Payment by large companies and administrations is not only not improving, but is getting worse. Last year, 85% of the largest companies exceeded the legal payment deadline between companies by seven days, reaching up to 67 days. And administrations more than doubled this, settling at 70 days, instead of the 30 established in the regulations, according to the Multisectorial Platform against Default (PMcM), which brings together one million companies and self-employed workers.

The relationship between the president of the Spanish employers' association Conpymes, José María Torres, and the Catalan Pimec, one of the founders of this organization, which was established in May 2021, is rapidly deteriorating. So much so that Pimec is considering promoting a split from this organization or achieving a change in the presidency, according to close sources. Torres, who headed the only candidacy for the presidency and renewal of the board in the electoral process that opened last October, has chosen to proclaim himself winner again during the organization's assembly held this Thursday in Madrid, with the majority of affiliated organizations against him.

The rail chaos of recent weeks has not only affected commuter rail users. It has also impacted Catalan production, with freight lines closed for days. This disruption is expected to continue. it lengthens Because of the improvement works to be carried out, Pimec demands that the push for a national railway pact go "beyond commuter rail" and address the entire network in a comprehensive way, including regional trains, freight trains and strategic connections.

The Gelida train tragedy The train accident on Tuesday night—in which a trainee driver died—combined with the tragedy of the train collision in Córdoba over the weekend—which left dozens dead—has overshadowed current events, including the economic one. Antoni Cañete, president of Pimec, expressed his regret over the accidents and, regarding the complete disruption of commuter rail service in Catalonia, stated that "the necessary safety measures were taken, but obviously this has economic consequences due to the difficulty in finding jobs." According to Cañete, among the business community, "there has been a climate of unease, but we don't believe there has been a collapse; we believe that today's events should have minimal impact on the economy," he asserted. "Although today's incident was an accident, Pimec has been talking for a long time about the lack of investment in infrastructure, which has many consequences, such as today's complete service disruption," the president of the employers' association lamented.

From 2013 to 2025, sick leave taken by Catalan workers has more than doubled, and of these, leave due to mental health reasons has almost tripled, in this case between 2015 and 2024. The data comes from a report presented by the employers' association Pimec. one of the major current concerns of the business communityWhile thirteen years ago a total of 773,000 sick leaves were recorded in Catalonia, in 2024 this figure skyrocketed to 2,093,000. The study shows that the Principality has gone from an average of 3.8 hours of sick leave per month per worker – this indicator excludes vacations and other leaves, such as maternity or personal leave – to 8 hours recorded in the third quarter of last year, an increase of 110%. Even so, most of these absences from work are short. In more than 75% of cases, the leaves did not exceed 15 days. In fact, the employers' association also notes that while the number of temporary disabilities has steadily increased (+170% between 2013 and 2024), the duration has decreased: it averages 27.2 days, the second lowest figure among the autonomous communities, surpassed only by Navarre's 26.5 days. Paradoxically, Navarre and Catalonia have the highest average monthly incidence of sick leave, at 56.4 and 52.6 workers per 1,000, respectively. "We have a structural problem. We can't get on a highway, see cars going the wrong way, and think they're the crazy ones," lamented Antoni Cañete, president of Pimec. However, he assured that employers do not intend to "penalize" employees for being sick, but rather to prevent the misuse of the system.

The traditional Christmas meetings of Pimec and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, held this Thursday – which have coincided for several years now – have become a battleground for the controversy surrounding the law on chambers of commerce. How He already explained it NOWLast month, the employers' associations Pimec and Foment del Treball, along with the unions CCOO and UGT, sent a letter to parliamentary groups expressing their disagreement with the bill presented in the Parliament of Catalonia. This came as a shock to the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and the Council of Chambers of Commerce of Catalonia, given that the text "had been agreed upon." According to Pimec, the text that has finally entered parliamentary proceedings is not "exactly" the agreed-upon text, and therefore the social partners have submitted a series of amendments. Although the law is now in the hands of politicians and its future course no longer depends on business institutions, the negative sentiment surrounding it is clear. When asked about this discrepancy, the president of Pimec, Antoni Cañete, asserted this Thursday during the Christmas breakfast that the text as it currently stands "creates legal uncertainty and an overreach of authority" by the chambers of commerce, "which cannot under any circumstances participate in social dialogue." "The chambers of commerce must act as chambers of commerce, employers' associations as employers' associations, and unions as unions," Cañete stated, adding that "order" is necessary. Thus, the president of Pimec said that they did not oppose the bill's passage at the time, but that the text, after thorough analysis, includes elements that "concern" them. "It's like the Hundred Years' War," Cañete joked. "We've been debating this text for years." "We are not against the legislative process itself, we are against the ambiguities that could create uncertainty," he said, while also asserting that "it is a matter of democracy" and that they hope the political parties will take their amendments into account.

