Transfer, co-management or coordination. These are some of the words used when referring to the demand by some parties –ERC or PNB– and regional governments regarding the role of autonomous communities in the Spanish airport system. In particular, in those airports located in their territories. Aena, the airport operator in the State, is clear: no transfer, and "co-management", meaning participation in management, is an "impossible" demand. Aena, in which the State controls 51% of the share capital through Enaire, while the remaining 49% is in private hands, only opens up to deepening "coordination" with the territories. How? Through agreements like the one reached by the central and Basque governments on the airports in the Basque Country last March. All of this was recalled by Aena's own president, Maurici Lucena, this Thursday, taking advantage of the company's general shareholders' meeting, which re-elected him for another four years, extending his term until 2030 (he will have a total of 12 years as Aena's top executive).

Green light for the regularization of migrants. After the public hearing process and the mandatory reports, the Spanish government approved this Tuesday the royal decree that will serve to regularize the situation of more than half a million people who are already in the State but do not have their rights recognized. "It is an act of coherence and social justice," proclaimed the spokesperson and head of this portfolio, Elma Saiz, this Tuesday. "It is a historic measure and has all the legal guarantees," she added. How will the procedure work, however?

Different civil society organizations have filed a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office against the board of directors of the company Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF), as well as against directors of six of its subsidiaries, for the company's involvement in the construction, operation and maintenance of the Jerusalem Light Rail (JLR), which according to the complainants has allegedly contributed "to the consolidation of the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel; to the maintenance and expansion of Israel's illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, and to the maintenance of discriminatory and inhumane practices by Israel against the Palestinian population".

European justice once again rules against Spain for the abuse of long-term temporary staff in public administrations throughout the State. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled this Tuesday that the measures provided for by Spanish legislation to sanction and compensate the "abusive use" of these workers in the public sector are insufficient. Specifically, the Luxembourg court concludes that measures such as the transformation of these temporary contracts into an indefinite but not permanent employment relationship, the payment of compensation to the worker at the time of contract termination, or the call for selection processes that take into account the worker's previous experience do not remedy the fact that Spanish regulations violate EU law.

Enagás begins a tour to seek Catalonia's complicity with green hydrogen. Specifically, with the infrastructure that will allow its transport. Starting this Tuesday, the Spanish manager of gas infrastructure launches the public participation plan for the hydrogen network in the Principality, through which it plans to gather input from affected territories: from citizen opinion to city councils. To this end, it will hold a total of 16 in-person participatory workshops in different affected municipalities from this April 13th to next May 30th. "The project information will be presented, contributions will be collected, and doubts will be resolved," indicate Enagás sources. The intention is to minimize possible social and political resistances to the project, especially after the experience with infrastructures, now completely stalled, such as the MidCat pipeline that was to connect Catalonia with France.

The State is investing more money than ever in defense. In fact, it had committed to spending 2% of GDP and would have already exceeded it, according to NATO confirmation at the end of February. But when the pie of resources is bigger than ever, the sector is also more tangled than ever. Perhaps precisely because there has never been so much money at stake. "For the last 25 years this has been stagnant and there has been no budget," say a large company in the sector that depends, like the rest, on defense ministry contracts.

It is from spring when Europe prepares for winter, at least as far as the supply of natural gas is concerned to face the energy consumption of families and companies in the cold months, when it skyrockets. In April, when the underground natural gas storage facilities are already half empty from the cold period being left behind, the different member states begin to fill these deposits. Furthermore, doing so when demand falls – the arrival of good weather and the entry of more renewable energy translates into a drastic drop in gas consumption, especially in northern Europe where seasonality is very marked – means that companies buy fossil fuel at a more reasonable price.

Social Security has taken a step forward in making diagnostic assessments of the pension system as complete as possible and without the need to rely on external reports. The ministry piloted by Elma Saiz has just launched a new tool that will allow it to make almost real-time projections of both the system's expenses and income. The objective is to observe whether it is sustainable or not, especially in the long term. But, is the discussion about what is one of the thunderboxes of economic policy over? In parallel to Social Security, Brussels carries out the same exercise, but in its own way.

