At a time marked by the tension in the global energy market due to the war in the Middle East, the large electricity-consuming industry in the State makes a united plea to reduce its electricity bill. The fuel, automotive, paper, chemical and pharmaceutical, food, cement, mineral raw materials, automotive components and steel sectors posed together this Thursday in Madrid, at the headquarters of the Spanish employers' association CEOE, to present their recipe for reducing industrial electricity costs by between 10% and 30%. Specifically, they propose five tax measures that they consider "indispensable" to have access to "affordable" electricity for Spanish industry and that is also "competitive" compared to other European partners, which, in the sector's opinion, "would curb" relocation processes.

Xavier Pujol, CEO of the Catalan manufacturer of automotive components Ficosa, has achieved a majority stake in the group's shareholding after repurchasing the block of shares previously held by the Japanese multinational Panasonic. The operation, closed on March 27, once again places the majority of the capital in the hands of a member of the group's founding family, as Ficosa itself reported this Wednesday in a statement.

The Spanish defense and technology company Indra has begun trading on the stock market this Wednesday with an increase, hours after the departure from the shareholding of Escribano Mechanical & Engineering (EM&E) was announced, the company of brothers Ángel and Javier Escribano, who until Tuesday controlled 14.5% of the capital.

We are not getting out of the complicated loop of the educational crisis. After the announcement of the super-strike, which for the moment has only served to confirm the clash between the Government and the majority union, USTEC, two more pieces of news highlight the complicated panorama with education as a visible symptom of the country's crisis.

The industrial sector warns of a major mismatch between training supply and labor demand in the sector. A study carried out by KPMG, along with Amec (the national association of exporting companies), the College of Industrial Engineers of Catalonia, the FemCAT foundation, and the Foundation for Industry, indicates that 58% of the positions required by the sector cannot be filled: while 26,000 positions are opened annually in industrial companies, only 11,000 people are trained for the sector each year.

Sweden's prestige as a driver of the green industry in Europe suffered a very hard blow with the bankruptcy of Northvolt in the year 2025. The electric battery manufacturer could not live up to expectations and became the biggest industrial failure in the modern history of the Nordic country. A year later, another emblematic company of the green industrial revolution driven from northern Sweden has avoided a similar fate.

Eurofragance closed the 2025 financial year with a turnover of 200 million euros, 16% more than the previous year. The company chaired by Santiago Sabatés, the founder, achieved this sales record "thanks to growth in all regions, especially in the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, Turkey, and Indonesia, which contributed significantly to the good result despite the increase in raw material costs and rising interest rates", according to the company.

Puig Brands, the Catalan multinational family group for beauty and fashion, which is negotiating an integration with the American Estée Lauder, three times larger, brings to the table the process of ownership change of local companies that has been occurring over the last 20 years. This very week, the Japanese Marubeni Corporation has bought 85% of Factorenergia, founded in 1999 by Emili Rousaud, former candidate for the presidency of Barça, for 204 million euros. The ownership changes of Catalan companies have not stopped. Between 2005 and 2006, the sales of Panrico, by the Costafreda family, to the fund Apax Partners were closed; and that of Chupa Chups, founded by Enric Bernat in 1958, to the Italian Perfetti Van Melle. Bernat's heirs today operate Casa Batlló on Barcelona's Passeig de Gràcia, one of Antoni Gaudí's iconic buildings, which they bought in the 90s.

The Catalan family group specializing in irrigation systems and the production of phytosanitary products MatHolding closed 2025 with a record turnover of 429 million euros, representing an increase of 6% compared to the previous year. Coinciding with the company's ninetieth anniversary, the industrial group has also improved its ebitda –a financial indicator that shows a company's operating profit before deducting interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization– by 16%: it has increased to 65 million.

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.

Southeastern Spain, one of the driest areas in Europe, has established itself as one of the continent's main agricultural hubs. Despite having a climate marked by minimal rainfall and long periods of drought, this region has become the heart of the so-called “european vegetable garden.” Thanks to state policies, desalination plants, artificial reservoirs, and complex water transfer systems between river basins have been built, allowing vast previously unproductive areas to be irrigated.

"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.

Jordi Muntañola (Barcelona, 1978) has been the CEO of Salvat laboratories for a year. This molecular biologist from Esteve, who also held positions of responsibility at the Werfen group, has placed Salvat in the club of 100 million in turnover 12 months after initiating a major transformation to enhance the values and characteristics of a family-owned pharmaceutical company with over 70 years of history; a portfolio of its own products, with brands like the antiseptic Cristalmina, and a foundation to which it dedicates a portion of its profits. And, moreover, with great prospects, with the acceleration of the third-party production business and the launch during the first half of this year of a new product in the USA, with the prospect of marketing another next year and another in China. Always accompanied by a local partner, the formula it uses for internationalization, which has led it to be present in more than 60 countries. And without ruling out possible acquisitions, a path that the company may incorporate into the 2027-2030 strategic plan, which it expects to have ready this summer.

The Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF) has allocated 8 million euros to the new plant of the industrial boiler group Attsu, in Riudellots de la Selva. The company specializes in the design, manufacture, and commercialization of steam boilers, thermal oil, and other pressure vessels.

The industrial company internationalization agency, The Big Move, has signed up former Minister of Business and Labor, Roger Torrent, for its advisory board. Founded by Quico Ramió, this company works with industrial companies looking to grow internationally and reduce costs and risks. The company accompanies them throughout the process of opening new markets, from initial analysis to commercial activation, using a methodological framework that integrates analysis, definition, testing, and market development.

The Catalan Finance Institute (ICF), the public bank of the Generalitat, has granted to date 846 loans to young people aged 18 to 35 to obtain the down payment for an apartment. The average granted is 36,332 euros and an average housing price of 189,908 euros with an average age of beneficiaries of 29.4 years, according to data presented by the Secretary General of Economy and President of the ICF's governing board, Juli Fernández, and the entity's CEO, Vanessa Servera.

Grifols is deepening its commitment to full integration and self-sufficiency in plasma production to avoid importing it to countries where blood donations are paid for. One instrument to reinforce this commitment will be the initial public offering with a portion of the capital of the Biopharma division in the United StatesThe company has decided to take this step, announced Tuesday night to the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), to strengthen its model in the US. This approach encompasses the entire value chain, from plasma collection to manufacturing, logistics, analysis, and distribution of blood products, comparable to the vertical integration of the Inditex-Zara model. According to market sources, the total value of the business to be listed is between €23.7 billion and €27.7 billion, between 13 and 15 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), and could substantially reduce Grifols' debt, which currently stands at €0. The company intends to carry out the operation through an initial public offering (IPO) for a minority stake, which, according to Bloomberg, could raise around €6 billion if 20% of the shares are offered. The company's shares, which had risen more than 8% in early trading, finished 1.36% higher on the Spanish market, reaching €8.96.

Data on industrial pollution in the Camp de Tarragona region improves every year, although during 2025, due to the general blackout of AprilEmissions of one of the monitored toxic components spiked. The power outage that plunged Catalonia, Spain, and Portugal into darkness disrupted the normal operation of the chemical plants in Tarragona and triggered a surge in emissions of 1,3-butadiene, one of the volatile compounds generated by the industrial process. In Catalonia, emissions of this element are not regulated by any legislation, but the Ontario (Canada) standard is used as a reference, which sets the annual average for these emissions at 2 µg/m³. During last year's nationwide blackout, levels of this compound reached as high as 150 µg/m³, according to measurements from the petrochemical plant's own sensors in El Morell. Despite this incident, average emissions throughout the Camp de Tarragona region last year did not exceed 2 µg/m³.

There are developments in the beauty, cosmetics, and perfume sector. The Catalan company Puig Brands confirmed tonight that it is in talks with the American company Estée Lauder, also majority-owned by the family. In a statement to the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the group controlled by the Puig family acknowledged that these negotiations are taking place, as previously reported by [the Spanish news outlet]. Financial TimesIn the same statement, the multinational—which owns brands such as Paco Rabanne, Nina Ricci, Jean Paul Gaultier, Byredo, Charlotte Tilbury, and Carolina Herrera, among others—adds that the talks are focused on "a possible combination of businesses with The Estée Lauder Companies Inc." In any case, they assure that "no final decision has been made nor has any agreement been reached." And they add that "until there is an agreement, there is no guarantee that a transaction will take place, nor its terms." The Wall Street Journal Information has emerged about the operation, which would create a cosmetics giant valued at over €30 billion. Following news of the talks, shares of the US firm fell by more than 8% on the stock market. Estée Lauder is larger than Puig Brands, which also has a portion of its capital publicly traded. The US group's value is around $30 billion – it fell to $28 billion on Monday – while Estée Lauder's is valued at approximately $9 billion. IPO

The Catalan group, which debuted on the stock exchange on May 3, 2024, launched at €24.50 per share, a price it has not yet recovered. This Monday, it closed at €15.57, up 3.59%. The family that owns the Catalan multinational, with a 112-year history, retained more than 90% of the voting rights despite its IPO. In 2025, Puig reported net revenues of €5.042 billion, a 5.3% increase, and profits of €594 million, an 11.9% increase.

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The Spanish government is maintaining its standoff with Indra's president, Ángel Escribano. The dispute between the company's two main shareholders—the State, through SEPI, with 28% of the capital, and the Escribano brothers, owners of Escribano Mechanical & Engineering (EM&E), with 14.3%—continues ahead of the ordinary board meeting scheduled for this Wednesday. This meeting will take place after the Escribanos attempted to stem the pressure from the Spanish government by shelving the proposed merger of Indra with their family company.

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