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.

The price war at gas stations has erupted. At least temporarily, and with greater savings the more contracts and service agreements signed with the companies. This comes after fuel prices soared the day after the outbreak of war in the Middle East and the surge in oil prices, which reinforced the situation. from the control of abuses by the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC)The major companies have entered into a price war ahead of Easter. In any case, the biggest discounts are obtained if other services related to electricity or gas are contracted.

Criteria, the investment arm of La Caixa, has taken advantage of GIP-BlackRock's accelerated placement of 11.4% of Naturgy's share capital to strengthen its stake in the energy company. The holding company with the largest portfolio of business investments in Spain acquired 2.5% of this placement, thus reinforcing its position as the largest shareholder with 28.5% of the capital. Criteria invested a total of €611 million in this operation, in which the shares were sold at €25.20. Naturgy, which fell 7.40% on Tuesday to €24.78, is part of Criteria's portfolio of significant investments, along with Telefónica (9.99%), ACS (9.36%), and the French company Veolia (5%), among others. Following this transaction, CVC is the second largest shareholder in Naturgy, with 18.8%. followed by the Australian fund IFM, with 15.169%, the March family's Corporación Financiera Alba, with 5%, and the Algerian company Sonatrach, with 3.85%. Criteria, owned by the La Caixa Foundation, states that the purchase "demonstrates its commitment to Naturgy's future." GIP-Blackrock, which with this placement has exited Naturgy's capital, began its divestment last December, when it placed 7.1% for approximately €1.8 billion. At that time, Criteria, chaired by Isidro Fainé, increased its stake to 26%. With the placement of 11.4% of the energy company's capital, GIP-Blackrock has pocketed €2.791 billion. As a result, the seller, which invested over €3.8 billion in Naturgy's capital, will have received approximately €4.5 billion from the sale of its stake, not including dividends received.

The GIP fund, owned by the US investment giant BlackRock, has decided to exit its stake in Naturgy. The group has announced an accelerated placement on the market of 11.4% of the gas company's capital, which, at Monday's closing price, amounts to more than €2.955 billion. With this operation, carried out by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, the restructuring of the energy company's capital is complete. Criteria, the investment arm of La Caixa, remains in first place, with more than 25.98% of the shares, followed by CVC, with 18.8%, and the Australian fund IFM, with 15.16%. The transaction is being carried out through a rapid process whereby the placement banks solicit orders from large institutional investors within a few hours to fully subscribe the shares. Last December, GIP III Canary, the fund holding the stake, already had reduced its stake in Naturgy through an initial accelerated placement of approximately 7.1% of the capital. It then sold at a price of €24.75 per share. Following this operation, the vehicle held 11.4% of the gas company's capital, subject to a commitment to maintain (lock-up(in financial jargon) of 90 days. This Monday, Naturgy was one of the few stocks that rose on the Spanish stock exchange, with a 1.37% increase to €26.70.

Naturgy – formerly Gas Natural – doesn't want any distractions from its management, and in recent years it has had enough. Since the sudden entry of the Australian fund IFM in 2021, when it launched an unsolicited takeover bid for 22.69% of the share capital for €5.06 billion, the rumors surrounding the gas company's shareholders and management have been constant, albeit in the wake of recent moves by one of its main shareholders: GIP, now BlackRock, which at the end of 2025 accelerated the sale of 7% of its capital to the company. The company, facing a "challenging" 2026, has sought to project an image of stability, emphasizing the business and strategy, rather than governance. How? By reorganizing the board of directors and extending the term of its CEO, Francisco Reynés, until 2030—one of the few executives in the Ibex 35 who wields absolute power within his company—the company is "cutting off any distractions at the root," in the words of one company insider.

Francisco Reynés joined Naturgy in 2018, when he was appointed chairman of the company, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will continue in this role until 2030. This Wednesday, coinciding with the presentation of the 2025 results, the company announced that the board of directors had made that decision.

La Caixa, Spain's largest economic, financial, business, and philanthropic network, has secured its future, at least until 2030. In a move to preserve the independence of the Foundation, the group's parent organization, Isidre Fainé (Manresa, 1942) will remain as chairman for a significant portion of the current administration, whose term ends this week. This continuity and stability, characteristic of the organization, ensures coverage of the strategic plan, which anticipates investing €4 billion by 2030. La Caixa is one of Spain's largest financial institutions, with a market capitalization exceeding €37 billion. Last November, after dismissing CEO Ángel Simón in March, Fainé promoted changes to Criteria's roadmap through 2030 to better align it with the Foundation's interests and objectives. This powerful organization, with its financial, business, and social influence, has been headed by Fainé since 2014, when it ceased to be a savings bank, of which he was also president since 2007. Some sources claim that a key principle is that "Criteria works for the Foundation, not for it."

Both Sabadell and CaixaBank were the two Catalan (or Catalan-origin) companies on the Ibex 35 that grew the most in 2025. The year was marked by strong growth in the Spanish stock market and, from a Catalan perspective, by the recovery of Grifols and the notable declines of Puig.

The shareholding restructuring at Naturgy continues. The March family, through Corporación Financiera Alba, now directly controls 5% of Naturgy, after separating from CVC, with whom they jointly controlled 18% of the energy company's capital. This move comes after GIP, owned by BlackRock, would sell 7.1% of their stake and retained 12.626%, and La Caixa, through Criteria, will recover Alba has increased its stake by 2% compared to before the company's takeover bid this year, reinforcing its position as the largest shareholder with 25.986% of the capital. The March family's investment vehicle informed the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) this Thursday that it was modifying its shareholder agreement with CVC. As a result of the change, the March family and CVC will maintain their governance commitments—that is, they will act as allies on the board of directors—but Alba will have direct control over its 5% stake and CVC over its 13%. Until now, this stake was held through the vehicle called Rioja Bidco. According to the March family, the objective of the modification is to have greater flexibility both to buy and sell shares. "Alba and the Rioja Group have signed a new shareholders' agreement that will replace the one signed in 2018 (and amended in 2019), incorporating the main aspects, including the pooling of voting rights and representation on the board, as well as alignment on governance principles and coordination of matters," states Al.

