There is a big difference between an employee and a self-employed person. Especially in the income tax return. The declaration campaign began on April 8 and the Professional Association of Tax Technicians of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands (APTTCB) has warned that an employee with an annual income of 10,000 euros pays practically no Personal Income Tax (IRPF) thanks to reductions for employment income. On the other hand, a self-employed person with the same income level cannot apply these reductions and "ends up paying tax on a significant part of their base," and may end up paying 500 euros, they warn.

The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, will attend the annual meeting of the Cercle d'Economia to be held from June 1 to 3 in Barcelona, the first meeting with Teresa Garcia-Milà as president of the institution. This year the central theme will be Europe's strategic autonomy in the context of the war in the Middle East, which adds to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the difficult relations of the Old Continent with the administration of Donald Trump in the United States.

From Alsace to the Mediterranean. Damm's history is that of a journey. The journey that, fleeing the Franco-Prussian War, was undertaken in 1871 by August Kuentzmann Damm, who moved to Barcelona with his wife Melanie. With him, he brought the brewing tradition of his native Alsace, but seeking a Mediterranean touch, which today is its defining characteristic. His efforts were the origin, in 1876, of what is today a group that invoices more than 2 billion euros, earns 175 million, and produces 21 million hectolitres that come from sixteen factories and two malt houses. The company's business, which has maintained its headquarters in Barcelona since its inception, encompasses regional brands – beer is a very territorial business – such as Cervezas Victoria, from Malaga; Keler, from San Sebastian, and Turia, from Valencia, as well as waters like Veri, dairy products like Cacaolat, fast-food chains like Rodilla, or coffee shops like Jamaica.

From Alsace to the Mediterranean. Damm's history is that of a journey. The journey that, fleeing the Franco-Prussian War, was undertaken in 1871 by August Kuentzmann Damm, who moved to Barcelona with his wife Melanie. With him, he brought the brewing tradition of his native Alsace, but seeking a Mediterranean touch, which today is its defining characteristic. His efforts were the origin, in 1876, of what is today a group that invoices over 2 billion euros, earns 175 million, and produces 21 million hectoliters that come from sixteen factories and two malt houses. The company's business, which has maintained its headquarters in Barcelona since its inception, encompasses regional brands – beer is a very territorial business – such as Cervezas Victoria, from Malaga; Keler, from San Sebastian; and Turia, from Valencia, as well as waters like Veri, dairy products like Cacaolat, fast-food chains like Rodilla, or coffee shops like Jamaica.

As always when a new technology or advance emerges, with great changes and increasingly accelerated (radio, television, internet...), the stages are burned out faster and faster. And there are fears about the impact on the labor market. It has started to happen with artificial intelligence (AI), the big current issue. Several studies, from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), among others, have analyzed it. Some are more apocalyptic than others, but, in any case, AI is already an argument to reduce staff and gain more margins and profitability.

Veolia has finalized the disappearance process of the Agbar brand – the former holding company of the Societat General d'Aigües de Barcelona (SGAB) – born more than 158 years ago. The French multinational, which has the investment arm of La Caixa, Criteria, as one of its shareholders with 5%, has registered the absorption of the company Veolia Spain by Veolia Agbar, according to the Official Bulletin of the Commercial Registry (Borme).

For better growth, we must invest in batteries to store green energy or attract talent, but the key to the future is fairer financing. There is agreement between the Minister of Economy, Alícia Romero, and three of her predecessors from different political families, who are clear that there are aspects on which there can be broad consensus.

For a few days now, the opposition's offensive has consisted of talking about the existence of a fiscal hell. The PP, which insists on the need to lower taxes, has recently been using the concept frequently. And it is an expression that the president of Foment del Treball, Josep Sánchez Llibre, who will run again for a third term in the elections he has called for May 18, made known during the presentation of the Green Paper on taxation in Catalonia in 2024. He himself considers it "apt" and says it is currently enduring.

Puig Brands, the Catalan multinational family group for beauty and fashion, which is negotiating an integration with the American Estée Lauder, three times larger, brings to the table the process of ownership change of local companies that has been occurring over the last 20 years. This very week, the Japanese Marubeni Corporation has bought 85% of Factorenergia, founded in 1999 by Emili Rousaud, former candidate for the presidency of Barça, for 204 million euros. The ownership changes of Catalan companies have not stopped. Between 2005 and 2006, the sales of Panrico, by the Costafreda family, to the fund Apax Partners were closed; and that of Chupa Chups, founded by Enric Bernat in 1958, to the Italian Perfetti Van Melle. Bernat's heirs today operate Casa Batlló on Barcelona's Passeig de Gràcia, one of Antoni Gaudí's iconic buildings, which they bought in the 90s.

Payment by large companies and administrations is not only not improving, but is getting worse. Last year, 85% of the largest companies exceeded the legal payment deadline between companies by seven days, reaching up to 67 days. And administrations more than doubled this, settling at 70 days, instead of the 30 established in the regulations, according to the Multisectorial Platform against Default (PMcM), which brings together one million companies and self-employed workers.

CaixaBank leads a syndicated operation to finance Puy du Fou with 85 million euros, an amusement park about the history of Spain located in Toledo. With this operation, in which other financial entities participate, the promoter company, of French origin, will consolidate the growth of the facility, which has been operating since 2021, and will advance in the construction of the first hotel within the premises.

