The CNMC has published the drafts of circulars, among which is the methodology for calculating rates of financial compensation of electricity and gas networks, an expected and necessary circular to adapt the regulations. The first two circulars, balance and access, They will boost the commercialization of gas and its repercussion will promote a greater use of infrastructures and a greater commercial competitiveness that will result in a more competitive price for the industrial consumer. It remains to be published regarding the methodology for calculation of regasification, transport and distribution tolls.

The aforementioned Circular updates the financial remuneration of networks towards a reasonable profitability, aligning with European remunerations and models. The tolls paid by an industrial person are used to defray the cost of the gas system and this update towards a reasonable profitability is an additional step to recover harmonized tolls in line with the Europeans.

One of the causes of the serious differential of gas costs for Spanish industry lies in the tolls for the use of gas infrastructures and is a direct consequence of the current model -which dates from 2001-, which defines the remuneration of the companies that carry out the regulated activities and the income that comes from consumers, far from the models of other countries of the European Union in structure and price. The revision proposed by the CNMC is necessary since the current remuneration that is assigned to regulated activities means that the value of tolls for the use of infrastructures is significantly higher than that existing in the countries in our environment with which Spanish industries compete

In Spain, the industry is the base of the gas system, it accounts for 62% of the total national gas consumption, with an invoice that rises every year to 4,700 million euros. The competitiveness of Spanish gas has progressively worsened for industrial consumers with prices 20 and 25% higher than that of its European competitors. In regulated costs, tolls are 45% higher in Spain than the European average: Spanish industrialists pay double the French, triple the British and, in some cases, up to six times what the Germans.

The tolls that support the Spanish industrial suppose a bleeding highly penalizing differential, which undermines competitiveness and directly affects the profitability of sectors such as paper, steel, ceramics, cogeneration, chemicals, glass, refining … and others whose productive activities are gas intensive. The circulars of the CNMC will affect the cost paid by the gas to the industrial consumer, forming a new regulatory framework that will normalize tolls that undermine the competitiveness of hundreds of Spanish industries.

GasINDUSTRIAL It has promoted the union of eleven sectoral associations seriously affected, which support the CNMC and demand the resolution of the problem now that the new regulatory framework is being designed. With GasINDUSTRIAL they allied themselves: ACOGEN, co-generation industries; ANFEVI, glass; ANFFECC, Spanish producers of frits, enamels and ceramic colors; ASPAPEL, pulp, paper and cardboard manufacturers; AOP, oil products operators; ASCER, ceramics; INTERTEXTIL SPANISH COUNCIL, textile; CONFEVICEX, glass and ceramics; FEIQUE, chemical; and UNESID, steel industry. The associations will work together to collaborate with the CNMC making visible the importance of the cost of gas in the competitiveness of its activities.

For these industries, gas is strategic and comes to represent 60% of its energy cost of production, which determines its competitiveness, especially as it is mainly exporting sectors. The gas tolls determine their final cost and, being a strategic cost, they really suppose a brake on the industrial development of the country. This competitive disadvantage for hundreds of Spanish industrialists is a real breakdown and a brake on the economic activity of the country as a whole.

In the Spain-Saudi Arabia meeting, held at the Chamber of Commerce, was attended by Khlid Al Ahmadi, Deputy Assistant Minister for Sector Development of the Saudi Ministry of Economy; the CEOE International president, Marta Blanco; the general director of the Chamber of Commerce of Spain, Inmaculada Riera; the general director of Cooperation and Coordination of ICEX, Alberto Cerdán, and the presidents of the Spanish and Saudi sections of the Business Cooperation Committee, José Alberto Nebrera, and Salman Al Sudairy.

The president of CEOE International, Marta Blanco, stressed that "in line with Vision 2030, we are also aware that Saudi Arabia is working on the development of large-scale construction projects called giga-projects, especially those related to the construction industry. tourism and, in the short term, the budget for 2019 includes the construction of roads, ports, railways and airports and energy investments ". Through these major projects, Spanish companies that are world leaders will have the opportunity to consolidate their presence in a country that is called upon to play a key role in the development of the Region, "Blanco said.

