Business News & Financial News

In Spain 14th April 2026

Fedea reports: lower classes bear the brunt of government rent caps

The Spanish Government is currently seeking to ratify a Royal Decree in Congress that would extend rent controls for two years and cap annual increases at 2%. This decree, championed by Sumar—the more left-wing partner of the coalition—faces a difficult path to approval. Consequently, the PSOE has moved to process it separately to prevent Parliament from voting it down alongside other measures designed to mitigate the effects of the conflict…

In Europe 30th March 2026

GfK consumer confidence index in Germany falls sharply in April to -28.0 points, compared to -24.8 in March

Singular Bank | In April, the GfK consumer confidence index in Germany fell significantly to -28.0 points (against -24.8 points in March), exceeding the decline projected by the consensus of analysts (-27.3). This development is explained by rising uncertainty and inflation expectations in the face of surging energy and other commodity prices linked to the conflict in the Middle East. The most notable change was the sharp rise in price…

In the World 13th April 2026

US CPI for March yet to reflect full impact of Iran conflict: 3.3%, slightly below 3.4% expected

Bankinter | The CPI rose slightly less than expected in March: 3.3% against an estimate of 3.4% and a previous reading of 2.4%. Core rate 2.6% compared to an estimated 2.7% and the previous 2.5%. Analysis team’s view: the monthly figure (0.9% month-on-month) is the highest since June 2022, driven by the energy shock following the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East. The rise excluding energy is more…

“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…

…in the last week