Economía

Queen Victoria, seven days through the western Mediterranean in July, 777 euros; Sun Princess, eight days through the eastern Mediterranean with Italy in July, 737 euros (903 if it is an outside cabin); Celebrity Xcel, eight days through France and the Italian Riviera in July, 731 euros and the possible promotion of up to 600 euros as a gift to spend onboard. These are just some of the offers in the premium cruise segment that have recently started to proliferate in the European tourist market, with unprecedented prices in the high season. It is the result of the indirect impact that international geopolitical instability is causing in the cruise sector, where, rather than a drop in bookings, what has been prompted is a change in tourist flows and commercial strategies by the shipping companies.

Less than four years ago, at the end of 2022, Florentino Pérez moved heaven and earth and managed to get Pedro Sánchez’s government to repeal the obligation for the executives of football clubs that were not public limited companies to guarantee 15% of the annual budget, a…

China and the United States agreed to reduce tariffs on some products to promote bilateral trade, according to a statement from the Ministry of Commerce of China, which describes the agreements as preliminary.

“I have a whole volume of signed appointment sheets. Every two months, we sign one.” For the past ten years, Fernando Casamayor, a procedural clerk in the social courts of Madrid and founder of the DJusticia union, has chained dozens of temporary contracts for the same job position, reinforcement staff. He has been working in Justice for 21 years, always as a temporary worker but has not managed to stabilize his position, despite having met the requirements and passed the necessary tests for the job pool. Although the law requires that reinforcement positions become permanent after three years and be opened for transfer contests or competitive exams, “they remain in fraud,” he explains.

Donald Trump has invested tens of millions of dollars in the purchase of shares (and bonds) of major American companies in the first quarter of the year, before these experienced spectacular rises in the markets following political decisions, thus fueling controversies about an alleged conflict of interest of the White House occupant.

The business sectors that pay their workers less than 27,500 euros per year, such as tourism, the meat industries, or home delivery services, “have impoverished” the whole Catalan society. This provocative idea is one of those that arise from the Fènix Report prepared by a group of seven Catalan economists who try to elucidate the reasons and consequences of low productivity.

The launch of ChatGPT in 2022 unleashed the rise of artificial intelligence and triggered a flood of warnings from industry leaders about a possible labor apocalypse. Although they have reasons to highlight the disruptive effect of their products, and despite employment in developed countries being near historic highs, the pessimistic message has taken hold. Seven out of ten Americans believe that artificial intelligence will make it harder to find a job; nearly a third fear for their own employment. The lack of opportunities for university graduates — especially computer programmers — increases concern.

El Banco de España is still immersed in a process of reflection, “the deepest in Europe,” about whether it is advisable to tighten the conditions for access to mortgage credit to avoid possible bubbles. Without yet making a decision, it has detected that this type of measure can “reduce the amount of home ownership and push more people towards renting,” said the Director General of Financial Supervision of the bank, Daniel Pérez Cid, during the presentation of the Spring Financial Stability Report.

The Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (Airef) has revised upwards the growth forecasts for the Spanish economy for the coming years, from 2027 to 2030. The reason is immigration. Foreign workers are making a significant contribution to the improvement of GDP and will continue to do so in the coming years, assures the regulator.

Catalonia functions as the great laboratory in housing policy in Spain and, as such, is subject to greater scrutiny regarding its consequences. It happened again this Monday with the publication of the Rental Housing Price Index prepared by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). The data shows a figure that has surprised the sector: rental prices accelerated in 2024, the year in which the rent cap was introduced under the state Housing law.