Business News & Financial News

In Spain 26th February 2026

Pension spending soars to €14.272 billion in February, up 6%

Social Security—carrying an annual deficit that independent analyses from FEDEA place near €70 billion—paid out 10,446,888 contributory pensions to approximately 9.5 million people this February, according to a report released Wednesday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration. Additionally, it paid out another 700,000 non-contributory pensions. Of the contributory pensions, 6.7 million are retirement pensions; 2.3 million are widowhood pensions; over one million are for permanent disability; more…

In Europe 24th February 2026

Eurozone composite PMI rises to 51.9 points against 51.3 points in January, due to increased production in manufacturing and services

Singular Bank | According to preliminary readings, the Eurozone manufacturing PMI rebounded to 50.8 points in February (compared to 49.5 points in January), exceeding analysts’ consensus estimates (50.8 points) and reaching its highest level since June 2022. At the same time, the services PMI rose slightly by 0.2 points to 51.8 points. Given this development, the composite PMI rose to 51.9 points (compared to 51.3 points in January), explained by…

In the World 25th February 2026

US consumer confidence rises 2.2 points in January to 91.2, but remains below November 2024 figure of 112.8

Singular Bank | In February, the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index in the US rose 2.2 points to 91.2 points following an upward revision of January’s figure (89.0 points). This reading significantly exceeded market consensus estimates (87.4 points), although it remains well below the four-year high of 112.8 reached in November 2024. At the same time, the present situation index rose 6.3 points to 120.0 points and the expectations index…

“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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