foreign

Trade unions refused to sign the Japanese company’s final offer to increase the competitiveness of Barcelona’s plant by reducing salaries and changing working conditions, so Nissan announced the end of the talks after 6 months of negotiation and meditation by the Catalan Government. Before Christmas, the Japanese company had already warned the unions that talks were coming to an end as the production of the new sedan car needed to be allocated. Back then Nissan presented a final offer, which has however been modified in the last few days. Once the agreement seemed to be imminent, Nissan floated the idea of a two-day reduction in holiday days, which the unions immediately rejected. Nissan warned that its Barcelona plant might now face “a slow-death scenario”.

The Catalan economy contracted by 0.3% between July and September, although its results improved slightly compared to the previous quarter, when it shrunk by 0.5%. The tourism sector continues to grow and internal consumption continues to drop. Compared to a year ago, by the end of September, Catalan GDP has fallen by 1.4%.

The Catalan theme park PortAventura, located on the Costa Daurada, between Tarragona and Salou, will be completely controlled by Investindustrial, a fund run by the Bonomi family. Portaventura is the only profitable theme park in Spain and one of only a few in Europe. Investindustrial is buying the remaining 50% of the park for €105 million. Furthermore, they have announced a future investment of €80 million to foster the park’s international expansion. PortAventura is located next to the land where the €6 billion mega-resort Barcelona World will be built. The Italian group has a consolidated trajectory of investing large amounts of capital in businesses from a wide range of sectors to ensure growth.

During the first few hours of the implementation of the tourist tax, no problems were detected. The fee ranges from 50 cents to 2.5 euros per hotel per night depending on the accommodation category and zone, with a maximum of seven nights per person. Children under 17 and tourists from social programmes are exempt from paying the fee. Clients have not complained and most of them say that they understand the need. Hotel owners have adapted their software to include the tax payment, although they complain that they have to pay for this change. This type of fee is common in countries such as the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Morocco, Egypt and Japan. The Catalan Government expects the tax to raise €50 million, to be used for the promotion of tourism.

The Catalan Government has confirmed that a framework agreement has been reached with the project's promoters, with the green light from Barcelona’s City Council. However the final details are still pending negotiation. No public funds from Catalan institutions will be allocated. The Catalan President, Artur Mas, will sign the agreement during his trip to Russia, scheduled for between Wednesday and Friday. Barcelona’s Hermitage will very likely occupy three old warehouses located at the city port, in front of the beach and the luxury hotel W. The architectural project was released two weeks ago and will fully renovate the old warehouses, which will have their own dock and three floors, including a basement. The Hermitage has already opened other centres outside Saint Petersburg, in Amsterdam, Ferrara and Kazan.

2 million foreigners visited Catalonia in August, a 14.7% increase compared to August 2011. In total, in the first 8 months of the year, 10.4 million international visitors came to Catalonia, a 12.1% raise compared to the same period from 2011. Madrid was visited by 381,000 foreigners in August, a 29.7% decrease. In the whole of Spain, the number of international tourists reached 7.9 million in August, a 5% increase. Out of all the tourists who visited Spain in August, 25.4% went to Catalonia.

‘Barcelona World’, located next to Salou’s beaches and PortaAventura, will have 6 new theme parks, as well as 12,000 hotel rooms, casinos, convention centres, golf courses and other amusement facilities. 10 million people are expected to visit the mega-resort funded by Veremonte each year, which will create 40,000 jobs. ‘Barcelona World’, located next to Tarragona in the Costa Daurada, will be Europe’s largest amusement resort and among the world’s largest, targeting family and business tourism. Construction may be complete by late 2016. The project has been announced after the expiration of the offer made to Las Vegas Sands to build its casinos next to Barcelona. This American company has not announced if it will finally build ‘Eurovegas’ in Madrid yet, but the Barcelona option seems to be ruled out.

Foreign tourism in Catalonia continues to flourish despite the economic crisis. In July, there have been just over two million foreign tourists to Catalonia, 9% more than in the same month of 2011. In the first seven months of 2012, Catalonia hosted 8.4 million foreign tourists, a figure which represents 25.6% of international tourism to Spain. Catalonia has therefore consolidated its position as the most visited tourist destination in Spain.

The Catalan coastal town of Sant Carles de la Ràpita has signed a collaboration agreement with the tour operator Coral Travel. The Russian company is already working in the Alfacs bay, a quiet area perfect for water sports. With this new agreement, the number of Russian tourists is expected to increase by 50% and twenty companies will benefit. The tourists can enjoy a wide range of activities such as boat rentals, fishing or sampling the various traditional dishes of the Ebro Delta, for example seafood paella. Moreover, all of these activities can be combined with cultural activities around the Ebro area, in southern Catalonia.

Thermal tourism continues to increase, but the sector still has to get rid of the stigma that associates it with the elderly. As a result of this image and the current economic context, people from the sector want to reinvent their business in order to reach publics of all ages. In the coming months thermal centres will begin to sell tourist packages destined for young people across Europe.

The arrival of foreign tourists with a greater purchasing power increases tourist income in Catalonia by 15% during the first four months of the year, compared to the same period last year. Traditionally Greece was the main destination for Russian citizens on holidays; however, the economic and political crisis the Hellenic country is going through has placed Catalonia on top of the list of Russian tourist priorities.

The multinational chemical company explains that they would invest more money if the Mediterranean Railway Corridor were already a reality. This infrastructure is being delayed by the Spanish Government and it would enable the transportation of freight on international standard width railway from Catalan ports to Central Europe, and vice versa.

UAE’s airline Emirates has announced it will link the Catalan capital with its main operations base in the Persian Gulf, Dubai. Emirates has emphasised that the new service will ease the access of Catalan companies to Asian markets and vice-versa as it will facilitate and increase the arrival of foreign investors and tourists coming from Asia to Barcelona.

The decision represents the creation of 700 direct and indirect jobs. Car manufacturer Nissan has confirmed it will build the new ‘e-NV200’, a totally electric van at its Zona Franca plant from next year. The plant is located in Barcelona, next to the city’s port and airport. From there, the new van will be distributed worldwide. Barcelona competed with other Nissan plants in China, Japan and Mexico. In addition, Nissan managers were confident that Barcelona’s plant could produce other models in the future.

A group of international bloggers with two million followers are traveling to different regions in Catalonia. These well-known tourist bloggers from the USA, Canada and United Kingdom are explaining their trip experiences through the internet, using the hashtag #catalunyaexperience. The Catalan Tourism Agency (ACT) has come up with the initiative.