News at various levels in the Catalan wine sector. Just weeks after the renewal of the presidency of the Regulatory Council of Cava, which placed Marta Vidal at the head of the designation of origin (DO) of Spanish sparkling wines, the employers' association of producers will have to change its president. The direction of Barcelona Wine Week, the main wine event in the country's capital, is also being reshaped. Outside the vineyard, PepsiCo is undertaking an appointment in its human resources department, and Ikea in Spain seeks to build "an increasingly relevant, close, and accessible brand".

The Catalan education system is worse than it seems. Or not. Rivers of ink have been written about it. For those not versed in the subject, like myself, figures can help us organize our thoughts. A recent OECD study requires us to qualify the diagnosis and, above all, to review the necessary responses. In fact, the study proposes recommendations that connect with challenges shared by many other sectors that, like education, are immersed in accelerated and profound transformations.One of the elements that draws attention to the Catalan education system is the decline in PISA results. Catalonia started from a relatively advantageous position, but it has accumulated a persistent and pronounced setback, and now it is below other benchmarks. These headlines help to foster a sense of decline. However, there are aspects that have received less attention and that qualify - if not change - the diagnosis. The first: the decline in results is generalized. This forces us to look for part of the explanation in phenomena shared with other countries, probably beyond the direct reach of our education system. Something has changed that hinders learning.One piece of data gives us clues: the proportion of students with special support needs has gone from less than 10% in 2017 to almost 40% this year. You read that right: four out of ten students require differentiated attention. This is an average for the whole of Catalonia; in some centers it is lower and in others, higher. Among the factors that are growing the most is autism, with an increase of 155%. However, part of these increases are due to a better capacity to detect the support that each student needs, and the educational system intends to offer more personalized attention, quite the opposite of the narrative of a decadent system. Data like this should trigger debates and research that go beyond the educational sphere.Socioeconomic factors

Second, the decline in PISA results is more intense in Catalonia than in the OECD countries as a whole or in other reference regions. However, if the change in the socioeconomic composition of the student body is taken into account, the differential is substantially reduced. In other words: the decline is greater because the proportion of students with unfavorable socioeconomic conditions has increased. The OECD, and other academic studies, link this in part to the increase in child poverty and migratory flows. Once again, it is advisable to avoid simplifications: it is not that these students have less academic potential, but rather that they find themselves with more difficult economic and family conditions, late incorporations into the system, and linguistic barriers. The sum of these factors makes teaching difficult and affects school performance. The results of students from affluent socioeconomic backgrounds are similar to those of other reference regions.The focus, therefore, must be on how to adapt the educational system to an environment that has changed rapidly and become more complex. Thus, the specter of decline is dispelled, the need to flee simplistic headlines is recalled, and at the same time, action is called for. The stress under which the educational system lives requires more resources and, according to the OECD report, the effectiveness with which they are used also needs to be improved. Support for each center must be adjusted according to its changing needs and, at the same time, stable teaching teams must be guaranteed who know and can support the students.This same environment also demands a boost to the professional training system and the creation of mechanisms to detect and disseminate best practices. These are challenges that are not exclusive to education. No sector escapes the accelerated social and technological transformation we are experiencing. No company can avoid rethinking its processes, identifying good practices, or keeping employees trained in a context of change and limited resources. We are all familiar with the confusion and anxiety that this situation generates, and which often fuels resistance to change and distrust.However, the education system is not just another sector. It is the cornerstone upon which society is built. If we want it to remain prosperous, just, and free, it must take a step forward: assume leadership and set the path. We need the education system to teach us a lesson again.

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The food company Pastas Gallo, born in Rubí in 1946, is the paradigmatic example of a complicated family succession. With a widely recognized brand, innovation as its hallmark, and consolidated results, the disagreements among the five children of the founder, José Espona, led the heirs to divest their majority stake in 2019 and sell it to the Madrid private equity fund Proa Capital. Although three of the five brothers later returned to the group – albeit with lower participation than initially – the company lost part of its essence. Two years after the operation, Pastas Gallo moved the production of dry pasta from Granollers to Córdoba, and during the last two available financial years – with the asterisk of having faced investments of more than 50 million euros – it has registered losses that have exceeded six million euros.

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A bag of salad, some cookies, cat food, or the plastic label from a water bottle. It's hard to find a supermarket without some kind of flexible packaging. They are present, on average, in half of the products, even up to 80%. But behind these wrappers lies an industry practically invisible to the consumer, yet essential for products to be promoted on shelves. From Riudellots de la Selva, in the urban area of Girona, Comexi has been developing the technology for over seventy years that allows for the printing and transformation of this type of packaging, a global market where it competes with some of the world's leading manufacturers.

