Economía

The European Commission opens the door to allowing municipalities to impose restrictions on second homes and tourist rentals in the areas most threatened by the housing crisis sweeping the continent. The regulation does not prohibit second homes in any case, but according to a draft of the proposal accessed by this newspaper, it would provide legal coverage to municipalities and governments so that they can limit the purchase of housing for non-regular use in areas of greatest housing tension, provided they present evidence with data justifying the measure and demonstrate that there are no less restrictive alternatives to solve the problem.

The public affordable rental portal is now available. The Government has presented today the tool from Casa 47, the state public company, where citizens interested in accessing public housing under a low-rent lease can consult the available offer, with images, and submit the application to become tenants. The portal starts with 638 properties, although the head of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, has announced that “soon” 1,500 more properties will be added.

Madrid and several of the large municipalities in its outskirts top the rankings of income inequality among their inhabitants, far from other major urban concentrations such as Barcelona and its surroundings, which place several of their cities among those with the greatest income equality.

The return to schools brings the same news about the housing situation in Spain as the previous school year. Prices continue to rise, at an average of 12.2% over the last year, and have now chained more than 11 years, 45 quarters, of uninterrupted increases, according to the latest update of the official index from the National Institute of Statistics published today. The situation is more or less similar throughout the country and affects both new properties and second-hand ones.

Spain has an increasingly large lobbying club, a sector that the Government now wants to urgently regulate. The companies of the Ibex 35 have their own teams to try to influence the decision-making of politicians, and in recent years around a dozen companies have proliferated mainly in Madrid, dedicated to trying to influence laws for their clients, who are national and international companies. The winner is the one who has a better contact agenda in the ministries and Congress. The problem is that the activity does not have total transparency, which makes the Spanish sector an anomaly in Europe. The first Council of Ministers of the term approved a royal decree-law that must be ratified this month and that today does not have the necessary support.

The company OKM Química Ortopédica, S.L., an industrial company specialized in designing and producing products and materials for orthopedics, has received the 2026 SME of the Year Award in Girona, an award granted annually by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and Banco Santander, in collaboration with La Vanguardia.

The Government has committed to working “tirelessly” to ensure that Volkswagen maintains the Seat brand and that the workforce at the Martorell plant is not reduced. This was assured on Saturday by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Alícia Romero, who admits that the future of the company is a “very important” matter for the economy of Catalonia. Romero recalls that it is not just about protecting the direct jobs at Martorell, but also the more than 3,000 companies that provide auxiliary services to the automotive industry.

The survival of the Seat brand beyond 2030 “is still being analyzed,” with “various scenarios” and “all options” on the table, from continuity to its disappearance, a company statement distributed yesterday warned. Without having made any decision yet, “the continuity of the brand will be evaluated based on how regulations evolve – such as emissions –, customer demand, and market conditions.” These are three key factors that will define its future. The statement included words from Oliver Blume, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, its owner, in which he showed strong support for Seat S.A. – the parent company and responsible for the Martorell plant – but without direct reference to the Seat brand.

It may not be easy to put yourself in Tim Cook’s shoes, replacing at the helm of the Apple empire the man who has managed to turn the group into a true technological giant and an iconic global brand. But some incentives help a lot to get through the tough time. John Ternus,…

The Government passed the first step yesterday for Spain to have a new system of regional financing. The one currently in force dates back to 2009, when the country was very different, and, therefore, has been expired for 12 years. The Council of Fiscal and Financial Policy approved the proposal of the model that had been devised by the Treasury and ERC, whose embryo is the investiture pact of Salvador Illa in Catalonia.