The director of the Chamber of Spain has shown her satisfaction with the steps being taken by the Saudi government to advance in a more diversified and competitive economy, as well as to promote the role of small and medium-sized companies that due to their flexibility and The ability to innovate and create jobs will contribute to GDP growth in the coming years.

For his part, the general director of Cooperation and Coordination of the ICEX has highlighted the large delegation that has traveled to Spain to establish relationships with Spanish companies. He also referred to the need for Spain to increase exports to that country and has mentioned the sectors of infrastructure, energy, water transport and tourism as the activities that more business opportunities Saudi Arabia offers to Spanish companies.

Finally, the Assistant Deputy Minister for Sectorial Development of the Saudi Ministry of Economy has stated before the more than 50 Spanish companies that have participated in the meeting, that Spain has become a strategic country for specific projects of the private sector, especially in the sector of the infrastructures.

Economic relations between Saudi Arabia and Spain have been strengthened in recent times, although they remain far from the potential of both countries. The awarding of the High Speed ​​project, participated by a Spanish consortium of companies, has constituted a transcendental step in relations and has opened new opportunities for Spanish companies. Although Spanish investment is in low volumes, its growth potential is very high.

Numerous Spanish and Saudi delegation

A total of fifty-six Spanish companies participated in the Spain-Saudi Arabia business meeting. Cab highlighting large companies such as Repsol, Técnicas Reunidas, Sacyr, Sener Engineering, Typsa, Hm Hospitals, Indra, Eptisa CAF, Ayesa Group, Acciona, Abengoa, Banco Sabadell or Bankia, among others.

Likewise, numerous SMEs have participated, which have had the opportunity to carry out bilateral interviews with their Saudi counterparts. A total of twenty-five companies made up the Saudi business delegation that has moved to Spain.

Federico Buyolo, General Director of the Office of the High Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda, highlighted the importance of business as a driving force behind the transformation required by the implementation and achievement of the 2030 Agenda, and as a key element for the generation of partnerships and sustainable development. Below you will find the most remarkable messages of his intervention:

• The 2030 Agenda is a universal language. An agenda so that no one is left behind. The generation of alliances is the basis for Sustainable Development to occur.
• On September 25, 2015, after more than two years of negotiation, the 2030 Agenda was approved, being the first time that companies work in this direction and promote the initiative. Companies are the instrument of transformation for the Agenda to be real. It is necessary that different actors work together and coordinate to achieve the objectives of this multi-actor and multilevel agenda. It is a complex agenda for a complex world, and it sets the guidelines for advancing sustainable development.
• The Government of Spain is working on alliances, which are a fundamental element, represent "ecosystems" of transformation.
• In the Sustainable Development Council, in which CEOE has three members, one of them being the president, Antonio Garamendi, includes 48 civil society organizations.
• The 2030 Agenda is transformation, it changes the current models, it is not a political agenda. The generation of alliances and the collective intelligence that derives from it is fundamental.
• "There is no plan B because there is no world B." Currently we consume between 1.8 and 2.1 planets per year, and as of today we have already consumed the resources of one year.
• The transformation implies a change of economic model, an inclusive vision and respect for the environment. The participation of the actors in the definition of policies must be improved. Either we are able to anticipate what is to come, or we will not move forward.
• In 2010 there was a gap of social inequality between rich and poor countries, but today the gaps are within the same country.
• The 2030 Agenda has: 17 objectives, 5 areas, 3 dimensions, 255 indicators and 169 targets.
• The Government of Spain will not tell each company where it has to go, but it will be the company that decides according to its situation and the opinion of its stakeholders. This creates collective intelligence and multiactor alliances.
• The transformation is based on 4 fundamental elements:
  o Know the Agenda 2030: in Spain only 13% of the population knows it, and it is difficult to do it with that low percentage. The goal is for you to know it 100%, but with 80% you are satisfied.
  o Understanding the 2030 Agenda: it is a complex agenda because the world is also complex and is constantly changing. We need to create certainties to live in uncertainties.
  o Interconnections: now a problem does not have a single solution.
  o Alliances: they are fundamental for change. Win-win alliances are the basis for the implementation of the Agenda.
• It is necessary that the change of model implies:
  o Solidarity: is the ethical commitment to global sustainable development.
  o Empowerment of citizenship: on a personal, cultural, economic and social level.
• The 2030 Agenda is a global social contract that allows us to advance in a global world.
• The agreement on the creation of this Agenda was the first time that something of this caliber was approved, without having the pressure to be on the brink of disaster. If today we tried to approve the Agenda, we could not because of the current political situations.
• To reach alliances for the 2030 Agenda, it is necessary to dialogue to find a consensus.
• The President of the Government announced in Sitges the Business Alliance, which is an alliance of private companies with the Government. The intention of this initiative is to unite things that both parties are doing and in which they are working, to use the companies as an engine. Disseminate the 2030 Agenda and create a dialogue channel. Works of visibility of the business actions and identify ties of connection with the actions of the Administration (City Councils, Autonomous Communities).
• Sustainable Development Strategy: they are working together with five organizations: WWF, OXFAM, UNICEF, REDS and the Global Compact.
  It will be a long-term agenda: 2020-2030, for the fulfillment of the SDGs in Spain, and will define the path we have to follow to achieve it. It will include the issues that Spain has to face, a monitoring chart and some 40-50 guidelines. It will be a "Strategies Strategy" since it will collect initiatives such as the Agenda for Change and the PNIEC, as well as new ones. It will be flexible, clear and consensual.

