Top Stories

In Spain

housing overvalued

Spanish economy 8th June 2023

Home purchases fall by 20.7% in April (to 49,639 units), average mortgage at €142,000

The number of home sales and purchases fell by 20.7% year-on-year last April, to 49,639 operations, according to notaries. Meanwhile, the average price per square metre stood at €1,622, 0.9% more than in April 2022, according to data from the General Council of Notaries published on Wednesday. By housing type, sales of flats fell 20.2% year-on-year to 38,269 units, with prices down 0.2% – to €1,787 per square metre –…

euro espana

Spanish economy 8th June 2023

OECD raises economic forecasts for Spain: 2.1% in 2023, 1.9% in 2024

BancaMarch: The Paris-based organisation expects Spain to grow by 2.1% in 2023, improving its forecast for the country by up to four tenths of a percentage point compared to the previous report and in line with the government’s expectations. Looking ahead to 2024, the OECD also raises its forecasts, from 1.7% to 1.9%, although here it is below the executive’s forecast (+2.4%). With these forecasts, Spain will be the large…

Zara

Spanish economy 7th June 2023

Inditex quarterly profit up 54% to record €1.168 billion

Inditex’s (ITX) net profit rose 54% in its first fiscal quarter (1 February 2023 to 30 April 2023), to €1.168 billion. Sales grew by 13% in the first fiscal quarter, to €7,611 million, with a performance that has been described as “very satisfactory” both in shops and online. They also stressed that sales were positive in all geographic areas and in all formats. Sales at constant exchange rates were up…

car makers europe

In Spain, Spanish economy 7th June 2023

Car sales in Spain rise in May for fifth month running

Intermoney| According to data published by the manufacturers’ (Anfac), dealers’ (Faconauto) and vendors’ (Ganvam) associations, car sales in Spain maintained a positive performance in May, with growth of 8.3%, slightly higher than the 8.2% in April but moderating the rate of increase after the strong growth of+45% accumulated in the first quarter. More than 92k vehicles were registered in May, bringing cumulative sales in the first five months of the…

nadia calvino bruselas

In Spain, Spanish economy, Spanish Politics 6th June 2023

Government to request extra €94 billion of European funds today

Today’s Council of Ministers is expected to approve the addendum to the extension of the Recovery Plan, with which Spain will ask Brussels for an additional €94 billion from the Next Generation programme, including soft loans and non-refundable aid. Initially, the European Union assigned Spain direct transfers of €69.5 billion from the Recovery Mechanism, to be unblocked through compliance with the investments and reforms agreed in the Plan, as well…

red electrica cableado

In Spain, Relevant News Item, Spanish economy 5th June 2023

Spanish electricity demand plummets by 8.7% in May

ASE Group| With an extraordinary drop of 8.7%, the daily average of Spanish electricity demand in May was 562 GWh, practically the same as that recorded in May 2021 (560 GWh) at the height of the pandemic. This decrease was more pronounced in the hours of maximum solar radiation (between 11% and 12%) due to the boom in self-consumption installations in both homes and businesses. The other factor that explains…

Congreso

In Spain, Spanish Politics 5th June 2023

Spain: everyone will agree with everyone

Fernando González Urbaneja | The aim of politicians is to achieve power, to whatever degree possible, but power. And the laws of democracy are conditioned by arithmetic, that is, to achieve the sum of votes that will give greater or lesser access to power. These are two principles that we are going to see in action over the coming weeks in the city councils and autonomous governments that are in…

Sanchez Feijoo

In Spain, Spanish Politics 2nd June 2023

Who is more like Trump, Feijóo or Sánchez?

Fernando González Urbaneja| If we have to choose the highlights of Pedro Sánchez’s leadership trajectory, one of them would have to be the “No is No” (what part of this has not been understood?) It was his entry through the big door of political decisions by not enabling a new government after the first elections of 2016 with a tactical abstention, which mathematically blocked the forming of a parliamentary majority…

unemployed august

Spanish economy 2nd June 2023

Unemployment falls by 49,260 in May

In May, the Social Security system gained an average of 200,411 contributors compared with the previous month (+0.97%) and the number of affiliates exceeded 20.8 million for the first time after adding more than 210,000 employed people, according to data from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. In addition, the number of unemployed fell by 49,260 people compared to the previous month (-1.8%). All these data are driven…

vidrala

Companies, Relevant News Item, Spanish economy 2nd June 2023

Good news for Vidrala: Coca Cola to promote use of glass in the hospitality industry

Renta 4| Coca Cola Europacific Partners has launched an action plan to promote the use of glass in the hotel and catering industry, with the aim of giving priority to this type of packaging over aluminium or plastic cans. The plan aims to introduce glass containers in up to 10,000 establishments that use other types of packaging, in response to the study “Consumer Preferences in Hotel and Catering” carried out…