Venezuela has been Telefónica's last stronghold in Latin America since Wednesday. It is the only country where the "telecom" telecom maintains its business after reaching an agreement to divest its subsidiary in Mexico for approximately 389 million euros. Specifically, Telefónica has reached an agreement with the consortium Melisa Acquisition, made up of Oxio and Newfoundland Capital Management, for the sale of its stake in the Mexican subsidiary, as the company has communicated to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

The two majority unions, CCOO and UGT, have shown unity with concrete proposals on dismissals, housing, part-time contracts, and social dialogue and collective bargaining. This Tuesday, the two organizations have presented a joint plan around these matters that provides a boost for union action, especially on the eve of May Day, but which also serves as a "transmission belt" for those concerns affecting workers that, in the opinion of the union organizations, the political agenda marked by tension is not addressing. "We are facing an initiative [union] that has few precedents," indicated the Secretary of Union Action for CCOO, Javier Pacheco, at a press conference.

A 180-degree turn at the technology and defense company Indra. Former La Caixa executive Ángel Simón has been appointed new president of Indra following the resignation of Ángel Escribano – a term that lasted just over a year – as the company informed the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) early Thursday. Simón's nomination was made by the Spanish government through the State Industrial Holdings Company (SEPI), its investment arm, which is Indra's largest shareholder with 28% of the share capital.

The Spanish government anticipates "resilience" in tourist activity in the face of the conflict in the Middle East. And it not only clings to the estimates for this Easter week, which are "fantastic" in the words of the Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, but also to an "ability to adapt and resist" of a sector that in recent years has overcome crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. "The situation is completely different [to that of the coronavirus]. It cannot be compared," Hereu said at a press conference this Tuesday, after the cabinet meeting. The minister, who appeared precisely to explain the current pulse of tourism and the forecasts for this Easter week, acknowledged that there is concern about the impact of the conflict, but linked it to "secondary effects" that will depend on how long the war drags on. "We are analyzing with the sector [the current situation] and what might happen if the conflict lasts not weeks, but months," he said. For example, if this scenario leads to an even more severe price crisis.

To the Spanish government's rejection of the use of the US bases in Rota and Morón for operations related to the war in Iran –they continue to be active for all other activities– now comes the closure of airspace to planes participating in the attack by the United States and Israel against Iran, as reported by El País and confirmed by the Spanish government. With this decision, the State takes another step in its "no to war": "Everyone knows Spain's position. The use of the [Rota and Morón] bases is not authorized, and, of course, the use of Spanish airspace for actions related to the war in Iran is not authorized," stated the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, in a press briefing this Monday.

The conflict in the Middle East has not gone unnoticed in the update of the Bank of Spain's macroeconomic forecasts, despite the short timeframe between the outbreak of the war and the preparation of a new report. The supervisory body acknowledges that the attack by the United States and Israel on Iran and the ramifications in the region will have an impact on the growth of the Spanish economy, but above all on the evolution of prices. In fact, if the conflict becomes entrenched, the average inflation rate for 2026 could soar to 5.9% due to disruptions in the global energy market. However, the body chaired by former socialist minister José Luis Escrivá estimates that the package of fiscal measures from the Spanish government, which was validated by Congress this Thursday, will help to "cushion" the economic shock of a war that, for now, does not seem to have an end.validated by Congress will help to "cushion" the economic shock of a war that, for now, does not seem to have an end.In general terms, the Bank of Spain (BdE) forecasts that gross domestic product (GDP, the indicator used to measure the size of an economy) will grow by 2.3% in 2026, as indicated in the report published this Friday. This may seem contradictory because it represents a slight improvement compared to the December forecasts, i.e., the pre-war forecasts, when the entity forecasted that the Spanish economy would grow by 2.2% in 2026.

