El Banc Sabadell has completed today the sale of its British subsidiary TSB to Santander for 3.3 billion euros once all the relevant authorizations have been obtained. That amount includes 300 million in capital gains (extraordinary profit) from the operation.
A May Day focused on “no to war” and the right to housing kicks off, with the Andalusian elections as a backdrop. The major unions, CCOO and UGT, will hold more than a hundred demonstrations across Spain this Friday. This year’s protest will have as its main axes the demand to end the offensive in the Middle East, its economic consequences, the problem of access to housing, and the elections on May 17 in Andalusia.
The United States economy grew at an annualized rate of 2% in the first quarter of the year. In this way, it gained momentum after a poor final quarter of 2025, when it ended with a GDP of 0.5% due to the government shutdown.
The giant TotalEnergies has yielded to political pressure and announced this Thursday, on the eve of the May Day holiday, that it is extending the fuel price cap “while the crisis in the Middle East lasts,” at the 3,300 service stations it owns in France.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has decided, as planned, to keep the cost of money with the deposit interest rate at 2%, for the sixth consecutive time since June 2025. The entity does not consider that the current economic disturbances, with a resurgence of inflation due to the energy crisis following the Iran war, justify at this time implementing a more restrictive monetary policy.
Puig continues with negotiations with the American group Estée Lauder for a possible merger, but admits that there is no guarantee that the operation will go ahead. “As long as there is no agreement, it cannot be guaranteed that there will be an operation or its terms,” reiterated the Catalan fragrance multinational in its communication to the CNMV of the results up to March.
Despite the geopolitical environment, CaixaBank managed to increase its profits by 7% in the first quarter to 1,572 million euros. The bank also maintained an upward trend in the net interest margin in the first quarter, something it also achieved in the second half of the year.
The price of Brent crude oil has exceeded $125 early this Thursday after negotiations between the United States and Iran stalled, increasing uncertainty about the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and pushing away the possible definitive end of the war.
Household consumption has driven the economy in the first quarter of the year, allowing GDP growth of 0.6%, which represents a moderation compared to the pace at which activity closed in 2025, although more limited than expected. Where analysts pointed to a GDP increase of four or five tenths, it has finally been six, according to data published this morning by the INE. Therefore, it remains below the 0.8% growth of the last quarter of last year.
The rental housing market in Spain is experiencing an unprecedented situation of legal uncertainty after the Congress of Deputies repealed the Government’s royal decree-law that allowed an extraordinary and mandatory extension of up to two years in lease contracts.