The Chamber of Commerce has just published a note that questions a fundamental aspect of thePhoenix Report. To simplify, the report states that the Catalan economy has a productivity problem that makes it unsustainable, and that the main cause is one: the disproportionate growth of a few unproductive export sectors that can grow thanks to the massive incorporation of labor remunerated with low wages. On the other hand, the Chamber's document concludes that the productivity problem – which no one doubts – would not be concentrated in this type of sector, but rather would be generalized throughout the Catalan economy. For his part, Enric Fernández, chief economist at CaixaBank, agreed with this from "an article in ARA in which he affirmed that “the data […] confirm [that] the productivity problem is transversal”.The first problem with this conclusion is that it is wrong. The second is even more serious, and that is that it leads to inaction. To make ourselves understood: the debate is whether the illness has a localized cause that allows for a focused intervention or if the evil is diffuse and, therefore, what the sick person needs is rest and good food.Why is the conclusion false? The Chamber bases it on the analysis of the productivity of the different sectors of the Catalan economy. For lack of better data, it considers the ten macrosectors provided by Eurostat. It is a path that the authors of the Fènix Report embarked on and which did not lead us very far. So that the reader can grasp the problem, the ten macrosectors are so diverse that it makes no sense to compare their productivities (apparently, that of real estate activities would be five times higher than that of industry!). To top it off, tourism is not one of these ten sectors. The Chamber systematically identifies it with the sector “Wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food service activities”. This is a very risky identification, as this sector is five times larger than tourism (for example, only 8% of retail trade is aimed at tourism). A more fertile approach must start from the fact that the productivity of an economy is determined by that of its exporting activities, even if these only represent a relatively modest fraction of the total. It may seem paradoxical, but this fact is what explains why, even though string quartets, McDonald's workers, chambermaids, and airport firefighters do exactly the same thing in the same way everywhere, they are much more productive in Switzerland than in Catalonia (and therefore earn much more there).Starting from this point, Catalonia's productivity is determined by that of its manufacturing and its tourism, as this is fundamentally what we export.

Aena, the public company that manages airports in Spain, is advancing in the works to begin the expansion of El Prat airport in 2029. For now, it has awarded the drafting of the master plan, which sets the foundations for the infrastructure, and the environmental assessment of the project.

Teyana Taylor, an American actress and singer, presented the iconic show "Saturday night live" in January dressed in an unexpected piece: a white t-shirt, completely embroidered with sequins, featuring one of the most iconic logos of the 20th century: "I❤️NY". The piece was part of Chanel's Métiers d'Art 2025/26 collection, the line with which the French house showcases its maximum artisanal virtuosity each year. This time, however, the most exquisite luxury had allied itself with one of the most kitsch objects of tourist culture: the souvenir t-shirt. The episode could have remained an anecdote if it weren't for the fact that, since then, other celebrities – especially from Generation Z – have also revived this same symbol.

The Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, has considered it "probable" that Spain will receive more than 100 million foreign tourists this year. According to the minister, if the current trend continues, it is likely that this figure of visitors will be surpassed, which would be a historic record: "We will celebrate it at the end of the year," he said at a press conference in Madrid where he presented the Spanish government's forecasts for the tourism sector this summer.

The L'Azure hotel in Lloret de Mar closed its doors in 2018 as a two-star establishment, and when it reopened, more than two years and 35 million euros of investment later, it had four. It had become a high-end hotel. In the last decade, this segment of the offer has gained weight in Catalonia to become the majority, going from representing 47.41% to 56.93% of the total.

Ignasi Pietx (Barcelona, 1965) is the general director of the design and printing company Artyplan and current president of Comertia, the Catalan employers' association for retail trade. Just at the midpoint of his term at the head of the entity, the executive reviews the main demands of the Catalan family business in the retail sector, in two years marked by a good economic performance at the macro level, but at the same time a global instability that has diminished consumer confidence.This June marks two years since his appointment as president of Comertia. In all this time, has trade in Catalonia improved or worsened?

Tourism, both in Catalonia and in the State as a whole, faces another historic summer. The data up to May, on the eve of the start of the high summer season, which officially begins in mid-June, show new records. Between January and May, 7.54 million foreign tourists arrived in Catalonia, 4% more than last year and a historic record. In Spain, 36.8 million international tourists arrived, 5% more than in the same period of 2025.

