Foment del Treball is considering taking the regulation of speculative housing purchases, agreed upon between the PSC and the Comuns, to the Constitutional Court. This was announced by the president of this employers' association, Josep Sánchez Llibre, during the assembly held this Monday in Barcelona. "The recent agreement between the Catalan Government and the Comuns is the socialization of private property; it is an attack on private property, a measure that has no place in our society. If necessary, we will promote the filing of an appeal of unconstitutionality or the raising of a question of unconstitutionality against this measure, which we consider lethal for the Catalan economy and society." He added that "the rules of the game cannot be changed from an ideological corner, thinking about propaganda or looking good." During his speech, in addition to insisting on reducing the tax burden in Catalonia, he urged President Salvador Illa to seek support from the opposition should ERC not support the budget. Despite stating that the budgets are "highly taxed and very interventionist," he asserted that the country needs a budget, without which €4 billion in investments will be lost. He explained that the Ministry of Public Works will negotiate amendments with parliamentary groups "aimed at reducing the tax burden and improving the supply of affordable housing." Regarding the budget, he did not mention Junts, but he did mention their rejection of the 37.5-hour workweek, highlighting the "courage" of the post-convergent party in voting against it along with the PP and Vox. This has allowed them to "stop the Ministry of Labor's unhealthy obsession" with "imposing" the reduced working hours. He also warned of "new legislative threats," ranging from extended leave policies "to the participation of unions on boards of directors." Legal certainty and investment

He insisted on preserving social dialogue, which he described as "a jewel of our democracy," and argued that the housing crisis will only be solved with increased supply, especially considering the influx of immigrants, which he defends as a way to "sustain the labor market," and the regularization process planned by the Spanish government. Sánchez Llibre championed private property and reiterated his criticism of the PSC and Comuns agreement on speculative purchases because "without legal certainty there is no investment, no housing, no industry, and no innovation." "A major public-private partnership is the only solution that will work," and he asserted that "it is unacceptable" to try to correct "the failure of housing policy" by making homeowners subsidiarily responsible or, worse still, scapegoats for errors that are not theirs." Regarding taxes, he mentioned the increase in the tourist tax and the municipal surcharge, which "will bleed businesses, entrepreneurs, and workers dry," and he insisted that Catalonia has become "a tax hell." One of his objectives is to negotiate budget amendments with the various parliamentary groups "aimed at reducing the tax burden and improving the housing supply," given the stalled industrial investments. "Catalonia needs to bring forward network investments to support both production and consumption," he said. "BK_SLT_LNA~" public and private sector."

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I recall a text from a few years ago in which Tzvetan Todorov warned of the high risk posed by "a conception of the economy as an activity completely separate from social life, which must escape the control of politics." It made me think of a joke by the president of the Ministry of Public Works, Josep Sánchez Llibre, who denounces President Salvador Illa's housing policies as "pro-communist." Just a few days ago, he said that he doesn't engage in politics, but that he cannot allow—referring to Pedro Sánchez—"businessmen to be criminalized." What explains this state of mind? What strategic objective leads him to say these things, when it can't be said that the class struggle is overly exacerbated or that business elites feel trapped? Rather, they are setting the pace more than ever, and managing to get societies to accept it as a matter of course. What remains of the old class conflict at a time when social discontent struggles to find effective means of expression?

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The budget agreement between the Government and the Commons, which foresees the prohibition of speculative housing purchasesThe proposal has been met with strong disapproval from homeowners' associations and business organizations, as well as from tenants' groups, who consider it timid. To the voices critical of the text, which proposes amending the urban planning law to empower municipalities to introduce veto power, a new voice was added this Friday: that of Jaime Palomera, from the Barcelona Institute for Urban Research (IDRA), one of the experts who participated in the Catalan government's working group on the matter. and that he prepared a report in favor Regarding the measure, IDRA stated in a position paper drafted by Palomera himself, as confirmed by ARA, "The current proposal on speculative housing purchases will hardly achieve its objective." What flaws does he see in the measure? Firstly, it doesn't prevent the purchase of homes to resell them shortly afterward at a higher price, which he says will generate more tension in the market. The agreed-upon bill introduces mechanisms to try to prevent this: for example, by requiring large property owners to register their address at a property to ensure they purchased it for their own use, or by limiting the number of second homes a person can own. It also requires large property owners and companies that buy entire buildings to put them all on the rental market according to price indices, but it doesn't prevent their resale.

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The organizations that make up the so-called G8 business group—the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and the other 12 Catalan chambers of commerce, the College of Economists, the Circle of Economy, PIMEC, FEMCAT, Barcelona Global, RACC, and the Barcelona Trade Fair—together with Foment del Treball, have drafted a joint manifesto on the new financing model presented by the Spanish government. The government of Pedro Sánchez and ERC stated that the model "cannot be considered sufficient." Following the harsh statement issued by Foment del Treball—the employers' association representing large Catalan companies—on the same day the Spanish government detailed its proposal, in which Foment del Treball labeled it "clearly insufficient," the G8 organizations have now aligned themselves with Foment del Treball's criticisms in a joint statement. Cecot has also endorsed the statement, reiterating that they consider it "crucial to seize the parliamentary window of opportunity to consolidate structural advances for the Catalan economy."

