Business News & Financial News

In Spain 29th January 2026

Spanish government launches 35-hour working week for State Public Employees

While doctors are notifying the Ministry of Health of strikes and mobilizations due to—amongst other issues—mandatory 24-hour shifts, the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Civil Service, led by Oscar López, has informed the CCOO and UGT unions that it is initiating the procedure to implement a 35-hour workweek within the General State Administration. This move aims to fulfill the commitments signed in the “Framework Agreement for the 21st Century Administration.”…

In Europe 28th January 2026

Car sales in Europe rise 1.8% to 10.6 million in 2025, far from pre-pandemic levels

Bankinter | Car sales rise 1.8% in 2025 to 10.6 million. Still far from pre-pandemic levels (13 million in 2019). Registrations gain momentum in December (5.8% year-on-year) and contribute to a slight increase in the annual total (1.8% to 10.6 million). Combustion vehicles lead the decline (diesel down 24.2% and petrol down 18.7%), while electric vehicles accelerate (plug-in hybrids up 33.4%, electric vehicles up 29.9% and non-plug-in hybrids up 13.7%)….

In the World 29th January 2026

India-EU trade worth $136.5 billion in 2025, compared to $132 billion India-US and $128 billion India-China

Link Securities | According to Reuters, India and the European Union (EU) announced yesterday that they have reached a trade agreement that will drastically reduce tariffs on most products, with the aim of boosting bilateral trade. The agreement is expected to double EU exports to India by 2032, eliminating or reducing tariffs on 96.6% of the value of traded goods, which will save European companies €4 billion in tariffs, according…

“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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