Catalonia recorded an average of 3.92 million Social Security affiliates in April, the highest figure in the historical series, which began in 2004. It added almost 77,000 employed people compared to 2025 —2% more—, and more than 38,000 since March —0.99% more—, according to data from the Ministry of Labour published this Tuesday.

Banco Sabadell begins the year with a net profit of 347 million in the first quarter, a 29% decrease compared to a year ago due to the impact of measures such as the early retirement plan involving about 300 people; or the already anticipated reduction in net interest margin (resulting from the difference between what it charges for loans and what it pays for deposits) due to falling interest rates.

The Spanish government plans to approve a new call for public jobs this Tuesday. Specifically, the Council of Ministers will approve the public positions for 2026, as announced yesterday, Monday, by the Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López. The call, however, will come without the backing of the majority unions in the public service, who have denounced the lack of negotiation. In 2025, the government approved 36,588 public positions in the State, a call slightly lower than that of 2024, which was historic with the offer of 40,146 positions. In statements to TVE, López assured that this year's call will be "an example of how to transform public administration jobs, have experts in artificial intelligence (AI) and at the same time not destroy jobs". However, López also indicated that "it makes no sense to continue growing eternally".

Banking has suffered a black day on the stock market. Financial institutions have painted European main indices red, dragged down by forecasts of economic contraction due to the war in Iran. All countries have seen their banks lose momentum since the opening, but the Spanish state is among the main victims. The Ibex-35, much more heavily weighted with banking stocks than the rest of the relevant EU indices, has fallen by nearly 2.4% this Monday, and is once again moving away from the 18,000-point threshold that marked its rally since the start of 2026. Far from these figures, the German Dax 40 has survived the declines in the stock prices of Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank, and has stopped its freefall at -1.2%; while the French Cac 40 has dropped by nearly 1.7%.

The positive momentum of the Catalan economy will offset the geopolitical uncertainty caused by the war in Iran and the trade tensions over the tariffs of the President of the United States, Donald Trump. According to the latest macroeconomic scenario for Catalonia, published this Monday by the Department of Economy and Finance of the Generalitat, Catalan gross domestic product (GDP, the indicator that measures the size of an economy) will grow by 2.3% in 2026, in line with the forecasts for the Spanish economy and above the main economies of the euro area. Likewise, the Government expects about 100,000 jobs to be created in the next two years and the employment rate to fall to 8.3% by 2027.

A study by Foment del Treball estimates the investment deficit in Catalan infrastructures at 49,543 million euros between 2009 and 2025. "It is alarming, profoundly indignant, and absolutely intolerable," stated the president of the entity, Josep Sánchez Llibre, this Monday during the presentation of the report. And the trend is not reversing: according to the president of the employers' association, the situation has been aggravated by a "disastrous" public management that "is not corrected, but rather becomes more serious each time."

A study by Foment del Treball estimates the investment deficit in Catalan infrastructure at 49,543 million euros between 2009 and 2025. "It is alarming, profoundly outrageous, and absolutely intolerable," stated the entity's president, Josep Sánchez Llibre, this Monday during the report's presentation. And the trend is not reversing: according to the employers' association president, the situation has been aggravated by “a disastrous” public management that “is not being corrected, but is becoming more serious each day.” The data arises from the difference between observed tenders and a threshold of 2.2% of Catalan gross domestic product (GDP), which according to the study should serve as a reference.

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."

The video game store chain GameStop has launched a takeover bid for 100% of the e-commerce portal eBay. The technology giant, now recovered after the crisis it plunged into in 2021 due to a shareholder war on the Reddit portal, values the historic buying and selling platform at $55.5 billion, about €47.335 billion at the current exchange rate. The offer will be made in a combination of cash and shares, as announced on Sunday by the CEO of the company launching the bid, Ryan Cohen, in statements to the Wall Street Journal. His latest moves in the shareholder base already hinted at some interest: in recent months, GameStop has built a position of close to 5% in eBay through share purchases and various financial instruments.

