Spain's stock market supervisor said on Wednesday it had opened its first case relating to a possible infringement of recent rules governing mass advertising campaigns for cryptoassets, Reuters reported. The supervisor also said separately that it was analysing some advertisements carried on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, which was taken private by Elon Musk, for potential infringements. X did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Spanish inflation accelerated for a fourth month, hitting the highest level since April and supporting calls to prolong government measures to shield households from the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation, Bloomberg News reported. October’s reading of 3.5% was largely due to electricity costs, the national statistics institute said Monday. That compares with 3.3% a month earlier and is less than the 3.8% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. A measure of underlying pressures that excludes energy and fresh-food costs slowed to 5.2%.

The new owners of steel maker Celsa, Spain's largest private industrial group, said on Wednesday they will appoint former Gas Natural Fenosa CEO Rafael Villaseca as chairman of its board of directors, Reuters reported. On Monday, a local court in Barcelona approved a multibillion-euro restructuring plan presented by Celsa's creditors, handing over control of the firm to a group that includes Deutsche Bank, Attestor, Anchorage, GoldenTree and SVP.

Spain's BBVA and Bank of Cyprus reopened the market with the issuance of the first euro-denominated contingent convertible bonds (CoCo) since the rescue of Credit Suisse in March, in what is seen as an attempt to restore confidence in the banks' riskiest debt instruments, Reuters reported. The Spanish bank said it aimed to raise between 750 million euros ($810.08 million) and 1 billion euros with this issuance. According to a lead manager memo seen by Reuters, the issuance had already received orders worth over 3 billion euros.

Valencia-based entrepreneurship-for-all startup Jeff has voluntarily filed for bankruptcy, Tech.eu reported.

Spain’s leftist coalition government on Tuesday approved a plan to make available around 50,000 houses for rent at affordable prices as part of measures aimed at curbing soaring rents and house prices, the Associated Press. The apartments will come from the state-controlled SAREB “bad bank” that was set up in 2012 to manage and sell off troubled banks most toxic assets during the international financial crisis. The SAREB plan follows a much-hailed agreement last week between the coalition parties and their parliamentary supporters for what would be democratic Spain’s first-ever housing law.

With European Central Bank policy makers preparing to hike interest rates yet again at their March meeting, Spanish banks have been paying their customers even less for their savings, Bloomberg News reported. Spain’s lenders paid 0.37% on new household deposits with an agreed maturity of as long as one year in January, down from 0.42% in December, according to ECB data published Friday. By comparison, the rate for the savings of French families jumped to 2.34% from 2.13%, while Dutch banks paid 2.03%.

Investors boosted bets on the peak for European Central Bank interest rates to 4% for the first time after inflation in France and Spain came in unexpectedly hot, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices in France jumped by a euro-era record 7.2% from a year ago in February as food and services costs increased. Spain saw a 6.1% advance. Analysts had estimated price gains would remain unchanged at 7% in France and slow in Spain.

The European Parliament´s budget control committee said Wednesday it has found no evidence of deceit or fraud in Spain’s handling of the 31 billion euros ($33 billion) it has received so far in special European Union post-pandemic recovery funds, the Associated Press reported. But a visiting delegation urged the Madrid government to be more transparent and flexible in its use of the funds and in providing public information about them.

Spain and Morocco are ready to overcome years of strained diplomatic relations with new business and energy deals, while ties between France and the North African nation remain frosty, Bloomberg News reported. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is planning to announce Thursday an €800 million ($869 million) credit line for Spanish investments in Morocco and 20 agreements that range from developing renewable energy to building water desalinization plants.