In the final stretch of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM), the cornerstone of the Next Generation European funds created to overcome the consequences of the 2020 pandemic, Catalonia leads the distribution of these resources, with a total of 3,700 million euros and a "cross-cutting" sectoral dominance, according to a study by EsadeEcPol. From the start of this program until today and four months before the end of the program (it ends in August), projects have been launched in Spain for 90,718 million and a total of 63,403 million have been awarded.

The current president of Cecot, the Vallesana employers' association, Xavier Panés, has decided to run for re-election in the elections that this organization will hold on June 3. Its board of directors has agreed in this Wednesday's meeting to initiate the electoral process for the presidency of the entity, which will culminate with the holding of the general electoral assembly on June 3, 2026.

The president of Foment del Treball, Josep Sánchez Llibre, has decided to run for a third term at the head of the Catalan employers' organization, until 2030. He communicated this today to the board of directors, in which the organization's next elections have been called for May 18, instead of July 18, which is when the term expires. The deadline for submitting candidacies is May 8. In 2024, the statutes of this employers' association were modified to lift the term limit, established until then at two consecutive terms, which leads to the current president. The change gave Sánchez Llibre the possibility to run for president again, which he has finally decided to do.

At a time when there seems to be an avalanche of losses from large Catalan family businesses, a great exception emerges. It is Mango, the textile empire founded by the late Isak Andic and chaired and managed by Toni Ruiz. When asked if they plan to buy or go public, he is very clear: "No and no. We are not considering acquisitions. One buys when one does not know how to develop their business. We have many opportunities and markets to grow." And about the stock market, he is even more direct: "I have many friends who are CEOs and they don't talk to me about clients or business, but about worrying about quarterly reports, bonuses..." He doesn't need to add much more.

In a year like 2025, with record stock market gains, the main executives of the Ibex companies, the main benchmark of the Spanish equity market, overwhelmingly earned very significant incomes, further widening the gap with the average earnings of their staff. The link between remuneration and stock performance contributed to boosting the incomes of many senior executives. A clear example was Manuel Manrique, president of Sacyr, who topped the rankings by earning 32.6 million euros, 384.59% more than the previous year, thanks to a bonus for the company's stock market rise since the pandemic. As a consequence of this plan, this executive, one of the founders of Sacyr, multiplied his remuneration of around 6.7 million from 2022, 2023, and 2024. The fact is that Manrique's remuneration was 628 times the average earned by the company's staff, which is around 52,000 euros, according to the directors' remuneration report published by this company.

One of the songs from the final stage of The Beatles was The long and winding road (The long and winding road), on the album Let it be, the last one published, even though it was recorded before Abbey Road. Surely the title and parts of the lyrics come to mind for Alícia Romero's Ministry of Economy: "You left me standing here. A long, long time ago. Don't leave me waiting. Guide me to your door." Not only because of the difficulties she has in approving the first budgets of Salvador Illa's legislature, which also, but because of the obstacles in achieving another objective pursued by the different Catalan governments, which is to make the Institut Català de Finances (ICF) a true public bank to cover areas that private financial entities do not reach, or barely do.

Only in two of the last twenty years – in 2008, under the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (PSOE), and in 2015, under Mariano Rajoy (PP), which was actually a tax reform –, the Treasury has deflated the income tax (IRPF) rate, which means adjusting it to inflation to prevent paying more tax despite having the same or lower real income. And the last two times similar measures were taken was before the call for general elections, in March 2008, in which Zapatero was re-elected for a second term, and in December 2015, when Rajoy repeated in office. Between doing it and not doing it, there is an essential difference: from 2019 to 2024, it has meant additional revenue for the State of between 9,700 and 16,700 million, according to various studies. From the left-wing space, led by the PSOE, it is considered that this type of adjustment advocated by the PP and which applies to all incomes, especially benefits the highest ones. And, therefore, they advocate for more selective and direct measures for low or middle-income families, such as reductions and rebates on public transport and others.

Jordi Muntañola (Barcelona, 1978) has been the CEO of Salvat laboratories for a year. This molecular biologist from Esteve, who also held positions of responsibility at the Werfen group, has placed Salvat in the club of 100 million in turnover 12 months after initiating a major transformation to enhance the values and characteristics of a family-owned pharmaceutical company with over 70 years of history; a portfolio of its own products, with brands like the antiseptic Cristalmina, and a foundation to which it dedicates a portion of its profits. And, moreover, with great prospects, with the acceleration of the third-party production business and the launch during the first half of this year of a new product in the USA, with the prospect of marketing another next year and another in China. Always accompanied by a local partner, the formula it uses for internationalization, which has led it to be present in more than 60 countries. And without ruling out possible acquisitions, a path that the company may incorporate into the 2027-2030 strategic plan, which it expects to have ready this summer.

Ángel Simón (Manresa, 1957) starred in April of last year in one of the most talked-about divorces on the Catalan and Spanish business scene, when he was dismissed as CEO of Criteria, the investment arm of La Caixa. A long relationship with the president of La Caixa and Criteria, Isidre Fainé, had been broken. And one of the sparks to end a term that lasted about 15 months was the dismissal of José María Álvarez-Pallete at the head of Telefónica –participated by Criteria–, in agreement with Moncloa by Simón and behind Fainé's back, according to various sources. For a year, Simón, an executive accustomed to dealing with the Spanish and Catalan socialist governments, had disappeared from the public scene. And now he reappears in the midst of a power struggle at Indra, a company destined to lead the defense business, with the State, through SEPI, as the main shareholder (28%).