jigsaw puzzle. The Louvre Museum has 300 of these drawings and 78 of them will now be displayed in Barcelona's CaixaForum. The exhibition is the fruit of an agreement reached in 2009 between the two institutions through which many exhibitions from the Louvre can be shown in the Catalan capital. 

The collaboration will bring to Catalonia some of the masterpieces of the great civilisations that are currently on display in the British Museum. Most of them are pieces that are rarely loaned to other museums and that will be seen in Spain for the first time ever. The four projects will focus on Medieval Europe, Ancient Greece, the Pharaohs of Egypt and the Phoenicians. Between 2016 and 2020, the exhibitions will be displayed in Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona, Lleida, Palma and three other ‘CaixaForum’, the centres that normally host the exhibitions promoted and organised by ‘La Caixa’ Bank Foundation. The Bank Foundation of ‘La Caixa’, which is the biggest bank in Catalonia, is the section of the bank that focuses on welfare projects committed to society, education, science, the arts and culture.

The Spanish banking giant BBVA, which purchased Catalunya Banc last July, is now proposing to shut down 400 branches of the acquired bank and reduce its staff by 2,000 employees (out of a total of 4,400 currently employed), according to trade union sources. At the end of April, the BBVA announced it would close 285 Catalunya Banc branches and reduce the staff by about 1,700 people. However, this Wednesday the Spanish bank has released higher figures and with this action is kicking off the official negotiation period with trade unions before it registers a mass layoff. The adjustment is to start already this year and would be completed by 2017, with the main part of it taking place during 2016. In theory it should only affect the branches that originally belonged to Catalunya Banc (CX) and the employees who were originally working for the former Catalan savings bank, and not those of the BBVA working in Catalonia. In April, Angel Cano, who is the CEO of the Spanish bank, stated that the adjustment would take place within the new integrated structure, not only in regard to the former CX branches and staff.

Veremonte has walked out on the BCN World project, the largest holiday resort in Europe based in the Costa Daurada, near Tarragona, as first announced by the Catalan Business Minister, Felip Puig, on Thursday and later confirmed by the company itself. However, Puig has assured that this will not impede the project's continuation as companies such as Melco, Hard Rock, Grup Peralada and Value Retail remain committed to it. Veremonte did not provide any further details about its decision. The investment company was initially leading the initiative and had reached an agreement with La Caixa bank to buy 500 hectares of land in 2012. However, it missed the final deadline last December to do so and the Catalan Government had to jump in to guarantee the project's continuation, reaching an agreement with La Caixa for the land. However, Veremonte was still linked to the initiative through the casino licences' tender, which it bidding for in partnership with Hard Rock and Melco.

Veremonte has added additional uncertainty to the future of the BCN World project, the largest holiday resort in Europe based in the Costa Daurada, near Tarragona. After a $6 billion investment, it will include – among other facilities – 6 mega-casino hotels, amusement parks and shopping malls. Veremonte – which was initially leading the project – announced that it could leave, depending on how the Catalan Government will develop the final Urban Plan and how it will set the conditions for the second phase of the casino licences' tender. In 2012, Veremonte had already reached an agreement with La Caixa bank to buy 500 hectares of the land. However, the company missed the first deadline and did not meet the second one (last December) to do so, arguing that the final Urban Plan had not yet been approved. The Catalan Government then jumped in and reached an agreement with La Caixa for the rights to buy the land and guarantee the project's continuation. Veremonte still continues to be linked to the project through the casino licence tender, for which it is running with Hard Rock and Melco.

The "La Caixa" Foundation has opened Moche Art from Ancient Peru. Gold, Myths and Rituals, an exhibition to be hosted at CaixaForum in Barcelona until the 7th of June. The exhibition includes 200 pieces of pre-Incan Peruvian art from the collection of the Lima-based Larco Museum. According to its curator Ulla Holmquist, the exhibition is conceived "as a route to understanding the Andean worldview through art". The launch of the event coincides with the recent opening of Barcelona's Museum of World Cultures, which hosts a permanent exhibition of more than 500 pieces from the artistic heritage and traditions of Asia, Africa, the Americas and Oceania. The Museum of World Cultures occupies two Gothic palaces located in the Born neighbourhood, just next to the Picasso Museum.

The Costa Brava-based Cap Roig's music festival will hold its 15^th edition from 10 July to 16 August. Many international and local artists will take part in the event which will start with a performance by one of the greatest exponents of British pop-rock, Sting. The following day, American singer-songwriter Ben Harper will be on stage playing with his legendary band, The Innocent Criminals, in their first tour together for seven years. The festival will also host other big names of international renown such as Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett, Rosario, Antonio Orozco, Julieta Venegas, Miguel Bosé, Passenger and Macaco. Among the featured Catalan artists will be: Mishima with Joan Miquel Oliver, Blaumut, Els Amics de les Arts and Núria Graham. The festival will end with Alejandro Sanz's performance.

The Catalan Government is now managing the sale of the 150 hectares owned by La Caixa on which the BCN World holiday resort should build its 6 macro-casinos. On Thursday the bank and the Catalan Executive signed the agreement, which comes the day after the private investor Veremonte announced it was postponing the land purchase once again. Veremonte had an exclusivity agreement to buy 500 hectares of land before December 10 at midnight for €380 million, but it postponed the purchase because the urban planning details were still unknown. However, the core of BCN World's project, which is the 6 Las Vegas style hotels and casinos as well as a luxury shopping mall, only takes up 150 hectares. The Catalan Government decided to jump in to strengthen the project and guarantee that the main plots will be available for private investors to build the casinos. It will manage the sale for the next 18 months, while the definitive and detailed urban planning for the area should be approved in July 2015. The other hectares will be directly sold by La Caixa.

The Catalan banking system boasts a strong image after the publication on Sunday of the 2014 EU-wide stress test results, issued by the European Banking Authority (EBA). All the financial entities based in Catalonia have sailed through the EBA stress test, showing they could face the most adverse economic developments with only their own resources. In the most difficult scenario, Barcelona-based CaixaBank – which is the largest bank in the Spanish market – reached a 9.3% equity ratio (CET1), Banc Sabadell got an 8.3% and Catalunya Banc an 8%. The minimum required was 5.5%, which was not reached by 24 of the 123 European banks analysed. Only one Spanish entity, Madrid-based Liberbank, would need additional capital in the worst case scenario.

Barcelona-based CaixaBank, which leads the Spain's banking market, registers a net attribute profit of €305 million during the first half of 2014. This is 25.3% less than 2013 and it is due to extraordinary operations such as the costs of totally integrating Banc de València and the effects of 2012 regulatory regarding the restructuring of toxic real estate assets. Apart from that, the profit attributable to the banking and insurance business, which excludes real estate activity and the investments portfolio, stands at €665 million. The banking business has generated €1.72 billion, representing a 6.8% increase, and highlights the acceleration of the decrease of the delinquency rate, which fell for the second consecutive quarter and now stands at 10.78%, 88 basis points less.