Business News & Financial News

In Spain 17th February 2026

Pedro Sánchez, who promised 183,000 homes in 2023, sets up “España Crece” fund to attempt building 15,000 per year

Yesterday, Sánchez presented the new “España Crece” (Spain Grows) fund and claimed it will mobilize €23 billion for housing construction at a rate of 15,000 units per year. Given that the Bank of Spain estimates a shortage of 700,000 homes in the Eurozone’s fourth-largest economy to resolve the housing crisis, at the current pace of “España Crece,” housing needs would not be fully met until around the year 2070. Sánchez…

In Europe 17th February 2026

Eurozone industrial production falls 1.4% in December, confirming downturn at end of year

CdM | Eurozone industrial production fell by 1.4% in December on a monthly basis, below the 1.5% decline expected by consensus, according to the first estimate published by Eurostat on Monday. Across the European Union as a whole, the decline was 0.8%. Compared to November, when production had grown by 0.3% in the eurozone, the data confirms a deterioration at the end of the year. In addition, the previous figures…

In the World 17th February 2026

US CPI surprises in January with overall rate moderating to 2.4% and core of 2.5%

Bankinter | The CPI surprised on the upside in January. The headline rate moderated more than expected to 2.4% (-0.3pp), while the core rate of 2.5% (-0.1pp) was in line with expectations. Bankinter analysis team’s view: The good performance of inflation allows for a dovish/loose monetary policy by the Fed, whose reference rate is currently in the 3.50% / 3.75% range. Despite this, the strength of recent labour market data…

“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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