The Catalan agri-food company BonÀrea closed 2025 with a record turnover of 2,826 million euros, 5.4% more than the previous year, and a net profit of 102.69 million euros, 15.6% higher, as the company reported this Tuesday. With this figure, the company exceeds the barrier of 100 million euros in net result for the first time in its history.

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".

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.

Monday of strong tension in international financial markets. The failure of peace negotiations between Iran and the United States during this weekend has transferred geopolitical tension directly to the trading floors, which have once again turned red. Donald Trump's order to block the Strait of Hormuz –and his direct threat to sink any Iranian ship that ignores the siege– has set off all alarms about global supply.

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.

Iberia will temporarily suspend its direct flights to Cuba starting in June. According to the company, the decision is motivated by the "situation the country is going through" for several months, a fact that would have impacted demand "very significantly." The sale of flights, however, will remain open from November, when the airline plans to resume the route, "provided that conditions permit." In recent months, the company's operations in Cuba were already being affected by the serious situation being experienced on the island, where the United States has expanded its siege. In fact, as Iberia specifies, since last February 9, it has been necessary to make a technical stop in Santo Domingo to refuel the flights returning to Madrid.

The cost of producing food is expected to rise in the coming months due to the war in the Middle East. The reason is the dependence of world agriculture on fertilizers, some of the main producers of which are the Persian Gulf countries. The export of these chemical products has been as affected as oil by the conflict, which has led to price increases that will likely be passed on to the final price of food.

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.

The arrival of spring not only brings the time change and milder temperatures. For investors in the Spanish stock market, it is the starting gun for the most lucrative period of the year. In 2025, the Ibex-35 reaffirmed itself as the one with the most generous remuneration in the Old Continent. According to the latest market data, the Spanish selective index leads dividend yield in Europe, thus breaking its own record of payments in a year marked by the strength of business results.

Hundreds of suitcases piled up haphazardly have been accumulating on the ground in recent days at El Prat airport, parked without any control near the carousels where travelers hope to find their belongings. This has been the result of the indefinite strike by Groundforce personnel, a company responsible for checking in luggage for airlines such as Air Europa, Air France, Lufthansa, or United Airlines.

Teresa Ribera (Madrid, 1969) is the Vice-President of the European Commission for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition since 2024, in a legislature that has veered to the right and must constantly battle to preserve unity against the unpredictable attacks of the United States. The most recent, a war in Iran that has shattered peace in the Middle East and distorted the global economy. The former socialist minister is now working on what the European response to this latest crisis should be, and defends democratic values that she believes must be asserted in the face of Donald Trump's aggressions.

The US economy has been feeling the effects of the war in the Middle East and the escalating price of oil for some time now. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in March confirms this and reveals how the impact of the conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is reaching the pockets of Americans, as it soared to 3.3%, the highest level since May 2024. This rise coincides with market forecasts, which already expected a considerable escalation compared to February's 2.4% as a consequence of high gasoline prices.

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.

"Europe must be strategically autonomous in everything possible, also in the defense sector". The Government announces the creation of a new program to train 400 Catalan companies so that they can enter the security and defense sector. As announced this Friday by the Minister of Business and Labor, Miquel Sàmper, the new program – called Dual Technology & Industry Readiness Programme– will be aimed at introducing SMEs that are dedicated to automotive, space, metallurgy and machinery with dual technologies into the market. The plan foresees offering sessions where key aspects will be discussed for those who wish to invest in the defense and security market, such as the various certifications necessary to operate, the homologation processes that must be carried out, and the access routes to state and European contracting processes.

The growth of the economy translated last year into the lowest level of household and business debt in 25 years. And, on the other hand, household financial wealth, resulting from the difference between assets held and debts, reached a record of 2.645 trillion euros, representing 156.8% of GDP, compared to the average of 149.1% since 2022, according to data from the financial accounts of the Spanish economy published by the Bank of Spain.

In an international scenario marked by geopolitical instability, the Spanish public administration has redirected its financial muscle towards sectors that guarantee strategic resilience. The latest report published by the Licitaciones.io platform on the 2025 fiscal year paints an undeniable reality: security and defense have become the priority of institutional investment. According to the analyzed data, the defense and aeronautics sector already represents 31.2% of the volume awarded to the ten main companies in the State.

The rise of finfluencers –content creators who give advice on finance and investment on social media– has forced the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) to act. The regulator has made public a review of the activity of nearly 100 of these profiles and the diagnosis is clear: 10% do not comply with current regulations or could be performing personalized advisory tasks without the corresponding authorization.

Vehicles are one of the main goods moved by the Port of Barcelona, closely linked to the local automotive industry with leading companies such as Seat. It is the leading port in Spain for this traffic and fifth in all of Europe. A position that was becoming insufficient. "We decided we wanted to take a step further," explained its president, José Alberto Carbonell, this Thursday at the laying of the first stone of the future car terminal of the Japanese logistics giant Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), which will be located at the Muelle Príncipe de España.

The tourism employers' association Exceltur forecasts that the Middle East conflict will cause a "slight" boost to the sector. According to the organization, in the event of a short war scenario, the refuge effect would have an economic impact of 4,239 million euros in Spain, which represents two points of tourist GDP. Therefore, Exceltur calculates that a significant number of tourists may arrive in Spanish territory thanks to the fact that a relevant tourist area like the Middle East is in the midst of the conflict.

The international congress of seafood companies and products, Seafood Global, will open a new edition on April 21 with similar prospects to last year's. The organizers of the meeting do not foresee that the war in the Middle East will affect attendance at the meeting and estimate that the event will have an impact on the city's economy of around 161 million euros.