The technology and defense company Indra is bringing together more than 200 players from the innovation and security industry ecosystem in Barcelona this Monday to explore new strategic alliances. Today, it already has agreements with 350 entities in Catalonia, 130 of which are linked to the security and defense sector.

The Ministry of Finance has on the table a bill proposed by non-profit foundations that manage social housing, such as Habitat3 or Provivienda. The entities – grouped under the ALIVAS umbrella – want to create a new legal figure with the aim of expanding this segment of the residential market in Spain, the "social housing providers". According to sources from the Spanish government, they explain to ARA, the intention is for the law to reach Congress "as soon as possible", and for the socialist group to process it because the process is "faster" and has "fewer procedures" if done through parties.

Despite the growth driven by the Spanish economy in terms of GDP and employment, poverty does not disappear. 8% of the population is in a situation of "extreme poverty or exclusion" – meaning they have an income below 8,147 euros per year per consumption unit – and 19.5% are "at risk of poverty", being part of a consumption unit with an income below 12,220 euros per year.

The luxury cruise ship MV Hondius arrived early this morning at the port of Granadilla, in Tenerife, after days sailing the Atlantic under the watchful eye of the whole world due to the deadly hantavirus outbreak, which has already claimed three lives and affects at least 8 passengers. The ship set sail from Ushuaia, in Argentina, on April 1, 2026. At ARA, we have compiled what is known so far about the evolution of the outbreak, case by case, according to official WHO reports.

The Catalan labor market has flourished during the month of April, with Easter in between. Catalonia reached the highest number of affiliates since 2004, the start of the historical series, with an average of 3.92 million people registered with Social Security. According to data from the Spanish government, elaborated from the records of the Ministry of Social Security, Catalonia added almost 77,000 employed people this April compared to last year – a 2% increase – and more than 38,000 since March – a 0.99% increase.

The Minister of Business and Labor, Miquel Sàmper, has established dual industry –with applications in the defense and civil spheres– as one of the levers to "generate a transformation of the current labor market", in the face of the employment regulation files (ERE) in Catalonia, such as those of Nestlé, Ficosa, and Nissan.employment regulation files (ERE) in Catalonia, such as those of Nestlé, Ficosa, and Nissan. According to Sàmper, "defense is one of the clearest examples to understand where we are."

Donald Trump has taken another step in the trade war with Europe and has announced a 25% tariff on trucks and cars manufactured in the European Union that are marketed in the United States. According to a message published on Truth Social this Friday, he expects the measure to come into effect "next week".

Thousands of people participated this midday in the demonstration called by UGT and CCOO in Barcelona for Worker's Day, the central event of the day of protests in Catalonia. The Urban Guard put the participation in the protest at 2,500 people, while the organizers estimated there were between 10,000 and 15,000. Workers have mobilized spurred by international geopolitical instability and the electoral calendar in the State.

The Catalan electric car charging system company Wallbox has signed an alliance with vehicle manufacturer Slate Auto, in which US magnate Jeff Bezos holds a stake. For now, it will supply chargers made in Barcelona for Slate Auto's facilities in Indiana, although the two companies "are exploring new collaboration opportunities," Wallbox reported in a statement this Thursday.

The president, Rafael Villaseca, and the CEO of the Catalan steel group Celsa, Jordi Cazorla, have delivered the headline they had been pursuing since creditors took control of the company in September 2023. Celsa has become profitable this first quarter, reporting a net result of 18 million euros. The group is leaving behind its red numbers after the debt refinancing at the end of last year, thus completing the transformation process that allowed the company to close the 2025 fiscal year with 70% less debt —1.145 million— than before the 2023 restructuring, when it passed from the Rubiralta family to the creditors by judicial decision. "We have achieved it," Villaseca emphasized at a press conference. He argued that the company "is functioning normally, it has its ups and downs, but it fulfills its social and economic function." The 13 million in losses from the first quarter of 2025 and the 52 million in the red from the same period two years ago are now behind them.

The Catalan Consumer Agency (ACC) will put the spotlight on the nail and aesthetics sector. This year, it will launch an inspection campaign in response to the "deluge" of establishments in many Catalan municipalities, according to the director of the governmental body, Isidor Garcia. The proliferation of businesses in the sector has led the Agency to assume that "apart from the signage and other circumstances, there may be other problems".