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Can you imagine if the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, or the French president, Emmanuel Macron, quadrupled or quintupled their wealth during their term in office? Many of the corruption cases we are experiencing in this country, despite being extraordinarily serious, might seem like amateur games compared to Donald Trump's practices since he arrived at the White House. This first year in office, he has continued doing business (he and his family, directly or indirectly), despite being president and applying a very mercantile diplomacy and international policy as well.

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Chef Gessamí Caramés (l’Ametlla de Mar, 1992) finished her degree in audiovisual communication and realized it wasn't her path. She saw her classmates dedicated with a passion she didn't share. Without realizing it, cooking was becoming the center of her life. She dedicated her free time to cooking, watching gastronomic programs and recipe books, and investing her savings in kitchenware.

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On July 25, 1970, on page 17 of The New York Times, a brief obituary announced the death of Jesse Shwayder, founder of Samsonite. The text explained that Shwayder had died at his home in Denver at the age of 88, after having turned a small company of travel trunks into one of the world's leading manufacturers of suitcases, backpacks, and accessories: Samsonite.The note also stopped at a detail: before founding the suitcase company, Shwayder had started working selling newspapers and delivering orders for the family grocery store. That summer day, the boy who had carried news through the streets of Denver had ended up starring in one, discreetly, in one of the world's most important newspapers. But how did Shwayder manage to build an empire that, in 2025 alone, billed close to 3 billion euros?Newspapers, groceries and suitcases

Jesse Shwayder was born in 1882 in Black Hawk, Colorado, into a Jewish family of Polish origin who soon moved to live in Denver. As a child, he began working selling newspapers and delivering orders from his father's grocery store. After going through the family business and working as a salesman for a luggage manufacturer, in 1903 he opened his own suitcase store. Seven years later, at 28 years old and with savings of $3,500, he founded the Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company, the company that decades later was renamed Samsonite.In 1910, Shwayder started his own trunk factory in a small back room in downtown Denver. The business began with few workers and a very clear idea: not to compete with cheap luggage brands, but to manufacture robust, well-finished pieces designed to last for years and years. At that time, traveling was still a privilege and suitcases had to be able to withstand the onslaught of long journeys made by train or ship. Shwayder understood that the best way to make his mark in that market was to be able to explain to the customer that, if they bought one of his trunks, they could bet their bottom dollar it would withstand all the bumps of the journey.But it wasn't enough to make durable luggage: people had to believe in it. Shwayder found a very graphic way to do so: in one of the company's first campaigns, he, his father, and his brothers appeared standing on a plank supported only by one of their trunks. The message couldn't have been clearer: if that piece could hold the weight of an entire family, it could also withstand the bumps of a journey.The name Samsonite

Over the years, the business grew and several Shwayder brothers joined. The company left behind the small initial shop and began to manufacture on a large scale. For decades, the company remained linked to the Shwayder surname, until in 1939 it introduced a new line of luggage with a name inspired by Samson, the biblical character associated with extraordinary strength. The idea fit perfectly with the narrative the company had built from day one. That suitcase ended up giving its name to the entire company.But the world of travel changed. Large wooden trunks, designed for long journeys, began to fall behind in a society that moved faster and with less luggage. Samsonite responded with lighter, more practical, and modern suitcases: the Streamlite in 1941, the Silhouette in 1958, and in 1963, the Classic Attaché, a briefcase designed for a new generation of executives.In 1969, it opted for polypropylene to manufacture lighter suitcases; in 1974, it incorporated wheels into the Silhouette collection, an innovation that seems elementary today but forever transformed the experience of carrying luggage; and, in the 21st century, it popularized four-wheeled suitcases, ultralight materials, and more sustainable collections made from recycled plastic. More than a century after that Denver backroom, Samsonite is no longer just a suitcase brand: it is a global group that also controls brands like Tumi and American Tourister, selling backpacks, bags, and accessories.

