Construction firm relocates Mobile World Congress

FERROVIAL, one of Spain’s leading construction companies, is on the move. The company announced that it will relocate its headquarters from Spain to the Netherlands on Tuesday, February 28. The company will also be listed in the United States.

THIS year’s edition of the Mobile World Congress is currently underway in Barcelona.

Billed as the largest mobile telephone event in the world, an estimated 80,000 visitors from 200 different countries were expected to pass through the doors of Fira Barcelona from Monday until today, Thursday March 2.

This year’s slogan is ‘Velocity, unleashing tomorrow’s technology today’, with more than 2,000 stands by companies from all over the world announcing their latest devel­ opments in the fields of Big Data, artificial intelligence, connectivity and virtual reality, among others.

The 18th edition of the event is predicted to have an impact of €350 million in the city, with the creation of 7,400 temporary employment vacancies and more than 7,600 movements planned at Barcelona­El Prat airport.

Restaurant and hotel associations welcome the event as “an oasis in the middle of the low season,” providing local businesses with much­needed income outside of the summer tourism period.

Despite the lofty predictions, numbers are still lower than previous editions before the Covid pandemic, which forced the cancellation of the fair for the first time ever in 2020. However, organisers are confident that they are on the right track, and this summer signed a contract extension with Barcelona Town Hall to continue hosting the event at least until 2030.

For further information on the Mobile World Congress, visit www.mwc barcelona.com.

The corporate reorganisation was prompted by a drop in profits and the need for a more “stable” legal framework, according to the company. The board of directors proposed a merger with Ferrovial International, a Dutch European limited company that already owns 86 per cent of the company’s assets.

Despite the changes, Ferrovial has assured stakeholders that the move will not impact investment plans in Spain or other countries where it operates. Eighty­two per cent of the company’s 2022 revenue came from outside of Spain, so the company is looking abroad for its future opportunity.

The decision to relocate to the Netherlands was based on the country’s ‘stable’ legal framework and ‘AAA’ credit rating, making it an attractive option.

Despite the move, Ferrovial’s investment plans in Spain remain intact. The company sees the country as its main source of talent development and a key market, even as it seeks new opportunities abroad.

More than €5.5m assets

A JOINT investigation supported by Europol has led to the arrest of 20 suspected money launderers and drug traffickers. The operation was led by the Spanish Guardia Civil, with support from the Italian Central Directorate for Anti­Drugs Services (Direzione Centrale Servizi Antidroga), and resulted in the seizure of more than €5.5 million in criminal assets and over two tons of drugs.

Based in the south of Spain, the criminal network was composed of Albanian, Italian, Spanish and Moroccan nationals, and was led by Italian nationals who evaded capture using forged identity documents.

The criminals resided in towns between Sevilla and Malaga, and attempted to avoid detection by taking various security measures and frequently changing their addresses.

The criminal network used a variety of money laundering methods to obfuscate their drug trafficking proceeds. Investigations were kicked off in October 2021, when a hashish shipment was found hidden in a lorry transporting pallets of onions. Law enforcement arrested the two drivers and seized 468 kilograms of hashish. This was followed by a seizure of 194 kgms of hashish and 30 kilograms of marihuana in May 2022.

CELEBRATE the works of Alicia Ramos Munos at the Centro Cultural La Cala (Mijas Costa) BLVD de la Cala S/N.

Alicia has more than 40 years of experience. Her works are something to be