On July 1, 2004, the Airbus A320 with registration EC-IZD, named Barceloning, took off from the Barcelona El Prat airport, bound for Ibiza. With that first takeoff, a decade and a half ago, a project with a very precise purpose began: democratize air transport and bring it closer to as many people as possible, making it more affordable and giving it a fresh, close and innovative image. All this, with a clear commitment to new technologies.

Fifteen years later, it is clear that this purpose has become a reality. Today, Vueling is one of the main low cost airlines in Europe, integrated into the IAG Group. The company, which was born with a fleet of two aircraft, now has 118 aircraft, and, in 2018, transported more than 32 million passengers.

Betting on the territory

The Vueling project, which was born as something different and somewhat risky, has been consolidated over the years. In its main house, Barcelona, ​​Vueling has more than 60 aircraft based and thanks to that, the city is one of the best connected in Europe, with more than 120 short and medium-haul direct destinations. In addition, the trust that their customers have placed in them during all this time has had another important effect, both from the economic point of view, as in the lives of the people: In front of the hundred professionals with whom the company closed the year of 2004, now the team reaches a total of 4,000 people in the total of our bases and around 2,500 indirect employees.

Throughout these years, they have carried out their purpose of democratizing air transport beyond the city from which they took off for the first time. Little by little, they have turned other cities in Spain and Europe into their homes. In Bilbao based, since June, the fifth plane. The same bet has been made in the Balearic Islands, where they maintain a strong presence throughout the year – and not only in summer -, which makes them the reference airline in the islands. His bet extends to Galicia, where this year they will reinforce the base of Santiago with a new airplane; Valencia and Alicante, where they will also base a new aircraft in each city; Andalusia, where they will expand the fleet from three to four aircraft in Seville and have another five based in Malaga; and Canary Islands, where they have operations centers in Tenerife North and Gran Canaria.

Admission in IAG

Throughout these years, Vueling has gone through several phases of development and consolidation, to become what it is today. In 2013, they become part of the IAG group. This milestone marked the beginning of a consolidation phase that has also led them to international expansion. Its most important bases are at the Rome Fiumicino airport, where eight planes sleep, and in Florence, where they are leaders (with three aircraft starting in September). They also have a major operations center in Paris, with four aircraft based at the Orly airport and another three at the Charles de Gaulle airfield.

A key economic actor

The results of this bet are obvious. Vueling has become a key element for the economy of a country like Spain, which is visited every year by almost 83 million tourists, 80% of which arrive by plane. , The IAG group, of which they form part, represents 31% of the market in our country, a figure of which half corresponds to Vueling. A) Yes, the company is the leader in the flows between Spain and France, with a market share of 30%, and is second -very close to the leadership- in connectivity with Italy, when transporting 23% of passengers that move between the two countries. With a market share of 32%, in addition, Vueling is the first airline in the domestic market in Spain, the most important in Europe.