Housing and inflation are the two main concerns of the Catalan and Spanish population. This is confirmed by the latest Eurobarometer from the European Parliament, where at least one in three respondents in Spain identify access to a home and the rising cost of living as the biggest headaches they have to face in their daily lives. The rising cost of rents and food is changing consumption habits and requires great effort for families – especially the most vulnerable – to adapt to the new reality. A reality that leaves less time for leisure and where any unforeseen event can unbalance a budget with ever-decreasing room for manoeuvre. And among the juggling acts of some families to balance their accounts, the following diagnosis emerges: the economic effort to fill the fridge is growing more than that of paying for housing.

The Designation of Origin (DO) Cava closes a cycle of eight years marked by the presidency of Javier Pagés and opens a new stage. This Thursday, the twelve members who make up the plenary of the regulatory council, the body that represents the different agents of the sector, have chosen the CEO of the Vallformosa wineries, Marta Vidal, as the new president of the DO for the next four years. Vidal, who has had majority support from the plenary members, thus becomes the first woman to hold the presidency of the DO since its foundation in 1972.

Elon Musk, owner of X and founder of companies like SpaceX or Tesla, is one step away from becoming the first trillionaire in history, and would accumulate unprecedented levels of wealth. According to a report published this Thursday by the NGO Oxfam Intermón, the magnate of South African origin is on track to accumulate as much wealth as the entire poorest 46% of the world's population, the equivalent of about 3.8 billion people.

The Denomination of Origin (DO) Cava faces decisive hours for its future after eight years of Javier Pagés' presidency. This Thursday, June 11, the twelve members who form the plenary of the Regulatory Council, the body representing the different agents in the sector, will meet at the Vilafranca del Penedès headquarters to elect who will be the maximum leader – as well as the vice-president – of the DO that exports the most from Spain, but which at the same time is not going through its best moment.

Catalan local commerce stands up to large digital sales platforms like Amazon, Shein, or Glovo, accusing them of "unfair competition" and being one of the reasons for the stagnation of its growth. "These new players operate with different rules of the game [...] and concentrate enormous economies of scale that directly impact the competitiveness of our local commerce: some kind of control is needed," Pimec Comerç president, Mònica Gregori, demanded this Monday in a media briefing from Barcelona.

The Italian bank Mediolanum landed in Spain in 2000 with the purchase of Fibanc – an entity founded by businessman Carles Tusquets – with the idea of replicating its model in the transalpine country, in operation since 1982. At the beginning of the new century, Spanish entities were struggling to expand their network of offices to reach every corner of the country: having branches was synonymous with success. Mediolanum, on the other hand, had for years been betting on a different system that revolved around the figure of what is called a family banker, financial advisors who offer to visit the client at their home and with whom they maintain constant contact. And far from the more traditional business of banks – where a good part of the clients have their immobile assets in bank accounts – these advisors move money and place it in investment funds, pension plans, or life insurance, among others.

The meat industry is the main agri-food sector in Catalonia, both in terms of business volume and employment. And within this field, the cured meats sector has a very significant weight and is a benchmark within the State. According to a new mapping of the sector published this Friday by Promotora d'Exportacions Catalanes (Prodeca) – an organization attached to the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food – the cooked and cured meats sector in Catalonia has consolidated itself as a leader in production and export in Spain as a whole, with a share of 44% of turnover volume and 58% of export sales volume.

The Catalan multinational Fluidra reinforces its digitalization strategy with the purchase of Datapool, a platform developed by the French company Ecotropy that allows reducing operational costs linked to the use and maintenance of swimming pools.

The mass consumption market continues to grow in volume and value despite geopolitical instability and inflation that remains above central banks' targets. According to a report prepared by the consultancy Nielsen IQ, presented this Wednesday by the main association of manufacturers and distributors in the State (Aecoc), companies in the sector have experienced a 5.4% increase in revenue during the first four months of this year. Similarly, the study points to a 2.4% rise in marketed volume.

