Noelia Acosta is the second vice president of the Association of Chartered Accountants (auditors) and a partner at Baker Tilly. Acosta, 49, asserts that her profession, to which she has been dedicated for 25 years, is subject to many regulatory changes that often arise in the wake of financial scandals. An expert in measuring the sustainability of companies and entities, she receives Companiesat the collegiate headquarters, the Torre Moré, a modernist mansion in the Barcelona neighborhood of Pedralbes, remodeled by the architect Òscar Tusquets, whom this organization, with some 2,000 members, will pay tribute to next Wednesday. Precisely on that day, they will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the creation of the association and its headquarters with challenges such as artificial intelligence (AI) and improving the balance between men and women. In the group as a whole, there is still a significant gap: 80% men and 20% women among the members. Among practitioners, the difference is reduced among those at the base: 65% men and 35% women. On the other hand, regarding executive partners, the presence of women is below 30%.

Labor productivity growth has doubled in the United States, going from a 1% annual average over the previous decade to 2% during the last five years. It is too early to attribute this fact to AI (artificial intelligence) and it also does not seem to be the result of better performance or a higher weight in GDP of the activities most directly associated with ICT (information and communications technologies). The main cause must be found in those service activities that have learned to make more effective use of ICT in recent years, adapting their organizational and commercial systems to new technologies. From this side of the Atlantic, it is surprising to observe how in the US between 2019 and 2024, productivity growth in retail trade and hospitality has stood above 4% and 2% on average per year, respectively, surpassing the manufacturing industry in both cases. In fact, productivity in American manufacturing stagnated throughout the previous period, 2000-2019, being widely surpassed by retail and hospitality. Other service activities such as wholesale distribution, education, or technical and professional services have also recorded productivity growth rates higher than the average for the American economy.

The average remuneration of directors of listed companies who held the position for the full financial year increased last year by 12.2%, to 477,000 euros per year. That of executive directors, who have management responsibilities, grew more than double that of non-executives, with a rise of 26.3% and an average of up to 2.4 million, according to the report by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) on corporate governance and remuneration of directors of listed companies in 2025. These documents include information from 113 companies listed on the stock exchange.

The tourism fair B-Travel, the supermarket chain Ametller Origen, and the health sector knowledge business association Catalonia.health have announced changes to their leadership this week, which has also been marked by new appointments in the transport and real estate sectors. Furthermore, Anthropic, one of the giants of artificial intelligence (AI), has landed in the Spanish market with the appointment of a new head in the country, while in the United States, billionaire Warren Buffett has announced that he is leaving the chairmanship of the conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway to his son Howard Buffett.

More than a dozen prominent artificial intelligence (AI) researchers warned last week that the technology companies in the sector are building is becoming a risk to humanity. The problem, these researchers asserted, is that companies are not good at controlling the systems, no matter how hard they try. Following revelations that so-called OpenAI AI agents escaped from their testing system and hacked another company's computers, new alarms raised within the AI research world have accentuated fears that, for years, companies have prioritized development speed and money over safety.

The history of spas is closely linked to the use of medicinal waters and the evolution of ancient bathing spaces into new centers for health, rest, and summer holidays. They were also a new economic activity and a true industry, which knew how to turn the properties of the waters into a business linked both to the stay of the bathers and to the commercialization of their products. Some establishments even went as far as bottling their waters to market them. A part of these establishments had their origin in springs known for centuries, while others were born as a result of the expansion of the spa culture that, during the second half of the 19th century, spread throughout Europe.

The former secretary of state and technology specialist Carme Artigas and the Empordà businessman Antoni Escudero are two of the prominent names in the Catalan business world who have been involved in appointments this week. Furthermore, the entry of new executives into the leadership of the tobacco company Philip Morris in Spain and the French automotive group Renault, which has a new vice president, also stands out.

This week, Pimec went to Madrid to defend a law that facilitates business growth. Antoni Cañete, the president of this Catalan employers' organization, is a man who is insistent and persistent in the defense of what he considers affects small and medium-sized enterprises. His phrase is a classic: "SMEs must be on the bridge of command," which means that these companies, which are the main component of the country's industrial and business fabric, must be present in all areas where the regulations and rules that affect them are decided. A sign of this is the constant demand for rules and measures aimed at combating late payments, an evil that stifles many companies, especially the smallest ones and, of course, the self-employed who work as suppliers for larger industries and companies.

Communicator and sommelier Meritxell Falgueras (Barcelona, 1981) grew up among wines, bottles, and labels: “I remember my grandmother, my mother, my father, everyone working in the shop and me doing my homework behind the boxes”. Her first job was also at the family business, the Celler de Gelida, in Sants: “During the summers, with my brother, we had to wrap bottles so that the old labels, from before the war, would not get damaged”.