The first quarters are traditionally not good for employment, as they are heavily marked by the end of the Christmas campaign. This year, Catalonia added 84,400 unemployed in absolute terms between January and March, 24% more than the previous quarter, the worst quarter-on-quarter increase since 2009. It is the second autonomous community with the highest increase, only behind the Balearic Islands, where the number of unemployed people soared by 76.55%.According to the active population survey (EPA) published this Tuesday, the Catalan unemployment rate in the first quarter stood at 10.12%. The National Institute of Statistics (INE) estimates that in Catalonia there were 435,600 people who wanted to join the labor market and could not. At the end of last year, however, unemployment stood at 8.24%.If we compare it to the first quarter of 2025, then the number of unemployed in Catalonia increased to a lesser extent – by 15.71% –, but it also grew because the beginning of the year is complicated in terms of employment. Last year Catalonia already experienced the worst start to the year since 2012, adding 47,200 new unemployed people, but this year it has broken new records and surpassed that threshold. The professor of labor law at the University of Barcelona (UB), Jordi Garcia, assured l?ARA that these EPA results show a "change in trend" regarding the dynamism of the labor market observed since 2011. "What is happening is no longer a slowdown in growth, but rather a decrease, a drop," he explained, and he contextualized it within a loss of dynamism in the economy in general.More employment

Despite the increase in the unemployment rate, in Catalonia this first quarter there were 16,900 more workers than in the same period last year, an increase of 0.44%. The explanation is that the volume of the active population – that is, of people who work or want to work – grew more than that of the employed population – people with a paid job –. Therefore, in proportion, those who entered to form part of the unemployed grew more than the group of workers, who represented a smaller percentage of the total.Between January and March, 46,300 jobs were destroyed, causing a 1.18% decrease in employment. In absolute numbers, this means that in Catalonia there were 3.87 million employed people, fewer than the almost four million in the last quarter of last year.Concern among social agents

Social agents have made a negative reading of the data. While Catalan UGT has opined that they show a "worrying evolution" of the Catalan labor market, CCOO de Catalunya has lamented that "they cannot be explained solely by the weight of seasonality". From the employers' associations, Foment has opined that the data are "especially negative" and Pimec has argued that the rise in unemployment "is not explained by a change in economic expectations".For their part, the Minister of Business and Labor, Miquel Sàmper, has committed to studying the data with "diligence". "In the registered unemployment so far, the trend is not this", stated the Secretary of Labor, Paco Ramos. They will analyze "whether trade or the tourism sector has had an impact" or if, on the other hand, the de-seasonalization strategy needs to be "strengthened". In parallel, however, Sàmper has not wanted to fail to highlight that the increase in the active population to record figures is "positive news because it shows that more people want to work in Catalonia", where there is "a dynamic market that works".Unemployment rises by 9.34% across the State

In the State as a whole, the unemployment rate was 10.83%, the lowest level in a first quarter since 2008. The number of employed people broke a new record, exceeding the threshold of 22.5 million people for the first time, after adding 532,300 workers in the last year. In contrast, Spain counted 2.7 million unemployed, 9.34% more than last quarter, but 2.89% less than in the same period last year.In absolute terms, however, between January and March, 170,300 jobs were destroyed in the State compared to the last quarter of last year. In seasonally adjusted terms, the balance was positive, showing a net incorporation of 96,800 people into the labor market, a 0.43% growth in the employment rate. Professor Jordi Garcia has warned that, "whenever someone looks for an excuse, they use the concept of seasonally adjusted", and finds it "difficult to understand that there are very different trends in Catalonia compared to the State". He recalled that Catalonia is a territory "with a lot of economic activity, and that means that if there is a general slowdown, it will probably be felt even more in Catalonia".The year-on-year increase in employment advanced in parallel with the active population, which in the State also reached a new historic high, standing above 25 million people. In the last year, Spain added 447,000 people capable of entering the labor market.

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Has the rent cap in tense areas stopped price increases? No, of course not. The latest data from the Housing Agency of Catalonia, which is based on deposits made to Incasòl, shows that in Catalonia the average rent price is already higher than before the cap came into effect, in the first quarter of 2024. In the city of Barcelona, the average price still does not exceed that of that moment, but throughout 2025 it has been rising and, if instead of the average price we look at the price per square meter, it already exceeds that of before the cap.

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The redundancy plan (ERE) proposed by the technology consultancy Capgemini in Spain could affect up to 130 employees in Barcelona, CCOO sources inform el ARA. As reported by ACN, the measure will affect around 8% of the workforce at the company's Barcelona office, which employs 1,603 people.

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The Catalan multinational pharmaceutical company Grifols will close 29 plasma donation centers in the United States, where it is the main operator with more than 300 centers. In a statement this Friday, it framed the decision within "a broader and ongoing strategy to improve long-term productivity, efficiency, and sustainability" of its network in the country.

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The major distribution companies in Spain have warned that private consumption shows "slight signs of exhaustion" caused by the war in Iran, at the annual meeting that the entity grouping them (Aecoc) held this Tuesday in Barcelona. Domestic consumption and investment have marked the good performance of the Spanish economy once the pandemic hecatomb was overcome. Now, the president of Aecoc, José María Bonmatí, has assured that "we are still in very positive ratios", but has warned that "the consumer confidence index is not particularly sky-high". "Crises begin and end when the consumer perceives it that way," he recalled.

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The European Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF, has urged the European Union to recover almost 600 million euros from European funds, as it believes they have been used "improperly" during 2025. It is now up to national authorities and European institutions to decide how to proceed with the information provided by this independent body, which last year opened 250 new investigations and closed 200, according to the annual report published this Monday. In addition to the money it believes should be returned to the European budget, it also stopped the disbursement of 18 million.

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