News Hub

Spain’s Civil Guard arrested Wednesday three individuals accused of fraudulently selling high-quality sofas that in fact did not exist. Authorities report that the group has defrauded at least 175 people for over half a million euros.The group’s website advertised the sale of high-quality sofas that could be custom-made to the specifications of each individual client. The alleged scammers interwove several layers of deceit into their ploy in order to gain their prospective clients’ trust. To Know More: https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/16178-spanish-police-dismantle-fake-online-sofa-store-operation

 MADRID, April 5 (Reuters) - Spain's central bank on Tuesday lowered its economic growth forecast for this year and next due to the impact from Russia's invasion of Ukraine that has stoked inflation, and said the pace of recovery had already slowed down in the first quarter. The Bank of Spain now expects gross domestic product to expand 4.5% in 2022, below its December estimate of 5.4%. Growth is then expected to slow down to 2.9% in 2023, also less than the previously predicted 3.9%. Last year, the Spanish economy rebounded 5.1% after a record 10.8% slump in 2020 induced by the coronavirus pandemic. The central bank put first-quarter GDP growth at 0.9% from the previous three-month period, when the expansion was 2.2% and expects EU-harmonized consumer inflation to have clocked 7.9% in the first quarter. For all of 2022, inflation should reach 7.5%, double its previous forecast of 3.7%, before gradually dropping to 1.6% by 2024. MADRID, April 5 (Reuters) - Spain's central b...

April 5 (Renewables Now) - Portuguese renewables company Greenvolt - Energias Renovaveis SA (ELI:GVOLT) has launched a business unit dedicated to providing solar distributed generation (DG) solutions for commercial and industrial (C&I) customers in Spain. The new business, named Perfecta Industrial, outgrew from Perfecta Energia, a Spanish solar panel installer focused on the residential segment. Image by Fronius International GmbH. All Rights Reserved. Last year, Greenvolt took a 42.19% stake in Perfecta Energia and secured the option to acquire its entire share capital in 2024. After installing some 4.5 MWp of solar panels for homes in Spain, Perfecta Energia is now venturing into the C&I waters. According to Greenvolt, Perfecta Industrial will design and provide customised solar panel installation services without customers needing to make upfront investments.

MADRID, April 5 (Reuters) - Spain will expel some 25 Russian diplomats and embassy staff from Madrid, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Tuesday, in response to alleged war crimes by the Russian military in Ukraine. "We have decided to expel Russian diplomats and staff from the Russian embassy in Spain who represent a threat to the interests and security of our country," he said after the weekly cabinet meeting, without ruling out further measures. A source said the Russian ambassador was not among the diplomats to be expelled. Italy, Denmark and Sweden also announced expulsions of Russian diplomats earlier on Tuesday.

  The Strategic Project for economic recovery and transformation (Perte) plans announcement on Monday April 4th by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, received an unusual intervention as multi-billionaire Elon Musk weighs in with his views. The man behind Tesla and Space-X Elon Musk, shared his views about what the country should invest in. Musk reacted to the announcement of the flagship project Slashdot, which will see the country invest 11 billion euros into a microchip plant, saying that he believed Spain should be investing in solar energy that could be supplied to all of Europe. Replying to a tweet by Slashdot confirming the government’s investment he said: “Spain should build a massive solar array. It could feed the whole of Europe.” The tweet attracted many comments and amongst those the former Minister, Pedro Duque , who wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to tempt Musk into investing in Spain. He tweeted: “We welcome investments in Spain to boost our already large pro...

 Spain’s government outlined plans to plough €11 billion into boosting the country’s chip industry, in line with a wider European push around semiconductor development. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez unveiled the initiative at a press conference, with the focus of the move to be on microchips and semiconductors. The politician stated he wants Spain “to be at the vanguard of industrial and technological progress” and the project would be approved by his cabinet “soon”. Spain’s investment will mainly be financed through European Union (EU) public relief funds, which have been made available to partly help the bloc recover from the effects of the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The nation’s plans follows a big recent push around development of the chip industry in Europe. In February, the European Commission unveiled a multi-billion euro Chips Act in to bolster the continent’s competitiveness in the sector, while Intel recently fleshed-out plans to spend more than €33 billion on boosti...