Amidst the war in the Middle East and its consequent impact on the global gas and oil market, many countries have entered into a long-distance race to find who can guarantee them the supply of these fossil fuels, or ensure that the link with their main suppliers is robust. This is the case of Spain, which has just announced the "reinforcement" of the energy partnership with Algeria, on which the supply of natural gas to the State depends because it is its main source. For example, between January and December 2025, 34.5% of the natural gas that arrived in Spain (128,504 GWh) came from the African country, while this year Algerian gas already accounts for 29.2% of this fossil fuel (19,243 GWh). In fact, this reinforcement will translate into nothing more and nothing less than an "expansion" of the gas volumes arriving in the State from Algeria. The same happened in 2022, when the war in Ukraine and the consequent decisions of the West regarding its ties with Moscow, including starting to detach from Russian gas in the long term, increased the capacity of the pipeline connecting Spain with the Algerian country: from 8,000 million cubic meters to 10,000 million.

With the departure of María Jesús Montero, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has opted to reinforce the political profile of the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, as well as to recruit from outside the Ministry of Finance for the new person in charge of this portfolio. On the one hand, Cuerpo will assume the first vice-presidency. On the other, the reins of public accounts will be held by the Valencian Arcadi España, current Secretary of State for Territorial Policy. The changes were communicated by Sánchez himself this Thursday afternoon in an institutional declaration from Moncloa. The government loses the parity it had until now: there will be 12 male ministers and 10 female ministers.

The countdown to the vote on the decree with housing measures approved by the Spanish government to face the economic impact of the war in the Middle East has triggered a call from social groups and left-wing parties to tenants to demand "now" the extraordinary extension of up to two years of the terms and conditions of the contract in case it ends before December 31, 2027. This is one of the flagship measures of the decree which, pending the result of the vote in Congress, is in force (the temporal limit for it to be voted on is 30 business days from its publication in the "Official State Gazette).

Indra has once again avoided the political fray. The current chairman, Ángel Escribano, will remain at the helm of the company despite the recent tensions with the Spanish government, Indra's largest shareholder through SEPI. In fact, a plan B wasn't even discussed at Wednesday afternoon's board meeting, according to sources familiar with the process at the ARA (Spanish Association of Indra's Board of Directors). The company's highest governing body also refrained from questioning the continuity of CEO José Vicente de los Mozos, whose term expires in June. Sources familiar with the process explained to Europa Press that this item was not on the meeting's agenda either. This time, the controversy has been sparked by the potential merger—currently on hold—between Indra and the Escribano Group, also involved in defense, and the potential conflict of interest that could arise (the Escribano Group is not only an Indra shareholder with 14.3% of the share capital).

Isabelle Ferreras (Belgium, 1975) has been coordinating the Report on Democracy at Work. The text, recently presented by a high-level commission of experts under the Ministry of Labor, which she herself chaired, questions power structures in the workplace: "They are connected to the possibility of living in a democratic society," Ferreras reflects. The Belgian researcher speaks to ARA via video call, while the Ministry has begun negotiations with unions, but without employers' associations, to make progress on this issue.

Argentine President Javier Milei will spend just over 24 hours in Madrid this weekend. The reason for his brief trip to the Spanish capital is the "dissertation" he will deliver this Saturday evening at the second edition of the Madrid Economic Forum, held at the Vistalegre Palace, which amounts to an ode to the most unrestrained capitalism. But before his speech, Milei took the opportunity to meet behind closed doors with various figures from the most liberal and ultraconservative sectors of the Spanish economic and political sphere, including the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal. "It's always a pleasure to meet with my good friend and ally Javier Milei," the Vox leader stated in a message on the social network X.. "An international symbol of freedom who has returned Argentina to the path of prosperity and to the league of great nations," Abascal added. These words accompanied a photo of him with the Argentine president, who is wearing a work coat from the Argentine oil company YPF.