The hangover from the Republican victory in last Tuesday's US legislative elections has caused sharp falls among some of the main technology companies listed on the US stock exchange. One of the main ones affected by the drops is the tycoon Elon Musk, who is estimated to have lost more than 27 billion euros.

The Labor Inspectorate has opened a file on the Generalitat's Department of Culture to determine whether over the last few years they have had more than 200 interns performing structural, non-formative tasks. For their part, sources from the Department of Culture explained to the ACN that they have filed allegations and appeals to the proceeding and that they disagree with the agency's conclusions.

Until recently she had a photo with her daughter on WhatsApp, but with the publication of the book she is corresponding with more people who do not know her –for interviews, promotion– and she decided to change it. It is 128 pages long titled Nadie merece nada (Quaderns Anagrama) where Jahel Queralt defends and dissects the concept of meritocracy. She, the daughter of parents who had her just after finishing high school, grew up –very happily– in a country house without electricity. Statistics indicate that, as an adult, she should be a low-income person. But she earned a law degree, a PhD in political theory, and is a professor at Pompeu Fabra. Far from believing in personal stories of overcoming adversity, she champions class consciousness and has specialized in distributive justice.

The supermarket chain Bon Preu will open five new establishments during this last quarter of the year, which will involve an investment of 58.3 million euros and the creation of more than 250 jobs. These include three Esclat stores in Castellar del Vallès, Palafolls, and Sabadell, the latter already inaugurated on October 14, and two Bonpreu supermarkets in Cerdanyola del Vallès and Barcelona. In addition, this month of October an EsclatOil gas station and a minimarket have also been inaugurated in Pallejà, and there are plans to open two more EsclatOil gas stations in Castellar del Vallès and Palafolls.

With the legislature at its limit and the November 29th polls on the horizon, the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy has decided to raise the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) to 1,286 euros per month, a 5.3% increase. The proposal was published this Wednesday after eleven o'clock at night, and unions and employers' associations will be able to make contributions until November 16th. But the Ministry of Labor's move already anticipates that this will be the figure that the Council of Ministers will soon approve.

The reform of the administration has made headway in Catalonia. Or at least that is how it is viewed by the more than 200 entities and business associations that are part of the Forum of Entities for the Reform of the Administration (FERA), an organization established about two years ago to demand reforms in the public sector. The processing of the bill for professional managers in the public sector – a regulation that is part of this process, approved in July by the government of Salvador Illa – overcame the obstacle last Friday in the parliamentary committee, where ERC, Comuns, and the PP presented amendments to the entirety. Junts avoided proposing one, and in this way, the vote next month in Parliament will be reached with the possibility that the regulation will continue its path.

The cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance has revealed that the cyberattack it recently suffered –with an estimated impact of 6.34 billion dollars (more than 5.6 billion euros)–, attributed by the United States authorities to North Korea, began with an infiltration operation through fake job interviews. In a preliminary report published on the social network X, the company—currently based in Malta—explained that the attackers used "social engineering" techniques, artificial intelligence (AI) tools, and advanced transaction authorization mechanisms to steal the assets.

"Let's go to Pryca". For decades, for thousands of families, saying this phrase was equivalent to doing the big weekly shop: taking the car, parking in front of an immense warehouse and walking through aisles full of all kinds of products. In 1973, in El Prat de Llobregat, one of the first hypermarkets of this type in the State opened. More than fifty years later, that establishment continues to operate, but no longer under the name Pryca. On the facade, it now reads Carrefour. What happened to that chain that marked the consumption habits of an entire generation? And what did the French giant that gives the establishment its name today have to do with it?

The Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF), the public investment bank of the Generalitat, has sealed an alliance with the Official Credit Institute (ICO), of the Spanish government, to channel the financing of housing and strategic business projects. The objective is to boost in Catalonia the resources of the public-private fund España Crece intended to provide continuity to the Next Generation European funds linked to the post-pandemic recovery plan –whose application period ended last August– and also the lines intended for companies.

Financial markets reacted this Wednesday with optimism to the defeat of the Republican Party in the United States legislative elections. Most stock exchanges around the world closed the day with gains, while the price of oil recorded significant drops, although it remains at levels close to 100 dollars per barrel in the case of Brent, the benchmark crude in Europe.

