Business News & Financial News

In Spain, Spanish economy 23rd March 2026

Spain to implement two decrees containing measures worth €5 billion to mitigate impact of war

Bankinter | The Government has announced two decrees containing measures worth €5 billion to mitigate the impact of the war. The first includes short-term measures to reduce taxes on electricity, such as the Special Tax on Electricity at 0.5% (down from 5.11%) until June 2026; the Hydrocarbon Tax on diesel, unleaded petrol, fuel oil, LPG, natural gas and kerosene is reduced; and a reduction in VAT on electricity for vulnerable…

In Europe 19th March 2026

ZEW Economic Sentiment Survey comes in worse than expected in March, reaching lowest level since April 2025

Bankinter | The ZEW Economic Sentiment Survey came in worse than expected in March, reaching its lowest level since April 2025. Expectations fell to negative 0.5 points (compared to the expected 39.2 and the previous 58.3), whilst the Current Situation improved to negative 62.9 (compared to negative 68.0 and the previous 65.9). Bankinter analysis team’s view: Negative reading. The survey, which polls around 350 analysts and investors on expectations and…

In the World 23rd March 2026

IEA director describes this crisis as worse than both 1970s oil crises combined

Norbolsa | Trump has given Iran 48 hours to open the Strait of Hormuz, failing which he will begin targeting its power facilities, but Iran is threatening to attack the critical infrastructure of all its neighbours. In addition to the latest ‘threats’, there is concern that we are now entering the fourth week of the conflict, with no sign of a solution, which increases the likelihood of facing more far-reaching…

“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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