The ascent to Mount Fuji does not begin at the summit, nor even at the trail that climbs up the mountain. It begins much earlier, when it is still pitch black at the fifth station and the air retains that dry, biting cold that surprises those who have just left behind the mugginess of midsummer in Tokyo. At that hour, groups form almost in silence. Headlamps are adjusted, backpacks are checked, and the final preparations are made before starting the climb.

The Phoenix Report —which I co-authored— has managed to generate debate. Not as much as we would like, but more than we expected. In this article I would like to respond to some of the criticisms it is receiving most recurrently.1. GDP per capita is not (so) important. Some authors have suggested that the fact that a productive sector grows by attracting a large number of immigrants by paying them little reduces the averages of productivity (of labor, per hour worked) and income, but that this does not necessarily imply any harm to the rest. Andreu Mas-Colell, for example, wrote in ARA: “I state that this does not necessarily mean impoverishment, neither for the natives nor obviously for the immigrants”. Xavier Sala i Martín has suggested the same, emphasizing that GDP per capita is an average, and that, therefore, it can fall without affecting the situation of many. This argument overlooks an effect that everyone can observe: the impact of population growth on access to housing and public services: “If I am poor but the immigrant is poorer, he takes my school lunch scholarship”. When we consider these impacts, I fear that the growth of less productive sectors does — necessarily — lead to very general impoverishment. (More technically, the critique also forgets the Balassa-Samuelson effect, according to which the wages of most sectors of the economy depend on the wages in the exporting sectors, but this is an argument for academic economists.)2. Defeatism. Francesc Reguant has highlighted the tone of theReport: “I would like to express my surprise at the extraordinarily negative tone of the report [...] This catastrophic view is clearly exaggerated and imprudent”.

The world we live in, they tell us, is as it should be, there is no better one. We must adapt to it whether we want to or not. Fortunes are so enormous, corporations are so gigantic that they would seem to be omnipotent deities and not mere organizations run by people as human as you and me. Forgetfulness and ignorance of recent history make us believe that it is the force of progress that has brought us here, to this grim scenario in which it seems we have decided to initiate, without having formally agreed, a mass suicide. Or what else does a society that stops reproducing do? A human group that does not perpetuate itself is a group that chooses its own extinction, thus resolving Camus' dilemma because for a long time the only philosophical problem has not been individual (suicide) but collective (stopping having children). But how are we to decide on this act of blind faith in the future, of desperate hope, if it turns out that the bonds that have always sustained us have weakened to historic lows? Without a solid family or relationships that can withstand the pressure of a system of fierce competition between individuals for jobs, housing, social benefits, for life itself, without ties that escape what can be bought and sold, how are we to embark on the mad adventure of bringing a child into the world? In the city of Barcelona, birth rates have reportedly fallen to 1920 levels. And still thanks, I would say, because this is a very hostile environment for children. Firstly, because, due to the big housing problem, many families who have decided to have children have moved away, and secondly, because the neighborhoods that might be more suitable for living with children are the ones most liked by tourists and expats who have driven us out. My heart breaks every time I return to Gràcia and walk through the streets and squares where my children used to play. Now there are more dogs, with their groomers and clothing boutiques. Yes, progress must have been this: that in a city like ours there are more dogs than children, that animals are dressed and taken in strollers and we give them exquisite delicacies to eat while between 25% and 30% of the child population lives in poverty. That on a well-known music streaming platform, the advertisement for an apartment rental platform appears, threatening to leave Barcelonians without festivals if they continue with the obsession of wanting decent housing. Openly and brazenly, the spot asks us to imagine that there wouldn't be enough tourist accommodation for those who come to have a good time, that then we wouldn't be able to enjoy all these incredible concerts whose tickets cost more than a nursery monthly fee or what a family eats in a whole month.

Begur is a bucolic town with cobbled streets, restaurants, shops, and crystal-clear beaches. It has more than 4,200 registered inhabitants and, in the last ten years, has incorporated almost 4,800 tourist apartment places, practically double what it had until then. For each inhabitant, there are 2.27 beds for visitors reserved only in houses. Naut d'Aran leads the ranking of municipalities with the most tourist apartment beds per inhabitant – the proportion rises to 3.67 apartment places per inhabitant – followed by Port de la Selva (3.3) and Pals (3).