The Mobile World Congress will incorporate three thematic verticals in its 2027 edition to bring together "companies that develop technologies connected to the real world." The next edition of the leading global technology congress, which will be held between March 1 and 4 at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via venue, will reserve spaces for health (Connect Health), the automotive industry (Connect Auto), and aviation (Connect Aviation). The President and CEO of GSMA Ltd., John Hoffman, assured the media this Wednesday that these types of spaces are "gaining weight" within the event, which this year has brought together more than 100,000 people. Hoffman presented the first new features of the fair together with the Director of GSMA Spain, Laia Ripoll.

Catalonia continues to break all tourism records. For the first time, it has surpassed the 16 million international visitor barrier in the first nine months of the year—a particularly significant period because it includes the summer, traditionally the strongest season—and the 20 billion euro mark in total spending.

The way of approaching tourism is also starting to shift in Brussels. If until now the incipient European guidelines revolved around the competitiveness and resilience of the sector, the community executive now speaks of "growing pressure" on certain destinations that have difficulties managing the influx, especially in summer, and points to low wages as a widespread problem.

The Ministry of Labor maintains its intention to approve the increase in the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) before the end of the legislature. As the Secretary of State for Labor, Joaquín Pérez Rey, indicated this Wednesday, the will is to push forward the 2027 update "as soon as possible." And the facts demonstrate this: this Wednesday, the ministry has summoned the employer associations – CEOE and Cepyme – and the unions – CCOO and UGT – to address the increase. At the social dialogue table, in addition, the proposal from the committee of experts will be presented, which advises that, for the coming year, the SMI should be raised by 4.9%, up to 1,281 gross euros in 14 payments, as explained in a press conference by Pérez Rey. Currently it is 1,221 euros.

At the gates of the general strike called across the State for next November 11th, the number of unemployed people in Catalonia is rising for the fourth consecutive month. Specifically, according to data released this Wednesday by the Ministry of Labor, in the Principality there are 8,174 more unemployed people in October than in September, a figure that represents an increase of 2.48%. In comparison with last October, unemployment is growing even more strongly: it is up by 4.24%, which is equivalent to 13,751 more people without work than a year ago. In total, in Catalonia there are 338,246 people unemployed. This trend contrasts with the rest of the State, where unemployment is decreasing in year-on-year terms.

Massive cuts at Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) in light of the dire results of the telephone company, which operates in the British market and is 50% owned by the Spanish firm Telefónica. A debt of 25.6 billion euros and a continuous loss of customers over the last year and a half threaten its business model in the United Kingdom. The presentation of third-quarter results this Tuesday confirmed the crisis, and reports that appeared in the London press last week indicated that the company is preparing a workforce reduction of 4,000 jobs, 25% of its workforce.

Montse Sánchez (l'Hospitalet de Llobregat, 1981) combines her leadership of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT, the third largest union in terms of membership in Catalonia) with her job at Seat, from which she is not released from work duties. The union is one of the main promoters of the general strike called for next November 11 throughout the State, and it participates in initiatives such as the Strike House (Casa de la Vaga), located at the central faculty of the University of Barcelona. Currently, the CGT is in a moment of great expansion. According to them, the increase in members is mainly due to their commitment to conflict.

The fifteenth edition of the Smart City Expo World Congress, the congress dedicated to smart cities held in Barcelona, will bring together more than 27,000 attendees at Fira de Barcelona. This year's edition of the event will feature representatives from a thousand cities, with more than 1,200 exhibitors and around 600 international speakers. Under the slogan "Urban solutions, real impact", the Smart City Expo brings together in the country's capital figures from the local sphere such as the former mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo; the mayor of Atlanta, Andre Dickens, and representatives from cities as diverse as Athens, Milan, or Dublin.

Sol Daurella, president of the bottler Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), repeats as the richest person in Catalonia on the list of the State's great fortunes published this Tuesday by the magazine Forbes. With assets of 3.5 billion euros (about 600 million more than in 2025), Daurella is in eleventh position in the Spanish sphere in a ranking headed once again by the Galician Amancio Ortega, founder of the fashion giant Inditex—parent company of chains such as Zara, Stradivarius or Bershka—, who in one year has increased his fortune by 15.3 billion euros, to 125.2 billion.

Spanish retailers lost 2.932 billion euros in 2025 due to theft, administrative errors, and supplier fraud, a figure equivalent to 1.1% of their annual sales. According to the Commercial Distribution Theft Barometer report, published this Tuesday, what are also termed "unknown losses" rebounded compared to the previous fiscal year and returned to historic highs. Wines and spirits and headphones were the most stolen products, according to the study.