Business News & Financial News

In Spain, Spanish economy 27th March 2026

S&P Global cuts 2026 growth forecast for Spain to 1.9% due to impact of war and rising energy prices

CdM | S&P Global hasrevised downwards its economic forecasts for Spain and Europe as a whole in light of the impact of the war in the Middle East and the surge in energy prices. Specifically, the firm now expects Spanish GDP to grow by 1.9% in 2026, down from the previous forecast of 2.1%, against a backdrop of weaker economic momentum and greater inflationary pressure. In its report, entitled ‘Economic…

In Europe 24th March 2026

Car sales in Europe up 1.4% in February, easing year-to-date decline

Bankinter | Car sales in Europe rose by 1.4% year-on-year in February. This moderates the year-to-date decline to 1.2%, with units sold exceeding 1.6 million. Plug-in hybrids led the growth (32.1%) for the month, followed by pure electric vehicles (20.6%) and non-plug-in hybrids (10.1%), whilst combustion engines declined (17.9% for petrol and 12.8% for diesel). Bankinter analysis team’s view: A slight recovery in February (1.4%) following the sharp decline (3.9%)…

In the World 26th March 2026

Final figure for Q4 2025 US labour costs: 4.4% year-on-year, compared with preliminary figure of 2.8%

Bankinter | Unit labour costs in Q4 2025 (final figure) rose by 4.4%, exceeding the expected 3.6% versus the preliminary 2.8% and compared with the previous drop of 1.8%. Productivity moderated to 1.8%, in line with expectations, from the preliminary 2.8% and 5.2% in Q3 2025. Analysis team’s view: cost pressures in the labour market increased in Q4 2025. It should be noted that Q4 2025 GDP (during which the…

“We need to approach negotiations with the U.S. on terms that are completely different from those currently being proposed”

Says Antonio Bonet, president of the Club of Spanish Exporters and Investors. He points out that “Europe has a single tariff applied by all member states, but the U.S. applies a tariff to each country, meaning it can decide that the tariff applied to Spanish black olives is higher than that for Italian olives, as it did at one point. So there is a part of the negotiation between Europe…

“Fifteen years ago, the European economy was larger than that of the U.S. Today, the U.S. economy is one and a half times that of Europe”

“It is a shame that we are able to mobilize economic resources for large-scale projects abroad, but not in our Spanish market”

In an interview with Consejeros magazine, Sacyr’s coordinating advisor, Elena Jiménez de Andrade, explains that now “We have great capacity to win projects, a capacity that until now contrasted with a series of financial limitations and balance sheet size. However, in this strategic cycle, we are going to eliminate those barriers. That is why we have set an ambitious goal for 2033: to triple the value of our assets. We…

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