Admired for its singular beauty, the town of Cadaqués resists losing one of the most cherished distinctive features by its neighbours and that makes them feel most proud: its particular "salty talk", with a vocabulary and expressions so genuine that it is considered a dialectal variety with its own name: Cadaquesenc. Although it is one of the fishing villages on the Girona coast where the "salty talk" has been best preserved, largely thanks to its geographical isolation, Cadaqués is finding it increasingly difficult to preserve its linguistic uniqueness due to the homogenizing power of social networks, the pressure of tourism, immigration, and demographic changes. "If Catalan is in danger, imagine Cadaquesenc!", warns philologist Pep Vila, author of the book Paraulari de Cadaqués.

As Aena is about to approve the investment plan for airports for the next five years and with the tourist season in full swing, the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce has argued that tourism paves the way for high value-added industries. "If we didn't have tourism, many sectors would suffer, and a lot. The knowledge sector for sure, and exports, too," assured the president of the institution, Josep Santacreu, this Monday.

Housing problems, saturation of public services, road collapse, closure of local businesses, and a rampant increase in low-skilled and poorly paid jobs. This is the result of the "anything goes" and "only growth and making money matters" mentality behind the exorbitant explosion of tourism in the Balearic Islands, but also in cities like Barcelona or Florence. How to regulate tourism – without giving it up, but also without dying from success – and how to minimize the damage of one of the global industries are the topics addressed by Guillem López Casasnovas, Professor of Economics at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), and Joana Maria Seguí, geographer at the University of the Balearic Islands, at the event From Paid Holidays to Tourismphobia, organized by the newspaper ARA and the Institute of Catalan Studies (IEC) and moderated by the deputy director of ARA, Elena Freixa.

Taking advantage of the attention generated about the Sagrada Família due to the Pope's visit this week, it has come to light that, until a few months ago, 70 of the tourist guides who taught about the temple were false self-employed. Last December, Labor Inspection forced the two companies responsible for the service to regularize the situation of the professionals, according to a statement from the Col·lectiu Ronda issued this Monday.

Hotels Bestprice has culminated its incentive plan through shares, which includes chambermaids and reception and maintenance staff, in addition to executives. The Catalan hotel chain's program, which extends to practically the entire workforce, has been promoted by the board of directors "as a formula for recognizing the commitment, effort, and extraordinary contribution of professionals who have played a relevant role in the company's evolution in recent years," according to a statement. According to company sources, this measure benefits around 80% of the workforce, which is who could benefit from it. The only requirement to do so is to have been working at the company for one year or more.

Tourism has become an opportunity for the cultural projection of cities and a source of funding for many cultural facilities, and in Barcelona it contributes to internationally reinforcing its heritage, creativity, and identity.

Discovering Europe without worries and with the convenience of having everything organized is the perfect proposal for the second half of the year. From Barcelona, these short and medium-distance trips offer cultural routes, urban getaways, and itineraries through the most attractive corners of the continent, always with an accompanying guide, all visits included, and full board. A comfortable, safe, and enriching way to travel, designed to enjoy each destination with peace of mind and without unforeseen events.Eurovacances Travel, with 40 years of experience in the sector and with three offices –Barcelona, Granollers and Girona–, offers you proposals along these lines for the months of September, October and November.

Tourism has become an opportunity for the cultural projection of cities and a source of funding for many cultural facilities, and in Barcelona it contributes to internationally reinforcing its own heritage, creativity, and identity.

There are territories that are explained with words. And there are others that are better understood through the senses. Lleida is part of this second group: a land rich in contrasts, marked by the climate, the farming tradition, and a gastronomy that turns local produce into cultural heritage.Today, as travelers seek more authentic, sustainable experiences connected to the land, the lands of Lleida are reclaiming a different way of doing tourism. An invitation to slow down, discover open landscapes, share meals, and reconnect with what is ours. Because choosing Lleida is also choosing landscape, choosing flavor, and choosing quality and authenticity.