Josep Soler, founder and executive advisor of EFPA Spain (Spanish Association of Financial Advisors and Planners), believes that there is a need to improve financial literacy, one of the tasks he has been promoting for years. Furthermore, an effort must be made to incentivize, through taxation, citizens to move from saving to investing.

The electricity fraud detected in Catalonia in 2025 is equivalent to the consumption of 144,000 homes, meaning the electricity that a city the size of Sant Feliu de Llobregat would consume. This is data from the company Endesa, the main electricity distributor in Catalonia, which in 2025 detected 24,347 cases of electricity fraud in its Catalan electricity grid, equivalent to 67 manipulations per day on average, one every three hours. It is a figure 7% higher than the previous year. In total, more than 486 GWh were defrauded.

Knowing for sure what caused the massive blackout on April 28 last year, which left the entire Iberian Peninsula in darkness for hours, will be difficult. Several investigations have been carried out so far. Red Eléctrica, ENTSO-E (the European group of system operator companies), the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), the Ministry for Ecological Transition, and others have conducted them. All indicate that there was a combination of circumstances that led to the blackout, but without pointing to anyone in particular.

At the end of April, the runway of results obtained by companies in the first quarter of the year begins, that is, between January and March. This also includes the so-called crown jewels; those companies that are part of the Ibex-35. Again, this 2026's presentations have been marked by the international context: "This is already the sixth or seventh [energy] crisis I have experienced," stated Iberdrola's president, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, to analysts this week, explaining how they achieved a profit of 1,865 million euros in the first three months of the year (11% more). Two companies in the sector have also fared well: Naturgy and Repsol –Endesa presents results in May–. The first has earned 530 million euros up to March and the second 929 million. In the case of the oil company, this represents 154% more.

A mess. With public money and vulnerable students. This is what teachers, workers, coordinators and students from the Escola d'Hostaleria de Castelldefels have denounced. Forged signatures, obsolete material and spaces, off-the-books payments... these are the various irregularities that the Servei d'Ocupació de Catalunya (SOC) is investigating. Over the last two weeks, four inspections have been carried out and dozens of people interviewed to determine if there has been a misuse of public funds granted to the institution.

The European Commission has a new diagnosis on taxation that points to the highest incomes and large fortunes. According to a study published by the Community executive, over the last thirty years there has been a concentration of wealth in the most affluent segments of the population in the European Union, making it necessary to rethink the taxes levied on wealth, inheritance, and capital income in the EU to reverse this trend.

Now the episode of BBVA's takeover bid for Banco Sabadell is truly over. With the closing of the sale of the British subsidiary TSB to Banco Santander, and the distribution of an extraordinary dividend of 50 cents per share on May 29, the bank closes a chapter in its 145-year history and begins a new one. The challenge is to prove that, after years of integrating entities in Spain (Atlántic, Guipuzcoano, or Urquijo), it will do better alone than in a bad partnership. After next Wednesday's shareholders' meeting, it will be a bank completely focused on the Catalan and Spanish market, with the challenge of deepening digitalization, but at the same time maintaining the characteristic of personal service with clients and, above all, with companies.

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".

The main demonstration on a Spanish scale this May 1st took place in Malaga, coinciding with the first day of the Andalusian elections campaign. Under the slogan "Rights, not trenches. Salaries, housing, and democracy", thousands of workers have taken to the streets to demand better salaries, decent and affordable housing, and respect for international law. The demonstration, however, was heavily marked by electoral coded messages launched by progressive leaders who mobilized, taking advantage of the first day of the campaign in Andalusia.

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.

New plot twist in the future of Parlem Telecom. One month after the non-integration with Avatel, a series of debts amounting to 16.6 million euros loom over the Catalan telecom operator. Specifically, as read from the annual results provided by the company to the BME Growth, various credits made by Inveready – investor fund owner of Avatel and shareholder of Parlem – and its main holder, Josep Maria Echarri, have moved to short-term maturity after various financial ratios established in the financing contracts (covenants) were breached during the previous fiscal year. “There is a short-term liquidity risk,” acknowledges the auditor in the annual accounts presented this Thursday.