Ignasi Pietx (Barcelona, 1965) is the general director of the design and printing company Artyplan and current president of Comertia, a Catalan employers' association for retail trade. Just at the midpoint of his term at the head of the entity, the executive reviews the main demands of the Catalan family business in the retail sector, in two years marked by good economic performance at a macro level, but at the same time a global instability that has diminished consumer confidence.This June marks two years since his appointment as president of Comertia. In all this time, has trade in Catalonia improved or worsened?

The President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, leaves the door open to leaving her post at the institution early to contribute to the debate around the next presidential elections in France, scheduled for April 2027. "It is possible," declared the also former French Finance Minister in an interview with the French newspaper Les Échos, to whom she was asked if she was considering leaving the presidency of the eurozone's highest monetary body to participate in political discussions in the country.

ThUS artificial intelligence models, which have comfortably dominated the market since the launch of ChatGPT, no longer seem so unattainable. In mid-June, the start-up Chinese Z.ai, a Tsinghua University spin-off that has been at the forefront of Beijing's technological strategy, has released its latest product, GLM-5.2. The analysis published by the company itself places it at a similar level to the main products of OpenAI and Anthropic laboratories. Market analysts have confirmed its potential; the cybersecurity company Semgrep, for example, has stated: "We have another Mythos at home." Experts consulted by ARA acknowledge that a general independent valuation is needed, but indicate that, based on the published specifications, GLM-5.2 would be "no more than 1% below" American competition.

The Catalan company for auxiliary tourism and travel services ByteTravel has debuted on the SME stock exchange, BME Growth, after almost two years listed on BME Scaleup. It is the second company to make the leap from one market to another. The stock market debut began with an increase, reaching 4.84 euros, with an increment of 7.56% and a capitalization of almost 135 million. The company's CEO, Axel Serena, rang the traditional bell at the Barcelona Stock Exchange, accompanied by the managing director of BME Growth and BME Scaleup, Jesús González Nieto, and the president of the Barcelona Stock Exchange, Fausto Agelet.

More than three years after the state housing law came into force, the Generalitat has fined three large holders for the first time – meaning owners of more than five homes each – for non-compliance with the regulations, as reported by the Efe agency this Friday. In response to questions from ARA, the Department of Territory and Housing has not specified what type of non-compliance it is (whether it is, for example, for violating the rent cap).

Colonial SFL, until now focused on the office markets of Barcelona, Madrid, and Paris, has overcome one of its pending tasks: setting foot in Berlin. For some time now, the top executives of the Catalan real estate company, Juan José Brugera (president) and Pere Viñolas (CEO) had expressed interest to bring its business model to the German capital.

Catalan firms dedicated to the auditing sector in Catalonia have noted that the emergence of new technologies and artificial intelligence is making it difficult for them to attract talent, as the profile of the professionals they need has changed. According to the Catalonia Audit Barometer presented at the Auditorium Forum, 80.3% of companies in the sector consider attracting qualified professionals their main concern.

High-speed rail wins by a large margin in terms of passenger numbers on the main state corridors, but despite this, the number of planes making the same journeys has not decreased, although it is true that the number of seats offered by airlines has fallen. This is the main conclusion of an article prepared by researchers from the University of Barcelona, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and the Open University of Catalonia, signed by Daniel Albalate, director of the Observatory of Analysis and Evaluation of Public Policies at the UB; Albert Gragera, professor in the Department of Applied Economics at the UAB, and Pere Suau, head of the Sustainability, Management and Transport Research Group (SUMAT), attached to the Research Centre on Digital Transformation and Governance (UOC-DIGIT), and professor of Economics and Business studies.

Immigrant population contributed approximately 1.7 percentage points to the average annual growth of Spanish GDP (3.7%) and 0.5 points to the average annual growth of GDP per capita between 2022 and 2025, according to Pilar Cuadrado Salinas, a specialist in quantitative analysis and economic information management at the Bank of Spain, who highlighted that Spain is currently the country that contributes most to the demographic growth of the European Union thanks to immigration.

The Treasury last year settled a total of 547 million euros from individuals "with large assets", which represents a 4.4% increase compared to the previous year. To these actions through the different territorial delegations of the State Tax Administration Agency (AEAT), with 1,329 inspections – a 5.1% increase compared to 2024 – are added those of the Central Unit for the Coordination of Relevant Assets to detect, for example, false residencies. In fact, last year 68 million euros were settled from 145 taxpayers "artificially located in other countries" who actually reside in Spain and must pay taxes there.