Antoni Cañete, president of Pimec, has been re-elected vice-president of European SMEs at the SME United assembly, where Italian candidate Davide Galli was elected president for the 2026-2027 term, replacing Finn Petri Salminen. With Cañete's re-election, Catalan SMEs consolidate their presence in the European social dialogue. The Pimec president represents Pymes Group—which works jointly with the Balearic employers' association PIMEB—in this organization and "leads the only SME organization in Catalonia and Spain with its own voice in Brussels," according to a statement from the organization. Ángela de Miguel, president of Cepyme, an organization linked to the CEOE (Spanish Confederation of Employers' Organizations), has also been appointed vice-president. During his speech, the president of Pimec explained the commitment to continue working on the strategic priorities of recent years, among which the fight against late payments stands out. He also highlighted the push for SME participation in public procurement, the need to reduce bureaucracy, facilitate business financing, and promote legislation that prioritizes smaller companies. In this regard, Cañete insisted on the need to promote the regulation against late payments in the European Commission's 2026 work program and the creation of an effective sanctions regime and compliance authorities in all member states "to guarantee the viability and competitiveness of SMEs and not jeopardize economic activity, which generates it." Regulatory framework

Furthermore, he also highlighted SME United's actions during 2025 aimed at raising awareness about the need for a regulatory framework that allows legislation to prioritize smaller businesses. In this regard, Cañete emphasized the promotion of the "T" manifesto.Think Small FirstTo work on legislation that is proportionate, practical, and adapted to the specific characteristics of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), especially regarding administrative simplification. Soler, Director of International Relations and European Affairs at PIMEC, as representative within Group I (Entrepreneurs) of the EESC, and Rosa Solanes, as PIMEC's Permanent Delegate in Brussels and coordinator of sectoral policies at SME United, stated that "the business organization is consolidating its influence in Europe and confirming its commitment to positioning SMEs."

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The employers' association Pimec received a visit from the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, at its headquarters in Barcelona on Monday. This meeting was led by the entity's president, Antoni Cañete, and with representatives from the Catalan business community. Pimec took advantage of the meeting to explain to Sánchez that Spain "needs its SMEs to grow in size in order to compete on equal terms with the rest of Europe."

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In May, before the summer holidays, Pimec presented its accounts and took advantage of the opportunity to demand its entry into the Economic and Social Council (CES), something that, as the president of the employers' association, Antoni Cañete, has been reminding us, "the law says so." In fact, back in May 2024, the Official State Gazette (BOE) published that the Spanish government had given the CES plenary session three months to modify the internal operating regulations and include Pimec. Now, Cañete is raising his voice. The deadlines have not been met, and when asked about the minutes and results of this issue that Pimec has been dragging on for years, Cañete explained that "the organization's board of directors has expired so far this year, and since June 2025, the presidency has also expired."

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"We have been analyzing the situations regarding the mandates of the most representative agents, we have generated an internal debate, and unanimously it has been proposed to maintain the two-term limit, adding the possibility of a third term under exceptional conditions." This is how the president of Pimec, Antoni Cañete, announced a key point of the modification of the statutes voted on at the general meeting this Tuesday, which until now limited the number of terms for a single president to two. As Cañete pointed out, this "2+1" concept would be used "only in circumstances where a third term must be considered."

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The employers' war over representation returns to the courts. The Spanish employers' association CEOE, chaired by Antonio Garamendi, has appealed to the National Court against the entry of the Catalan company Pimec into the National Advisory Commission on Collective Bargaining Agreements (CCNCC). The Ministry of Labor had given ten days, starting April 10, for CEOE and Pimec to reach an agreement. a new distribution of the six seats in the CCNCC, which are currently occupied by the Garamendi employers' association (5) and Cepyme (1).

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Antoni Cañete has this Tuesday given the starting signal for his second term at the head of Pimec, after being re-elected to the post at the beginning of February. A new mandate that supposes, as the president has explained, an "important change" in the organization of the employers' association, with the will to "continue doing business activism" and "lead the spaces" of decision and representation of the companies.

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The current president of the Pimec employers' association, Antoni Cañete (Barcelona, ​​​​1963), will repeat in the position for the next four years, being the only candidate presented. The elections of the employers' association, which were called for February 27, will not need to be held in the end because no other candidate has been presented. This Wednesday, the electoral board has ratified the reelection of Cañete after completing the procedures established by the electoral regulations and the statutes of Pimec.

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