The digital euro project has been on the lips of all European institutions for years. Ever since it was proposed in 2020, the European Central Bank (ECB) argued for its implementation, both to speed up payments between states in an increasingly digitized environment and to strengthen the strategic independence of the European Union. But six years later, public ignorance of the project remains high. According to a survey by the Foundation of Savings Banks (Funcas) published in February, only one in four Spaniards understands what it consists of.

Xavier Fitó (Barcelona, 1972) is a businessman with an extensive career linked to the seed sector and a strong defender of innovation in the field. The executive, who claims the role that the agri-food sector must continue to play within the Catalan economy, maintains that the agronomists of the future must be capable of assuming functions "of lab coat, boots, and tie".

In 1961, a group of residents from L'Eixample were looking for tables and chairs to stage their amateur theatre play. On Muntaner street, in a Barcelona still under construction, an ambitious and restless entrepreneur, Jaume Soler, saw an opportunity and embarked on an adventure. Why not offer a service to provide materials for one-off events? What began 65 years ago as a neighborhood project has grown to unimaginable proportions. Three generations later, that company called Dasler has become a benchmark in furniture rental and has provided tables for events such as the wedding of Infanta Cristina and Iñaki Urdangarin, the visits of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI to the Catalan capital, and the "vip area at Rosalía's latest concert.

New crusade by European consumers against tech giants. This Thursday, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC, for its English acronym), together with 29 associations from the 27 member states of the European Union, has denounced Meta (the parent company of Facebook, TikTok and Google) to the European Commission and national authorities. The reason is having allowed the proliferation of fraudulent financial advertisements on its platforms and having ignored calls to remove them, contravening the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA, for its English acronym). contravening the Digital Services Act (DSA, for its English acronym) of the Union.

The effects of the war in Iran continue to tighten the screws on the fruit and vegetable sector, which finds it increasingly difficult to contain the costs of fruit and vegetables. This Wednesday, companies in the sector - through a survey by the main association of manufacturers and distributors in the State (Aecoc) - have warned of the possibility of new price increases in the not-too-distant future if the conflict in the Middle East drags on.

The Damm brewery group opens a new chapter in its internationalization strategy initiated four years ago. After acquiring The Eagle Brewery, located in the English town of Bedford, the company announced this Tuesday a new foray into the British market. Damm has bought –for an unspecified amount– the British beer Old Speckled Hen, one of the premium brands within the ale-style drinks segment in the UK and which until now belonged to the company, Greene King.

The Damm brewery group opens a new chapter in its internationalization strategy initiated four years ago. After acquiring the brewery The Eagle Brewery, located in the English town of Bedford, the company announced this Tuesday a new foray into the British market. Damm has bought – for an unspecified amount – the British beer Old Speckled Hen, one of the premium brands within the ale style drinks segment in the United Kingdom, which until now belonged to the company Greene King.

May 18, 2026, will be a date etched in the history of Bizum, the Spanish payment services provider par excellence. This Monday, its BizumPay platform will land in shops, bars, and restaurants to present itself as a payment alternative to conventional debit and credit cards, a universe until now dominated by North American groups like Visa or Mastercard. The news excites banks and European institutions, who are looking for new ways to reduce dependence on the United States in all sectors. However, commerce greets the measure with doubts and a rather limited initial implementation is expected.

The Bon Preu Group culminates Esclat's return, the group's hypermarket chain, to the city of Barcelona. After a decade of absence in the Catalan capital, the brand owned by Joan Font has inaugurated this Tuesday a 2,100 square meter facility within the Culmia Themis Riera complex, on Riera Blanca street in the Sants district.

The future Catalan patronage law completes one of its major steps. This Monday, the PSC, Junts, and ERC registered in Parliament the first bill to promote patronage in the country, an initiative that had been in institutional paralysis for a decade and had been widely requested by the different actors that make up the cultural sector. This Tuesday, the announcement has been made official.

The National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) has fined former Barça footballer Gerard Piqué and Audax founder José Elías 300,000 euros for trading on privileged information in the acquisition operation of Aspy Global by Atrys Health, a company of which Elías was CEO when the events occurred.