Economía

A pioneer has died, whose work is summed up in three letters: CNN.

The European Union activates its machinery to force the White House to respect the terms of the already criticized trade agreement with the U.S.. “A pact is a pact,” warned the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, a few hours before her Trade Commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, meets with the U.S. Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, in Paris. All this, after President Donald Trump threatened this weekend with a 25% tariff on the import of European vehicles.

Extraordinary minors and the drop in interest rates penalized Banc Sabadell in the first quarter of the year, with profits falling by 29.1%, down to 347 million euros. In the results for the January-March period, TSB continued to contribute dividends to the bank, and it will not be until the second quarter that the extraordinary profit (capital gain) of 300 million from the sale of that British subsidiary to Santander will be recorded.

Someone was inhaling butane. Energy experts had long been warning that the war in Iran was causing the biggest oil supply shock in history. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz took 14 million barrels per day of crude off the market. To destroy so much demand, they said, the price of Brent should be more than double the pre-war level, sitting well above $150 per barrel. However, oil market operators seemed drowsy. Until April 17, prices were below $90 per barrel. In the last week, amid rumors of a worsening of the fighting, they have started to react. On April 30, prices exceeded $125.

The month of April almost always brings good news in terms of employment, and this year it has brought it twice over. Due to the 223,685 new registered affiliates, the third largest increase in the series for this month, although slightly less than last year, and also because it represents a new record, surpassing 22.1 million contributors. The Spanish labor market had never reached 22 million before, and now it has done so by a wide margin.

Each passing year, the infrastructures in Catalonia are in a worse state than the previous year because the investment from all public administrations is insufficient to compensate for the depreciation of roads or tracks over time. This is one of the conclusions of the report “The investment deficit in infrastructures in Catalonia 2009-2025” published today by the employers’ association Foment del Treball.

The secular file of the substantial pending investments of the State in Catalonia remains at the center of the political/business debate. The latest episode, Junts’ vote in Congress against the creation of an equal investment consortium between the State and the

The German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has pointed out that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, “is right” to feel disappointed with the European Union for the fact that the tariff agreement of August 2025 had not been closed and, consequently, has decided to raise tariffs on European cars.

The economy of promises: SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI, tech giants valued at three trillion dollars, are gearing up to go public, although none of the three are currently making money. It is an unprecedented combination in the history of the United States, which is awaiting the largest stock market listing in history of three innovative companies, but largely still operating at a loss.

The OPEC+ alliance has agreed to increase its crude oil production by 188,000 barrels per day starting in June, in a decision made this Sunday during a telematic meeting of seven of its main members.