Generation after generation, there is a small habit that unites and connects us all: sitting around a table. And this custom survives intact over time. In Spain, a well-stocked table with friends and family is everyday life turned into tradition and memories. And always with one element that remains over time: bread.
Close vote on the silver seats in the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce that ends with a victory for the measure promoted by Josep Santacreu. The president of the institution has gathered the necessary support to advance the proposal that has generated the most division in the institution in recent months. The entity’s plenary approved this Thursday the expansion of the paid seats with a tie of 29 votes in favor and 29 against, which was resolved positively with Santacreu’s casting vote.
“The services have continued to be the great engine of the Catalan economy.” That is one of the conclusions of the Annual Report on the Catalan Economy 2025 presented this Thursday at the Palau de la Generalitat. With a “gradual recovery of the agricultural sector,” the Catalan economy shows that new face in which the industry has not quite regained the brilliance of previous years. “The weakest increase has been recorded in the industrial sector,” the report states.
The Plenary of the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) has approved this morning to extend the activity of the Almaraz nuclear power plant for three more years, until 2030. This is what the owners of the plant, Iberdrola, Endesa, and Naturgy, had requested. This position of the Nuclear Safety Council was mandatory, but it does not yet represent the final step for the plant to extend its operational life. From now on, it is the Government who has to make the final decision.
Division in the extraordinary plenary this Thursday at the Cambra de Comerç de Barcelona, which will experience one of the tensest votes of this last term. The executive committee, the highest governing body of the institution chaired by Josep Santacreu, approved last week an agreement to increase the so-called silver seats from 2 to 10, and now it is the plenary that must decide whether to accept this measure or not. What is at stake is the number of board seats linked to a voluntary financial contribution and that have historically been held by major corporations relevant to the Catalan economy. The pro-independence candidacy Eines de País – which won the 2019 elections and lost the 2023 ones against Santacreu – opposes it, as does the Catalan employers’ association Pimec.
From a profit record of over 2,000 million in 2025 (which represented an 89% growth) to a deep drop in net results, down 56%. The Anfac Annual Report, the Spanish association of car and truck manufacturers, highlights a clear reality in the sector: the transformation to electric vehicles is being extremely demanding for Spanish car factories, but automakers continue to draw on cash to move forward. During 2025, revenue grew by 3.8% compared to 2024, reaching 80,315 million euros; investment soared by 24.7%, up to 3,197 million euros, but at the same time, net results plummeted by 56%, settling at a mere 853 million.
The aid package approved to address the effects of the Iran war has managed to keep inflation in June at 3.2% for the third consecutive month. The outbreak of the conflict caused prices to soar by 3.4% in March, but since then it has remained at this rate of 3.2%, certainly very high, but not skyrocketing.
The Government continues with its plan, although it is not going as desired. This Tuesday, the plenary session of the Congress of Deputies has rejected the deficit path that would serve as the basis for the General State Budgets (PGE) for the 2027 fiscal year. As expected, the majority of the lower house, including PP, Vox, and Junts, voted against it. There were 178 negative votes, 167 in favor, and 5 abstentions.
Inflation fell more than expected throughout June in the United States, standing at 3.5% on an annualized basis. This significant decline was contributed to by the drop in oil prices due to the ceasefire in the Iran war, which helped contain the rise in the cost of living for Americans, after three months of sharp increases due to the conflict launched in the Middle East by President Donald Trump last February.
Donald Trump has been rubbing his hands for days, anticipating that CNN, one of his informational nemeses, will become a branch of Fox, his main propaganda outlet, under the Ellison family empire. Larry (the father) and David (the son) are both devoted to the President of the United States, and they own Paramount Skydance, which is expected to soon finalize the procedures to acquire the legendary Warner-Discovery studio for $110 billion, along with the conglomerate of companies it houses, such as HBO and CNN.