Tourism, both in Catalonia and in the State as a whole, faces another historic summer. The data up to May, on the eve of the start of the high summer season, which officially begins in mid-June, show new records. Between January and May, 7.54 million foreign tourists arrived in Catalonia, 4% more than last year and a historic record. In Spain, 36.8 million international tourists arrived, 5% more than in the same period of 2025.

The European judiciary has endorsed the European Commission's decision to fine Google with the largest penalty in the history of the European Union for violating EU antitrust legislation. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Thursday rejected the American tech giant's appeal against Brussels' punishment and upheld the imposition of a fine of up to 4.1 billion euros, slightly lower than that initially applied by the European executive.

Affiliates in Catalonia surpassed the 4 million mark for the first time. Specifically, according to data released this Thursday by the Ministry of Social Security, 4.01 million Catalans were registered as employed in June. Thus, compared to May, there are 37,053 more affiliates in the country, which is equivalent to an increase of 0.93%. The boost from the start of the summer campaign has thus driven the Catalan labor market to a new record; until now, it had been above 3.9 million workers for two months. Looking at the data from a year ago, the year-on-year change is also positive, at 2.63%, which translates to 102,763 more workers.

41% of the Spanish population contributes more through taxes and fees than it receives in benefits. The proportion rises to 68% between the ages of 25 and 64, the active stage of citizens, and falls below 10% at the extremes of the life cycle, childhood and old age, which maintains a growing trend. The issue is that formulas must be devised to distribute the costs of population aging "in a more predictable and equitable way between generations" to "prevent them from being transferred in a less visible way to future generations through higher levels of debt," according to a study by the economic policy center EsadeEcPol. One of the solutions they propose consists of increasing the proportion of the working population aged 55 to 64, which is below the European average, and which contributes the most in social security contributions and taxes.

When the Saudi operator STC entered Telefónica, the telecom company, then chaired by José María Álvarez-Pallete, argued that the "Spanishness" of the shareholding was not lost. It said so because a core group based in the State was maintained with historical shareholders such as Criteria, BBVA itself, and CaixaBank, which sold its stake in 2024. The State Industrial Shareholdings Corporation (SEPI), the Spanish government's investment arm, would later join them, acquiring 10% of Telefónica's share capital. Today, however, this Spanish core has been diluted. CaixaBank's departure two years ago is now joined by BBVA's reduction, which in the last few hours has gone from controlling 5.007% of the share capital to holding only a 1.965% stake, as confirmed by ARA from market sources.

The consortium behind the project for Móra la Nova (Ribera d'Ebre) and San Fernando de Henares (Madrid) to host one of Europe's artificial intelligence (AI) gigafactories boasts unanimity. This Wednesday, Pedro Sánchez's government convened in Moncloa the representatives of who, for now, forms part of the consortium that has sponsored the project's candidacy for its first official family photo. For the Spanish government, the company that has been established for this technological project to become a reality in the State is an example of the "importance" of public-private collaboration, and it takes on even more "relevance" when considering that the companies that make up the consortium, and which hold the majority, are "leaders in their sectors," Moncloa highlighted in a statement.

The Generalitat's flagship housing plan —and arguably one of the most significant of the legislature— is to add 50,000 protected homes to the public stock by 2030. Salvador Illa's strategy involves identifying plots of land ready for construction and then offering them to municipalities and developers. This Wednesday, the Government has put out to tender 16 of the 59 plots with capacity for fewer than 20 homes each that the executive has included in its plan. As ARA has learned, this week it will release 8 more of the same type, bringing the total to 24 plots.

Family-work balance takes precedence over salary as a factor that workers consider when choosing a job, or at least that is the conclusion of a report by Foment del Treball presented this Wednesday, which analyzes the challenges of the Spanish labor market. Specifically, work-life balance has positioned itself as the "top priority" among those looking for a job or having to choose a job offer to pursue. It is the main criterion (36.2%), ahead of salary (26.8%) and flexible hours or workplace (23.6%), according to the report. And it is a particularly relevant element for workers between 30 and 35 years old, but not for young people who have just entered the labor market: although work-life balance has grown as a criterion, salary continues to gain ground.

Gas stations seeking to increase profits by taking advantage of state aid and tax breaks approved by the Spanish government to address the consequences of the war in Iran will be publicly exposed and identified on a public list so that consumers can make claims.

The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) is investigating whether a group of brokers has agreed to fix mortgage prices and commercial conditions and, consequently, has infringed free competition in the market. Competition suspects that the alleged fraudulent practices took place within the framework of "an association of companies dedicated to mortgage intermediation", but does not specify which one.