Economía

It has long been that sending a postcard during the summer holidays is a habit reserved for the most nostalgic. Handwritten love letters now mostly belong to the realm of fiction, and more and more companies offer to receive bills electronically instead of in the mailbox. At the same time, the rise of e-commerce has transformed the postal business to an unprecedented extent: for the first time in history, in Spain more packages than letters are sent through these services. This is shown by the data from a report published this Wednesday by the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC).

The United States Federal Reserve (Fed) has given final and definitive approval to the purchase of Webster Financial by Banco Santander, clearing the way for the operation, valued at 12.2 billion dollars (about 10.3 billion euros), to likely close on August 20.

The Government of the Generalitat assured yesterday that it will seek “legal measures” to protect the right to housing in Catalonia and opened the door to substantial modifications in the law against speculative buying after the setback from the Consell de Garanties Estatutàries, which deeply questioned the regulation and emphasized that it violates the Constitution. The Comuns’ bill, agreed with the PSC Government, aims to restrict speculative buying and selling of homes in stressed areas as long as it is not for residential use.

Some data more than expected on Wall Street. At the close of the session, SpaceX reported this Tuesday a 92% increase in its revenues during the second quarter (April-June), in its first results since its IPO last June. This increase was driven by the strong growth of Starlink, its satellite internet business, and its activities related to artificial intelligence.

The main benchmark index of the Spanish stock market, the Ibex, has closed the session marking a new historic high by surpassing the threshold of 20,000 points. The selective index has appreciated 0.21% since yesterday and 14% so far this year. Good corporate results and the drop in oil prices due to the de-escalation of the conflict in Iran are behind this new stock market milestone.

El Govern de la Generalitat assures that it will seek “legal measures” to protect the right to housing in Catalonia following the opinion of the Consell de Garanties Estatutàries (CGE) which warns that the regulation agreed upon by the Catalan Executive with the commons violates several legal provisions of the Constitution and the Statute, including the right to private property, freedom of enterprise, and the principle of legal certainty.

Homeowners and housing developers have seen their opposition to the law to limit home purchases promoted by the Govern and the Comuns endorsed. The report published this Tuesday by the Consell de Garanties Estatutàries (CGE) coincides with much of the private sector’s objections: the regulation being processed by the Catalan Parliament violates the right to private property, freedom of enterprise, and other points of the constitution. It also points out that the acquisition of apartments cannot be restricted through the Urban Planning law, as intended by the Catalan Executive and the party of former mayor Ada Colau.

The Consell de Garanties Estatutàries (CGE) questions the commoners’ bill, agreed with the PSC Government, to restrict the buying and selling of homes in stressed areas whenever it is not for residential use for violating the right to private property.

New blow to music festivals. The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda announced this Tuesday that it has imposed a sanction for having introduced “various abusive clauses that limit the rights of consumers” on a company that organizes festivals in several autonomous communities. According to La Vanguardia, it is Reggaeton Beach Festival, an event that was held in Barcelona and nine other Spanish cities, managed by a company headquartered in Badalona.

The labor market maintained the record-breaking path for job creation in July. Spain surpassed 22.5 million Social Security affiliates for the first time, according to data published this Tuesday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migrations, led by Elma Saiz. Affiliations increased by 41,727 people, 0.19% more than the previous month, reaching a total of 22,508,065.