Business News & Financial News

In Spain 23rd February 2026

Catalan Generalitat proposes CPI that includes housing with 34% weighting, but this would reveal sharp loss in purchasing power

Neither the data from the INE (Spain’s National Statistics Institute) nor European statistical services capture the true scale of one of the expenses that suffocates citizens most: housing. The CPI only accounts for rental prices, and with a minimal weighting of just 5%—whereas in the U.S., for example, it represents 40% of the index. Consequently, the Catalan Generalitat has developed a proposal for a new indicator—reported today by the newspaper…

In Europe 19th February 2026

German economy continues to face structural challenges, especially in industry and private investment

Bankinter | The ZEW economic sentiment survey showed somewhat mixed data in February. Expectations fell to 58.3 from 59.6 (against 65.2 expected), while the current situation improved in line with expectations to -65.9 from -72.7. The overall indicator remains stable, signalling that the German economy is entering a still fragile recovery phase. Bankinter analysis team’s view: The largest economy in the European bloc continues to face structural challenges, especially in…

In the World, Uncategorised 23rd February 2026

Trump announces global tariff of 15%, to take effect almost immediately,’ EU demands he abide by trade terms signed in 2025

Link Securities | US President Donald Trump announced on Friday the signing of an executive order that would impose a 10% global tariff on all countries under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. The next day, he changed his mind and said he would raise it to 15%. The decision came after it was revealed that the Supreme Court had ruled that his use of the International Emergency…

“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