In Spain

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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

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

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

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

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

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

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…


Iberdrola Guggenheim

Iberdrola reaches co-investment agreement with NBIM Iberian Reinfra for joint renewable assets portfolio in Spain and Portugal

Norbolsa| Iberdrola (IBE) announced a co-investment agreement with NBIM Iberian Reinfra (part of Norges Bank) for the joint development of a portfolio of renewable assets in Spain and Portugal. Iberdrola plans to sell 49% of another 500 MW for €250 million, bringing the joint portfolio of both firms to 1,800 MW, valued at around €1,800 million.


spain savings rate

Autonomous regions facing significant budget constraints

Jakob Suwalski and Giulia Branz (Scope Ratings) | Budget constraints faced by the autonomous regions make policy adjustments and new investments difficult. By the end of 2022, none of the regions met the 13% debt-to-GDP threshold in their fiscal framework, while the aggregate fiscal deficit worsened to 1.1% of GDP from 0.1% in 2021, contrasting with the reduction in the deficit of the general government, i.e. the central government plus…


pedro sanchez preocupado

Spain: early elections potentially advantageous for economic prospects

Jakob Suwalski (Scope Ratings) | Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s decision to call early elections is potentially advantageous for Spain’s economic outlook insofar as it should prevent the government from losing six months of valuable time to determine long-term policy goals, even if it means forming a coalition or minority government. This timeframe allows for reforms to be implemented and the country’s fiscal and economic challenges to be addressed. However, the…