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“These are arrimaderos,” explain Montserrat Coral and Òscar Vidal, mother and son, third and fourth generation of Ceràmiques Coral. Arrimaderos, yes, ceramic compositions that reach up to halfway up the wall and are very typical decorations of the modernist era. But what are they called in Catalan? Arrambadors doesn’t sound particularly good, it seems like a Hispanism, but, yes, that’s what they are called. At Ceràmiques Coral, they have a few arrambadors on display and they have restored a lot of them, replacing original pieces with very well-made modern replicas. They are also experts in hydraulic mosaic, that element so identified with the floors of houses and apartments from the early twentieth century. They show me a couple of old tiles that are ready to be sent to the workshop: the client needs to reproduce one square meter of tiling, which is equivalent to about twenty-five tiles. One tile will be used to analyze the colors they need and the other will serve as a model for the composition and the border. A costly commission, not so common. The most common commission they receive is tiling floors or walls with modern tiles. Renovations at home? Complete renovation for a new residence? Well, you will very likely need the services of a company like Coral.

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Until the forties, the Hungarian football league had been a matter of three: the vast majority of titles had been shared between Ferencváros, MTK, and Újpest Dózsa, the three great clubs of Budapest. But coinciding with the Second World War, a modest team from Csepel Island emerged, which was precisely called Csepel SC. It broke the prevailing hegemony thanks to its victories in 1942, 1943, and 1948. By the way, four years after the last title, during the 1951/52 season, Csepel SC had a young forward in its ranks destined to make history: his name was Zoltán Czibor, and some time later he would tread the Camp Nou to triumph dressed in blaugrana.

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In Europe, as always, we love to legislate. One of the latest regulations to come into force, on July 1st, is the obligation to have the MiCA license (an EU authorization) to operate with cryptocurrencies in European territory. Until that date, there were about 3,000 companies that allowed buying, selling, and custody of cryptocurrencies. However, only 210 have obtained the license and only 14 have it fully operational. In practice, how does this affect us?

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News on Inditex's board of directors. The Galician fashion giant – parent company of chains like Zara, Bershka, or Stradivarius – held its shareholders' meeting this week, which approved the incorporation into the highest governing body of a well-known profile on the Ibex-35; specifically, in the broad financial chapter of the selective. The banking sector has also announced new faces in its technology segment, with signings at Openpay and Revolut.

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On June 25, the latest issue of the Revista Econòmica de Catalunya (Catalan Economic Review), commemorating its 40th anniversary, was presented at the Parliament of Catalonia. The contributions review the last 40 years of the different aspects that make up Catalan economy and society. With these contributions, along with Miquel Àngel Garcia López (UAB & IEB), we review the evolution that Catalan cities have experienced.

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The European regulation of cryptocurrencies, known as the MiCA regulation, has reshaped the digital asset landscape on the continent. Far from the wild west that had dominated the early years of the industry, Brussels has managed to put fences around the field. To the point that the major player in the market, the giant Binance, has not been able to acquire the community permit to operate in the EU, and retired on July 1st. The new framework imposed by the European Commission aims to offer security to investors, and part of the sector crypto has taken the regulation as a business loophole. Catalonia is proof of this: the first cryptocurrency platform created in the country, Venga, received the MiCA license last week to operate in the region with a model far removed from the market's image. "We are an app for people who are new to the space. We built it from scratch so you can enter it easily," explains the company's executive director, Michael Stroev, in conversation with the "Companies.

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Ezequiel (Zequi) Giró, president of Grup Giró, shares the same name as his grandfather, the company's founder, and his father. Around four out of every ten fruit and vegetable mesh containers worldwide have come from the factories of this family business from Badalona, which celebrated its first century last year. With its annual mesh production, one could travel more than 36 times around the Earth or go to the Moon and back almost twice. Production will increase from the end of next year, when a plant in Morocco, which will be the sixth, plus two more for machinery, will begin operating, with an investment of 20 million. This year, the group is looking towards 200 million in turnover, after closing 2025 with consolidated sales of 190 million and an operating result of 25 million, explain at the company's central headquarters in Badalona, Giró and his nephew, Àlex Rivière Giró, who is the CEO.

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The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has caused a real earthquake this week by advocating for a salary cut for those on sick leave. Spoiler alert: this already happens. In the case of common illnesses, such as the flu or back pain, for example, there is no benefit during the first three days; from the fourth day up to the 20th, the worker receives 60% paid by the company; from the 21st onwards, 75% is paid by Social Security. However, there may be modifications included in the collective agreement and other amounts or 100% may be paid, as is the case with maternity or paternity leave, which is paid by Social Security. When it is an accident or occupational illness, 75% is paid from the first day by the company.

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China's decision to restrict the export of rare earths, permanent magnets, and other critical minerals to Japan has turned an industrial dependency known for years into a top-tier problem for the Japanese economy. These materials are indispensable for manufacturing semiconductors, electronic components, batteries, electric motors, or defense systems, so any interruption in their supply threatens some of the most competitive sectors of Japanese industry.

