There are underlying shifts. Typically, Catalan civil society is critical from behind the scenes, yet polite and pragmatic in its approach to political power. But this seems to be changing somewhat. In some meetings and gatherings, business representatives are calling for action, for a certain mobilization to overcome challenges such as mobility (commuter rail, for example), the green transition, and reducing administrative bureaucracy. Some are a bit tired of always trying to please everyone and are demanding that politicians work more for the country's interests and less for those of their own party or some of its leaders.

Silvia Orriols has made her debut on the golf course. She now has her handicap after being granted access to an area restricted to a select few. More than 200 business owners and executives took the opportunity to network at the end of Saturday's session. green of The Terraverda Hotel in Gualta, owned by the company Emesa, chaired by the person who convened the meeting, lawyer Emili Cuatrecasas. The fact is that a segment of the business community has decided to lift the cordon sanitaire in Aliança Catalana

The first major event for Sílvia Orriols, president of Aliança Catalana, with members of Catalonia's economic and business elite, took place this Saturday in the small town of Gualta, as planned. This followed an invitation extended a few days prior by Emili Cuatrecasas, honorary president of the renowned law firm, to personally invite the mayor of Ripoll to meet her for the first time. According to ARA, during this meeting, Orriols reiterated her view that Catalonia is undergoing a process of "replacement"—citing Ripoll as an example, where she asserted that 50% of births are of Maghrebi origin—and rejected the label of racist, stating that the problem is not about race. the extraordinary regularization of half a million migrants Approved Tuesday by the Spanish government. He also said that independence is a right to be restored.

The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, attended the wake for businessman and president of the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition, Carles Vilarrubí, on Monday at the Sant Gervasi funeral home in Barcelona. Vilarrubí, 71, a former FC Barcelona executive, died suddenly in the early hours of Sunday morning. During the afternoon, former FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, the leader of Junts in the Barcelona City Council, Jordi Martí Galbis, and one of the Torres brothers, renowned chefs, among other prominent figures, visited the funeral home. Vilarrubí was also one of the founders and an executive of Catalunya Ràdio, a board member of the Catalan Corporation of Audiovisual Media (CCMA), and held other positions in the finance and banking sectors. From a very young age, he was closely linked to Jordi Pujol, even before the latter became President of the Generalitat. Husband of Sol Daurella, president of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), he received the Creu de Sant Jordi (Cross of St. George) in 2015. His funeral will be held this Tuesday at 12:30 pm at the Parish of Saints Gervasius and Protasius in Barcelona.

For weeks now, the possibility of a no-confidence vote against Pedro Sánchez, led by the PP and requiring the votes of Vox and at least one other party, has been looming over national politics. All eyes are on Junts, which has broken with the PSOE and has recently voted alongside the conservatives and the Spanish far right on several occasions in Congress. Therefore, this Friday, at an event in Fomento, the PP leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, directly appealed to business leaders, asking them to get involved in this hypothetical no-confidence vote, which he asserted would trigger elections: "I have no shortage of desire to present a no-confidence motion," he said, "I lack the votes." Specifically, Feijóo, addressing the business community, indicated that he lacks "the votes of your own people."

Sol Daurella tops the Forbes 2025 list of Catalonia's richest people, with an estimated fortune of €2.9 billion. Nationally, the businesswoman ranks 12th. She belongs to the founding family of Cobega, a Coca-Cola bottler, which currently controls the multinational Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEPP), where she serves as president. Daurella has risen to the top of a list of Catalan residents that last year was headed by Isak Andic, who died in December after falling from a cliff in the Montserrat area, with a net worth exceeding €4 billion. The inheritance has been divided equally among the three children: Jonathan, Judith, and Sarah.

What do companies such as robotics leader ABB, pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, technology company Ericsson, stock market operator Nasdaq, former car manufacturer Saab, and iconic appliance supplier Electrolux have in common? Although it may be surprising, all of them and many more are controlled by more or less the same Swedish family, the Wallenbergs.

"Tomorrow I would like to have dinner at my home in Galicia, but I will be wherever the negotiation sends me". This is how the Minister of Labour, Yolanda Díaz, summed up the state of the negotiations between the unions, business associations and the Spanish government on labour reform on Wednesday at midday. With the final text yet to be revealed, everything suggests that employers and unions will finally allow Díaz to head back to her homeland and do so with an agreement under her arm. Thus, the reform would come into force before December 31, as agreed with Brussels in exchange for the arrival of European funds.