He is seen smiling, with his finger raised and a backpack on his back. But Jordi Sarrats chose this photo for what is behind it: a river. "The horseshoe-shaped curves of rivers have always seemed to me a whim of nature, and this one, of the Colorado River, is iconic." Today he is retired, but he owned an elevator company for many years and today he presides over the guild that groups this sector.

On Ramón i Cajal street in Barcelona, right by Joanic square, Vell Món is an authentic temple of antique furniture. Siblings José María and Cristina Ruiz run a furniture restoration and sales business where you can either bring in worm-eaten or unglued furniture to be repaired, restore a table with great sentimental value, or buy a beautiful piece of furniture that has decades (or centuries) of history impregnated in its wood. It is addictive and fascinating to hear a lifelong artisanal trade spoken about by an artisan who knows it, because the craft is their life.

Pimec has brought its request for a state law that "rewards business growth instead of penalizing it" to Madrid this Wednesday. The president of Pimec, Antoni Cañete, assured during an event in the state capital that there are entrepreneurs who want to gain scale and who "find themselves with a new obligation, a new administrative burden, or a higher cost precisely when they make the leap." He also warned that "small business size hinders competitiveness in Spain." At the same time, a Pimec report—which includes 348 interviewed companies—shows that 45.3% of companies have not received any aid in the last five years to favor their growth.

An eraser, a ruler, a pair of pens. Also two highlighters, a pencil sharpener and, of course, a few pencils. This week, with the return to classrooms, pencil cases have been filled again with school supplies. And on the back of many pencils –especially those that students will use for the most artistic subjects– there will be stamped the same name: Faber-Castell. They are the two surnames of a German dynasty that has been manufacturing them for more than 260 years.

On June 6, 1981, a voracious fire engulfed a historic building in the city of Barcelona, which was located at the confluence of Pelai Street and Ronda Universitat. It was not just another building, because years earlier it had been the headquarters of the El Águila department stores, one of the most important in the Catalan capital for decades. The emblematic image that the press reflected the next day was that of the figure of the eagle that presided over the building completely surrounded by smoke. It fell a few minutes later and put an end to a long history.

Cirsa, a Catalan company in the gaming sector, announced this Wednesday its merger with the Italian group Lottomatica. According to the agreement, communicated to the National Securities Market Commission, the Catalan firm, of which Blackstone is the main shareholder, will be absorbed by its Italian counterpart, in a cross-border operation that will create one of the leading global companies in the gaming and sports betting sector. The resulting company sums a combined accessible market of 34 billion euros and an adjusted gross operating result of 2 billion euros. With these figures, the merged group will become the second largest listed gaming operator in the world.

The agro-food cooperative Cotecnica has taken a new step in its international expansion strategy with the acquisition of Life Pet Care, an Italian company specializing in pet food and linked to the Life Natural brand. The operation allows the Bellpuig-based company to strengthen its presence in one of the sector's main European markets and expand its growth possibilities through an already consolidated commercial structure.

Despite being a tourist powerhouse, Catalonia has never been home to many of the sector's major groups, although there are exceptions. With a proportion of 12% of all wealth generated in the country in a year, reflected in the gross domestic product (GDP), tourism is one of the essential sectors for the Catalan economy. Recently subjected to debates about its contribution to productivity and protests due to the rise of businesses such as tourist apartments and for overcrowding and gentrification, it has been, in any case, a dynamic activity, especially in recent years, as shown by data from the Institute of Statistics of Catalonia (Idescat). And it is highly focused, on the one hand, on the rental of flats and apartments and, on the other hand, on services for companies in the sector.

Tourism contributes nearly 12% to Catalonia's GDP, the indicator used worldwide to measure an economy's size and growth. However, who generates this wealth? The sector is made up of 133,752 companies and employs 451,990 people, according to the latest data from the Institute of Statistics of Catalonia (Idescat), corresponding to the end of 2023.

Catalonia closed the month of June with 2,142 new companies. According to the provisional data on the formation of commercial companies from the National Institute of Statistics, the Principality increased new business activity by 9.8% year-on-year, after a June 2025 that already approached historical records. In fact, according to INE records, it is the best June in terms of the inauguration of new companies in the historical series, with data available since 2008.

On Monday, July 20, the creation of the Catalan Centre for Business and Human Rights (CCDH) was made official, a demand from Catalan civil society that, after many negotiations with different governments and failed attempts, has finally seen the light. At a time when the West seems to question the rules of global governance (supposedly) inspired by its values and driven by its supremacy, the emergence of such an institution in Catalonia is no small matter.Without a shadow of a doubt, it is the small artifact that can be given to a small country, recalling the song. Its value lies, once again, in proposing an anti-cyclical image, totally opposed to the spirit of times when the jurists of the International Criminal Court receive sanctions from the world's leading power for trying to make international law something more than a vademecum of forgotten laws. If Josep Pla were alive, it would be a truly typical local absurdity, effectively characteristic of the Gallic village into which we are turning, at a state and European level, in recent times, regarding (very) minimally coherent foreign policy.