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What is urban fashion? Also known as street wear or street fashion? It is that aesthetic of clothing originating from the United States in the eighties, from the urban tribes of that time, from breakdance fashion. It consists of wearing jeans combined with a tracksuit jacket, a baseball cap, a sweatshirt with the logo of baseball or basketball teams, Puma sneakers, and clothing brands like Lois. Greatly influenced by cinema, by films like Porky's and Teen Wolf – the jacket worn by Michael J. Fox is pure street wear–, by Boy George, by George Michael. The Wrangler jeans that Freddy Mercury wore at Queen's legendary performance at the Live Aid concert in 1985 at Wembley Stadium. Or the yellow Champion t-shirt that he himself made very fashionable. Or when he wore Puma sneakers and Adidas signed him. Who wore Lois and made the brand famous? Well, Abba, Rod Stewart, John Lennon, and Johan Cruyff.

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Let's place ourselves in the center of São Paulo, in Brazil, in mid-1962. Driving there is not easy: buses, taxis, motorcycles, and fuscas –as Brazilians call the Volkswagen beetles– fill the streets. On the sidewalks of the mythical Viaduto do Chá, Praça da Sé, and São João Avenue, pedestrians weave their way between offices, shop windows, banks, cinemas, and cafes. The city is bustling. It grows upwards, with ever taller buildings, and also outwards, with new neighborhoods that spread at the increasingly frenetic pace of factories, which constantly seek labor.One of these companies is Alpargatas. Its roots come from afar: from a sandal business that the Basque Juan Echegaray and the Scotsman Robert Fraser had launched in Argentina at the end of the 19th century. In 1907, that factory of popular and affordable footwear landed in Brazil with the creation of Sao Paulo Alpargatas. For decades, espadrilles, canvas shoes, and other products designed to shoe the working class of a growing country came out of its factories.In 1962, however, the company began to produce a new model. It was not a sandal; nor was it a closed shoe. It was a rubber sandal, with a white sole and blue straps, inspired by Japanese zori and adapted to a hot, immense, and unequal country. It was cheap, resistant, and easy to mass-produce. It did not aim to be aesthetic: above all, it aimed to be comfortable for walking. Today, more than six decades later, that product continues on the market under a brand that is already part of the global summer imaginary: Havaianas. In 2025, the brand generated approximately 741 million euros and concentrated almost all of Alpargatas' business. The company sold 228.7 million pairs in one year, of which more than 23 million were in international markets, such as Catalonia. What was born as a simple flip-flop for daily Brazilian life is today a brand present in more than one hundred countries. But how did it come to conquer the summer for so many people?A flip-flop for the popular classes

The idea of Alpargatas worked right away. In less than a year, the company was already producing more than 13,000 pairs of Havaianas a day. The product fit the moment: it was cheap, it withstood the heat, and it could be sold everywhere. The flip-flops began to circulate in neighborhood markets, in the streets of big cities, and in the villages of the interior of the country.Distribution also helped to make them a ubiquitous object. In the mid-sixties, street vendors roamed Brazil in Volkswagen Kombi vans loaded with pairs of Havaianas. They reached neighborhoods and municipalities where specialized stores were far away, making that rubber sandal easy to find and even easier to buy.For years, Havaianas were just that: popular, practical, and unpretentious footwear. They were worn by workers, families, children, and the elderly. They were used for going to the market, for staying at home, for walking on the street, or for stepping on the sand. They were not a fashion symbol, but quite the opposite: a product so everyday that it seemed to have no brand.Beans, rice… and Havanaias

In the eighties, Havaianas were already everywhere. The Brazilian government even included them among essential products, alongside basic goods like rice and beans, in policies to control inflation. But the massive success also had a downside: for decades, they were seen as cheap footwear for the popular classes, to the point that they were called chinelo de pobre

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10.623 million euros has been the tax collection by the Treasury in this year's income tax campaign. We can debate whether it is a lot or a little, but it has grown by 53% compared to last year. And the truth is that it makes perfect sense.

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Night of January 20, 1985. Location of Zuoz, in the Swiss canton of Grisons. Two masked men move silently through one of the rooms of the Lyceum Alpinum boarding school, where the children of Central Europe's great fortunes study. They wake a 19-year-old young man who was sleeping peacefully and convince him to accompany them when they show him a pistol. After hours of travel in a car confined to the trunk, they lock him in a room and force him to record a message for his family in which he asks for a ransom of 15 million German marks, quite a fortune (about 825 million pesetas at that time, or almost 5 million euros).

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