Foment del Treball seeks tax and investment changes

On taxes, Foment wants a legal mechanism to automatically adjust state IRPF brackets and family allowances each year, arguing that workers whose pay rises only to offset inflation should not face a higher real tax burden. It also wants Spain to abolish the wealth tax and the solidarity levy on large fortunes, while easing inheritance and gift taxes and restoring the ability to contribute to individual pension plans. The group said consumer prices have risen about 32.6% since late 2015, a gap it says has quietly eroded purchasing power and pushed more households into higher effective tax bands.

For investors, that matters because Catalonia is one of Spain’s biggest economic engines and home to a dense corporate base spanning banks, industrial firms and consumer companies. Any move to reduce fiscal drag would support household spending, while lower wealth and inheritance levies would be welcomed by private banking, asset management and family-owned businesses. But the proposals also highlight the political difficulty of financing tax relief without offsetting spending cuts or new revenue sources.

Foment’s infrastructure demands are equally significant for capital allocation. It is calling for multi-year planning, technically ready projects and a permanent investment vehicle between Madrid and the Catalan government, as well as clearer timetables for Barcelona-El Prat airport expansion and rail and road links to the ports of Barcelona and Tarragona. The employers’ group says faster execution would help close Catalonia’s investment gap and improve logistics for exporters, manufacturers and tourism operators.

That proposal runs into the reality that infrastructure in Spain has often been delayed by permitting, politics and coordination failures. If the airport expansion and port access works were to move forward, the likely winners would be airports, construction and industrial logistics groups; the losers would be rival regions competing for public capital and local opponents of land-use changes.

The labour section of Foment’s platform points to a different pressure point: absenteeism and labour rigidity. It wants strikes regulated by organic law, more power for mutual insurers to issue medical clearances and oversee sick leave, and changes that would reduce company costs during temporary incapacity. Those demands are likely to be politically contentious, but they underscore a broader corporate concern that Spain’s labour market, while stronger than during past downturns, still carries high non-wage costs and productivity constraints.

Market-wise, the timing is notable. Catalonia’s business lobby is stepping up pressure just as election campaigning intensifies and after recent labour unrest in the region underscored the sensitivity of economic policy. For listed companies with heavy exposure to Spain, from BBVA and Banco Santander to infrastructure and consumer names, the immediate risk is not a near-term policy overhaul but a prolonged debate over taxes, investment and labour costs that could shape earnings expectations and capital flows into 2027.