CriteriaCaixa, the investment holding company of La Caixa, has regained the stake it held in Naturgy before the gas company's self-takeover bid in 2025. After investing €485 million, La Caixa's holding company has acquired an additional 2% of Naturgy's capital, bringing its total to 25.9%, according to the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). When the self-takeover bid for 10% of Naturgy's capital took place, CriteriaCaixa, like the other shareholders, had to sell some of its shares, leaving the holding company, chaired by Isidre Fainé, with only 23.9% of the share capital and relinquishing its stake. This Wednesday's move represents a step forward in consolidating Criteria's position as the energy company's largest shareholder, while also reinforcing its strategy of maintaining its historical ties and, therefore, its influence. However, the transaction took place taking advantage of BlackRock's divestment, which just a week ago began its exit from Naturgy with the accelerated sale of 7% of its shares for €1.8 billion. Now, the US investment fund holds only 12.6% of the share capital, making it the fourth largest shareholder behind CVC and IFM.

BlackRock has begun an exit strategy in Naturgy. The US investment fund has just sold 7.1% of the gas company's share capital for €1.8 billion, as reported Wednesday night to the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

In 2024, the Catalan government approved the Catalan biogas strategy 2024-2030 and its action plan, which is part of Catalonia's transition to a new, cleaner, more sustainable, democratic and fair energy model, aiming to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The goal is to define and consolidate the sector by 2030.

The catastrophic floods in the Valencian Community have uncovered stories of resilience and overcoming adversity. These are firsthand accounts, told by real people. The DANA storm devastated infrastructure such as schools and institutes, and their repair has required time and resources. "In January, we had no heating. We had to ask the City Council to install blue light radiators in the classrooms and bring in generators to power them, because the boilers and the generator weren't repaired until later," recalls Consuelo García Iborra, principal of the CEIP Amparo Alabau school in Alaqu. The school closed for several days to make the space accessible and took in another school that had to close for months due to the DANA storm.

The energy company Naturgy, through its innovation platform Innovahub, is promoting a pioneering project in Spain for the development of floating photovoltaic technology in the open sea, in collaboration with the start-up Spanish company BlueNewables, as reported this Tuesday by the company chaired by Francisco Reynés. This initiative, which has received a grant from IDAE – a state agency – within the framework of the Renmarinas program, seeks to explore new renewable solutions that will advance the decarbonization of energy. The project involves the design, manufacture, commissioning, and monitoring of two 500 kW units, optimized to operate in ocean environments, according to the company. The technology used is based on an innovative catamaran-type design, which allows for the use of more economical floats and the placement of solar panels further from the direct impact of waves, thus improving the maintenance and performance of the generation panels. Naturgy explained that, within the framework of its collaboration with BlueNewables, they will work together on the exchange of technical, operational, strategic, and economic information derived from the development of the pilot project, both during manufacturing and the testing phase. This collaboration will extend for two years from the system's launch, including performance data, technical issues, operational reports, costs, lessons learned, and technology deployment strategies.

Naturgy has been recognized as "Customer Service of the Year" by the consumer consultancy Sotto Tempo. The award recognizes the company's commitment to quality and continuous improvement in customer service, coming at a key moment: the implementation of the new digital platform that has transformed how the company interacts with customers, simplifying processes and significantly improving service.

The four major energy companies listed on the Ibex 35, Iberdrola, Endesa, Naturgy, and Repsol, have just presented their results for the first nine months of the year, that is, between January and September. And although themassive power outage of April 28 It has had an impact on their accounts, but in one way or another they have managed to navigate the effects of the blackout that plunged the Iberian Peninsula into darkness, to the point that three of them (Iberdrola, Endesa, and Naturgy) expect to close 2025 with record profits. However, the businesses of the four companies are not the same, although some have more in common, as is the case with Iberdrola and Endesa. Therefore, the underlying reasons for how they have managed to avoid the impact are also different.

In the context of the energy transition and environmental crisis we have been experiencing for years, the United Nations COP28 Climate Summit held in 2023 agreed to promote the reduction of fossil fuels to combat climate change and transition to renewable energies. Catalonia is committed to biogas and biomethane to reduce emissions, move towards energy independence, and promote a more sustainable circular economy.

For several years now, the nuclear shutdown has lost momentum, with a war in Ukraine upsetting the order of priorities, opening the door to extending the life of this energy and leaving behind the widespread commitment to speeding up the energy transition. In this context, the electricity companies, owners of the nuclear power plants, are calling for a rethinking of the roadmap they agreed upon, which provided for a shutdown schedule between 2027 and 2035.

Iberdrola reaffirms its commitment to the United States. And also to the United Kingdom. The leading electricity company in Spain has completed a historic capital increase of €5 billion to address investments in these two markets, as announced this Wednesday by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). Following the announcement, the Spanish stock market regulator has decided to suspend its listing. A capital increase occurs when a company decides to increase its resources to finance new projects, as is the case with Iberdrola, or reduce its debt, and can be done in different ways (from issuing new shares to using retained earnings). To understand the magnitude of the figure proposed by Iberdrola, it is worth considering that it represents 5% of its stock market value, which is around €100 billion.

The implementation of renewable energies has become established as a fundamental element in the path toward the decarbonization of the energy system. These clean sources not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also provide benefits such as greater energy sovereignty and lower electricity costs for consumers.