Economía

The public prosecutor’s office has asked the judge in Martorell, who is investigating the death of Mango founder Isak Andic, to order a reconstruction of the events to clarify the causes of death with the only person investigated for the events, the businessman’s son, Jonathan Andic. To this end, the public prosecutor’s office has requested several investigative proceedings, now that the investigation is no longer secret, among which a possible reconstruction of the events at the site of the fall, the path of the Cuevas del Salitre, in Collbató (Baix Llobregat), stands out.

“Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” (1841), by Charles Mackay, is scorned by historians and revered among stock traders. The book is best known for its vivid accounts of the 17th-century tulip mania and the 18th-century South Sea Bubble. However, those who want to understand the business world in the 21st century should rather look at Mackay’s chapter on “the epidemic terror of the end of the world.”

French entrepreneur Pierre-Édouard Stérin, founder of Smartbox experience gift boxes and one of the country’s biggest fortunes, has opened a new front of debate in France by asking to change inheritance law to exclude his five children from his inheritance and donate his entire estate.

The European Commission on Thursday extended the infringement procedure it opened last July against Spain over the laws used by Pedro Sánchez’s government to hinder BBVA’s hostile takeover bid for Sabadell. Despite the failure of the operation after BBVA failed to acquire even 26% of the entity’s capital, Brussels left the file open against Spain, and the Commission recalls that it was not initiated by the operation itself, but by the laws used to obstruct it.

Isak Andic was 71 years old when on December 14, 2024, he died after falling from one of the Montserrat trails, which he was walking alone with his firstborn Jonathan. It was the first time in ten years that father and son went out for a walk together, according to the Mossos d’Esquadra after analyzing all the messages they exchanged in the last ten years and which the deceased kept religiously on his phone. Jonathan Andic, accused of his father’s homicide, told the police that these outings were “usual.” This statement was “denied” in the latest order signed by the judge of Martorell, Raquel Nieto, and to which La Vanguardia has had access.

Seat’s factory in Martorell enters the electric era. The owner of the Seat and Cupra brands started production this Wednesday of the Cupra Raval and Volkswagen ID.Polo models, the first electric vehicles to be manufactured at the Catalan plant, as part of the electrification plan of its German parent company. These compact cars are aimed at the economic segment, with prices around 25,000 euros. The Raval is expected to be a boost for the Spanish company, which has pushed its financial results to the limit due to investment in electrification and tariffs on the Tavascan, an electric vehicle made in China.

The extraordinary regularization of immigrants will help alleviate the problem of vacancies in the hospitality sector this summer. This is one of the conclusions presented by Asempleo, the employers’ association representing temporary employment companies, in the presentation of its hiring forecasts for the coming months.

The philosophy of prioritizing the European lands in the technological sphere. The European Commission has developed an ambitious technological sovereignty package with which it aims to try to reverse the enormous structural dependence that the European Union has on foreign digital products and services. Especially, from the U.S. and China. The set of legislative measures —which still requires the approval of the European Parliament and the Twenty-Seven— introduces a series of new criteria that could exclude Silicon Valley giants, such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, from highly sensitive public tenders. For example, those that handle the most critical public data of the community countries.

The European Commission recommends that Spain limit the use of the reduced VAT and specifically points to hotels and restaurants, as, in its view, these preferential rates have a “very limited redistributive effect” on society despite their high cost to the State. That is, they benefit higher incomes more than lower ones because they consume it the most, according to community sources. Meanwhile, the impact of this tax that is not collected is enormous: the 10% VAT for hospitality is costing Spain 0.4% of GDP, or the equivalent of almost 7 billion euros each year.

Spain is the only euro economy that sees its growth forecasts for this year improve, according to the OECD’s calculations, which on Wednesday prepared its global outlook report. Specifically, the organization has raised its GDP growth forecast for this year by one tenth compared to March, to 2.2%, the same figure handled by the Government. It is almost triple the eurozone average (0.8%) and well above Germany (0.7%), France (0.7%), and Italy (0.5%). “It is balanced growth. The OECD attributes the dynamism to domestic demand, with private consumption supported by strong employment and investment driven by European funds,” the Government values.