The Spanish government's Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 has opened a case against a large telecommunications company –the name is not specified– for having carried out a series of practices that are considered abusive.

In the summer, when it was already clear that the Iran war was going to be a long one, at the register of a fairly well-known coffee shop chain in Washington, a discreet sign was framed in black. "A notice to our customers: from time to time, we have to adjust our prices to reflect the rising cost of ingredients and operations." In the pastry and cake display case, it was easy to spot the slight increase. The butter cookies with chocolate, which previously cost 90 cents each, now cost a dollar.

The Bank of Spain has increased its inflation forecasts, which it places, for this year and 2027, well above the targets set by the European Central Bank (ECB). The monetary body presented its quarterly macroeconomic forecast report this Friday, in which it also forecasts the growth of the Spanish economy.

The Valencian supermarket cooperative Consum will invest 100 million euros in the construction of a new logistics platform in the city of Barcelona, as reported in a statement issued this Wednesday.

The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 has opened disciplinary proceedings against a real estate portal operating throughout the State, without disclosing which one it is, for "possible unfair commercial practices against consumers and users". According to a note from this Wednesday, the General Directorate of Consumer Affairs initiated this investigation after receiving a complaint from the Federation of Consumers and Users CECU.

The year-on-year inflation rate for the euro area stood at 3.8% in September, six tenths of a percentage point above the price increase in August, according to the preliminary reading of the data published this Friday by Eurostat, the European statistics office. The year-on-year price increase of 3.8% is the highest rise since September 2023, when the increase was 4.3%.

Olive harvest forecasts are optimistic. It is expected that this year one million six hundred thousand tons of olives could be harvested, three hundred thousand more than last year. The abundant rains in the months of January and February have been good for the tree's flowering, which could still be loaded with more fruit if it rains this autumn. This point is precisely very important: it must rain in October. "We are now in the key time of the year, because the olive tree needs moisture in the ground; if it does not rain this month of October it will be difficult to reach the forecast we have made of one million six hundred thousand tons of olives", states producer Paco González, from one of the large production companies in Jaén, Aceites Guadalimar, the world's leading producer of olive oil, which sells to Catalan companies. This is also confirmed by Catalan producers such as Olis Macià, from Artesa de Segre, where they explain that this year the difference between dry land and irrigated land will be significant due to the lack of rain throughout the summer. "In the irrigated fields, on the other hand, we have many olives, very good production, and that is why we are forecasting a large and good quantity of oil", says Jordi Macià. For his part, the president of the DOP Siurana, Pere Albà, states that it is too early to make forecasts, but that in mid-October the mills will begin to be open to produce the first olive oil, the raw oil, which is always at a higher price than the rest.

The rise in fuel prices –provoked by the sharp increase in oil prices as a result of the war in Iran– gives no respite and triggers inflation in Spain. Thus, this September, the cost of living for families has stood at 4.9% above the same month last year, the highest rate since February 2023, according to advance data from the Consumer Price Index (CPI, the indicator that measures the evolution of the prices of goods and services consumed by families) published this Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

The price of gasoline maintains its upward trend in Spain and has added its twelfth consecutive week of increases, hitting a new annual high, while diesel has resumed the hikes that thus eliminate the effect of a large part of the tax cuts due to the activation of the safeguard mechanism in September.

The cost of living for families continues to rise due to the increase in energy prices. In August, the prices of the set of consumer goods and services in Catalonia shot up by 4% annually, the highest figure since January 2023, but lower than the Spanish average, according to data from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) published this Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

Imagine entering the website of an appliance store to buy a refrigerator. The company, through your personal data, knows if you live in a rented property or if you own your home, detects your zip code, and recognizes if you have children. It also knows what you do for a living, what brand your mobile phone is, and how many times a month you go to a restaurant. Taking all these variables into account, it shows you a price just for you, different from what might appear to the neighbor next door or your friend who lives three streets away. In the end, the goal is to charge you the maximum amount you are willing to pay for a product according to the calculations of an algorithm. It is what is known as surveillance pricing.

The summer of historic results in tourism that the sector predicted in spring. This July, spending by foreigners in Catalonia has for the first time exceeded the threshold of 3.7 billion euros, according to data published by the National Statistics Institute (INE) this Tuesday. The increase in total spending has also been reflected in the average consumption of each visitor, which has also reached a new high, surpassing 1,500 euros per stay for the first time.

The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and the 2030 Agenda has imposed a fine of one million euros on the car rental company Avis for charging its clients for fine management. As detailed this Wednesday by the department led by Pablo Bustinduy, the company charged a fee of between 33.88 and 45 euros under the heading "administrative sanction management expenses" to users who had committed a traffic violation while using a rental vehicle.

Technology, new consumption habits and changes in the ways we relate have ushered postal mail into a new era. For the first time, in 2025 in Spain, more packages than letters were sent, according to the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC). Globally, postal sector revenues are rising.

The Spanish economy maintained its high growth rate of recent years in the second quarter of 2026, above the European average. However, at the same time, the cost of living for families continues to rise, and this July will close at its highest levels since May 2024.

The European Commission has announced a fine of 550 million euros to the Chinese e-commerce platform AliExpress for the sale of illegal products online to European customers. The Community executive has concluded in an investigation that the Asian company does not comply with the Community directive on digital rights, because it does not "diligently" assess or mitigate the risks related to the products offered and purchasable on its website. And for this reason, Brussels urges it to adopt measures and threatens it with new additional economic sanctions if it disobeys the demands of the Community authorities.

As expected, prices have picked up again during the month of June, increasing the cost of living by 0.8% in Catalonia compared to May. The prices of goods and services have accelerated their growth throughout Spain, where they have risen by 0.6%, coinciding with the end of tax reductions on electricity and gas approved by the Spanish government to mitigate the effects of the Iran war.

In January, federal immigration agents killed Renée Good and Alex Pretti – both US citizens – in Minneapolis, during Operation Metro Surge. The deaths sparked protests across the country and the Administration ended the operation within weeks. They focused on the human cost of the recent escalation in immigration enforcement. What had not yet been measured is the cost to local economies where this surveillance has been most intense.

The Valencian supermarket cooperative Consum plans to hire more than 300 workers in Catalonia in 2026, exceeding the 5,000 employee mark in the region. This figure signifies a renewed commitment to Catalonia, a territory that the group's CEO, Antonio Rodríguez, considers "priority." Last year, the company already created 400 new jobs in Catalonia, triple the number from the previous year. renew its commitment to the Principality, a territory that the group's CEO, Antonio Rodríguez, considers "priority." Last year, the company already created 400 new jobs in Catalonia, triple the number from the previous year.

The cost of living in Catalonia moderated last May despite the upward pressures of fuel costs on family economies caused by the energy crisis derived from the war in Iran. Nevertheless, the measures approved by the Spanish government to cut taxes on electricity and natural gas curbed price increases.