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Relations between Foment del Treball and the PSC government are not at their best. While the employers' association and the Catalan socialists enjoyed a honeymoon period while Salvador Illa was in opposition, things began to change when the PSC leader came to power in Catalonia and, contrary to the demands of Catalan business leaders, began to pursue interventionist policies.for example, in housing—and rejected major tax cuts. The clash, however, reached its peak this Friday, with the announcement of the proposal for the new financing model The agreement was negotiated three-way between the Catalan government, the ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia), and the Ministry of Finance. The Catalan executive had convened economic and social stakeholders at the Palau de la Generalitat (the seat of the Catalan government) to explain the details, but the Ministry of Public Works (Foment) preempted them: in a statement, it labeled the proposal "clearly insufficient" and asserted that it did not resolve Catalonia's funding problem. This generated considerable unease within the Palau de la Generalitat and also among the president, Salvador Illa. Tensions erupted at the meeting, chaired by Illa, which was also attended by representatives from the unions, Pimec (the Catalan Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises), FemCat (the Catalan Federation of Municipalities), and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce. Sources from both sides confirm that on Friday, Illa personally called Sánchez Llibre to invite him to a meeting. In this call, the president conveyed to the leader of the Catalan business community the significant discomfort that Foment's statement had caused within the Catalan government. Sources close to the employers' association explained to ARA that the position outlined in the statement was not approved by its board, something that has "surprised" some of its members. However, these same sources added that the assessment expressed by Sánchez Llibre is largely shared among the members. In fact, while it is true that Sánchez Llibre himself later acknowledged to the board that the statement could have been published later, the content would have been the same, according to various business sources consulted by ARA, who argue that the Ministry of Public Works has been "consistent" with its long-standing position. They cite, for example, the annual report they publish on the historical underfunding of infrastructure and insist that many details of the current proposal remain unknown. They also emphasize the "ambiguous" stance taken by the other Catalan employers' associations upon learning of the new model.

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On the 5th, the president of the employers' association Fomento, Josep Sánchez Llibre, proposed to Spanish society a social pact in favor of immigration, avoiding the ideological and partisan character that characterizes the debate and focusing it on the economic effects that the demographic evolution is having.

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Following the failure of BBVA's takeover bid for Banc Sabadell, Josep Oliu has received widespread acclaim. The latest accolades, including the Businessman of the Year Medal of Honor, were bestowed on Tuesday evening at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (TNC), during the eighteenth Carles Ferrer Salat Awards presented by Fomento del Trabajo. There, the president of the Catalan bank was applauded "for having been the driving force behind this benchmark, with national and international reach," according to the employers' association. Banco Sabadell, in fact, received two awards on this evening of business gatherings: the Medal of Honor for Business Trajectory was awarded to Pedro Fontana, chairman of the board of directors of Areas and also vice-chairman of the board of directors of the Vallès-based bank. Undoubtedly, yet another cry of victory in the face of the failed BBVA takeover bid, which the employers' association chaired by Josep Sánchez Llibre had already openly opposed, and which it has now celebrated with these awards before more than 800 attendees at a packed TNC.

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Since November 2023, when Junts signed the pact to invest Pedro Sánchez, the employers' association has viewed Carles Puigdemont's party differently and He began to parade through Waterloo. From being the driving force behind the October 1st referendum, he became a guarantor of his interests against the Moncloa Palace and the left-wing parties that make up the majority of the government in Spain. A clear example was the veto of the reduction of the working day by the Second Vice President of the Spanish Government, Yolanda Díaz. But what happens now that Junts has announced its break with the PSOE? Is there any law that will bar Junts from participating that directly affects employers' associations? Is there still room to pass measures that affect businesses?

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The conditions that the Spanish government has imposed BBVA's takeover bid on Banc Sabadell, which vetoes the merger for at least three years and requires both banks to maintain their independence during this period, has sparked reactions from both political leaders and the business sector. Brussels has also had its say, in this case a much less euphoric reaction than the others: it has warned the Spanish government that it will withdraw all "unjustified restrictions" on the takeover bid.

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"It is probably the most serious economic error from a legislative perspective, committed by Pedro Sánchez's government, at the behest of Vice President Yolanda Díaz, in these 46 years of democracy." This is how the president of the Catalan Labour Promotion Agency, Josep Sánchez Llibre, described the legal imposition of the reduction of the working week to 37.5 hours during his speech at the Catalan employers' association's general assembly.

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The president of the Fomento del Trabajo (Working for Labor) employers' association, Josep Sánchez Llibre, described this Monday the ruling by the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC, the state competition regulator) authorizing BBVA's takeover bid for Banco Sabadell as "disappointing," "insufficient," "inappropriate," and "hasty." "We ask the Spanish government and the Prime Minister [Pedro Sánchez] to halt this operation," said Sánchez Llibre.

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Employer association Foment del Treball has changed its tune regarding wages. If only a month ago the Catalan employers' association defended "moderation" of salaries in the midst of a record rise in inflation, today it has stated that salaries have to rise so that workers do not lose purchasing power. "Not only the minimum wage has to go up, but all wages," said the president of Foment, Josep Sánchez Llibre, in an interview on La 2 - Ràdio 4. Wages "have to be competitive and people have to earn a living," added Llibre.

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