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The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.
Inflation Spain

Spanish economy 31st August 2026

Spain: Retail sales drop for the first time since 2022

The National Statistics Institute (INE) reported that retail sales in Spain fell by 0.9% in July compared to June, a month in which they had rebounded by 0.3%. By distribution channel, e-commerce sales experienced the sharpest decline during the month (-2.5%). Excluding gas station sales, which dropped 4.4% in July, retail sales decreased by 0.6% month-on-month. By product category, food sales declined by 0.7%, while non-food products fell by 0.6%….

Shorts and shares on credit, a problem of information

European economy 31st August 2026

Share buybacks reach a new record in Europe ($17 billion in August and $170 billion year-to-date), keeping stock markets at record highs

According to analysis by Morgan Stanley, share buybacks in Europe reached approximately $17 billion in August, making it the highest August on record (+14% year-on-year). Year-to-date cumulative buybacks in Europe have now risen to ~$170 billion, an all-time high and 12% above the previous record. Measured in U.S. dollars, the largest programs include: Shell: program exceeding $7 billionNovartis: over $6 billionBP: over $3.5 billionUBS, TotalEnergies, and SAP: over $3 billion…

santander sucursal 3CM

Companies, Relevant News Item 28th August 2026

Santander launches a new share buyback program: €1.825 billion over one hundred days

Just three days after completing the share buyback program in which it invested more than €5 billion, Banco Santander has launched a new plan, allocating an additional €1.825 billion with the objective of acquiring 1% of its capital. The entity expects this new plan to extend over “98 trading sessions,” which could extend its execution until January 8, 2027, across the Spanish stock exchange as well as Turquoise Europe, DXE…

inflation board

In Spain 28th August 2026

Spain: Inflation Surges to 4.3%

Prices in Spain rose by 4.3% in August compared to the same month in 2025, driven by rising fuel costs—a jump seven-tenths higher than July’s figure (3.6%) and the highest rate since February 2023. Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) published this Friday the advance Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for the month, which was shaped by price hikes in fuels and lubricants for personal vehicles, products that had dropped in…

ACS nuevo

Companies, Relevant News Item 27th August 2026

ACS awarded €450 million prison overhaul in Australia

Queensland has had an ambitious prison plan underway since 2023 and has just awarded ACS the contract to renovate and expand the Townsville Correctional Centre, one of the largest in the country. The investment budget is around AUD 1 billion. Its subsidiary, CPB Contractors, will execute the works for slightly less—approximately AUD 730 million (around €450 million). In collaboration with Queensland Corrective Services (QCS) and the Department of Housing and…

CO2

In Spain 27th August 2026

Spain allocates 38.1 million annual free emission allowances to industry for the 2026–2030 period

Upon the proposal of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism; the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise; and the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, the Council of Ministers approved the final agreement on the free allocation of greenhouse gas emission allowances to installations subject to the emissions trading scheme for the 2026–2030 period. This will affect more than 650 industrial plants, which will collectively receive an…

pensioners

Spanish economy 26th August 2026

The average Social Security pension is now higher than Spain’s most frequent salary (€1,373)

This August, Social Security allocated a record €14.4704 billion to pay the standard monthly contributive pension payroll, a 6.2% increase compared to the same month in 2024, as reported this Tuesday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. This payroll includes the pension revaluation approved by the Government for 2026. Generally, the increase reaches 2.7%, matching the average CPI between December 2024 and November 2025. The average retirement…

Spain EUFunds

Relevant News Item 26th August 2026

Spain drops one place in activist fund preferences—down to eighth position—with $3.555 billion invested

Sodali has published its report on activist funds for the second quarter of the year, in which Spain fell from 7th to 8th position and activist investors closed or reduced more positions than they added. They increased or initiated 798 positions and trimmed or exited 1,026. The US is the top market for these funds, with total investments of $242.936 billion, followed at a considerable distance by the Japanese market…

Airbus

Companies, Relevant News Item 25th August 2026

Airbus Spain workforce votes in favor of an indefinite strike

Airbus Spain workers will begin an indefinite strike starting today, Tuesday, August 25. The employees made the decision this Monday in assemblies organized by the CGT, UGT, and ÚTIL trade unions, voting to reject the company’s latest proposal and maintain the initially planned walkout, even though negotiations for an agreement will continue in the coming days. The European aerospace giant has eight production sites in Spain, employing a total of…

Repsol

In Spain 25th August 2026

Spain and five other countries demand an extraordinary tax on oil companies from Brussels

Spain and five other European Union (EU) countries are demanding a debate in September on a windfall tax on oil companies’ extraordinary profits. Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, and Austria have requested that the issue be included on the agenda for the meeting of EU Finance Ministers on September 18 and 19 in Dublin, following the sharp surge in energy prices caused by the Iranian blockade of the Strait of…