Banking groups BBVA and Banco Santander have joined the E.U. International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications (IATBA), Spanish economic newspaper Expansion writes Nov. 20. The representatives of two Spanish banking groups were invited to an E.U. blockchain roundtable held in Brussels by Mariya Gabriel, the commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, and Roberto Viola, director of the E.U. Department of Communications Networks, Content and Technology. According to a BBVA press release, during the meeting officials revealed that the IATBA will be launched by the European Commission in the first financial quarter of 2019. The main aim of the association is …

Retail giant Carrefour, headquartered in France and operating in more than 30 countries, is deploying a blockchain food tracking platform based on Hyperledger in its Spanish network, a press release states Tuesday, Nov. 20. The food tracking solution, initially developed by U.S. tech corporation IBM, will be used to track free-range chickens branded as “Calidad y Origen” (“Quality and Origin”) that were raised in the northern region of Galicia without antibiotic treatment. Each package in the Spanish network will be marked by a QR code providing detailed info on the chicken’s date of birth, type of nutrition, packing date, and …

The Spanish Ministry of Finance (Hacienda) will oversee 15,000 taxpayers who have made transactions with cryptocurrencies in the last year, El País, the largest Spanish-language newspaper, reports Nov. 19. Under the auspices of Hacienda, Spain’s tax agency, the Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria (AEAT), underlined that it will monitor "the fiscal incidence of these new technologies, such as blockchain and, especially, cryptocurrencies," to prevent tax fraud actions as a part of its annual tax control plan. The National Fraud Investigation Office (ONIF) of the tax agency has investigated dozens of companies, banks, and intermediaries operating in Spain, finally selecting a …

The head of the Catalan government's citizen participation council states that the authority is considering blockchain for the community’s voting system, Spanish daily newspaper La Vanguardia reports Monday, Nov. 19. Earlier in October, the Generalitat of Catalonia approved a preliminary bill to establish an e-voting system for residents abroad in major elections and other voting processes in the autonomous community. Recently, Ismael Peña-López, director of Citizen Participation of the Government of Catalonia, revealed that the government hopes to introduce an external e-voting system by the year 2020, as well as to extend electronic voting to all voters. According to Peña-López, …

Bilbao, the largest city in northern Spain, has launched a €150,000 (around $171,000) tender to develop a blockchain for public services, Bilbao’s municipal authorities announced Monday, Nov. 12. Officials of the largest city in Basque country want to create a decentralized platform, designed to allow one to act with “power of attorney” online. The deadline to apply for the tender is set on Nov. 23. A company that will be awarded the contract has to develop the blockchain network within six months. According to the technical description of the tender, the winning company should build a network similar to EJIE …

IBM and major Spanish telecommunications firm Telefónica have partnered to apply blockchain technology to managing international mobile phone call traffic, per a press release shred with Cointelegraph Nov. 14. Telefónica is the seventh largest telecom company in the world by market capitalization, valued at $51 billion according to Forbes. The company carries out communications business in 17 countries, with 343 million customers. The collaboration with IBM aims to streamline certain Telefónica business processes and address various challenges in the field, including the reliability and transparency of information registered from different networks when routing international calls. Specifically, Telefónica plans to use …

Spain’s second largest bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), has carried out a blockchain-based syndicated loan of $150 million, U.K.-based global financial news agency Finextra reports Wednesday, Nov. 7. The syndicated bank transaction has been conducted on a private blockchain network through a group of three funding banks including French banking group BNP Paribas, Japan’s bank holding Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), and BBVA. Acting as the sole underwriter of the transaction, BBVA also secured the participation of a partly state-owned Spanish company Red Eléctrica de España, as well as two legal advisors, U.K.-based multinational law firms Linklaters and Herbert …

The Port Authority of Valencia (PAV), Spain, has integrated into the TradeLens platform, a blockchain ecosystem jointly developed by IBM and shipping giant Maersk, according to an official announcement published Nov. 5. Launched in August 2018, the TradeLens platform applies blockchain technology to global supply chains. The product aims to improve trade efficiency and security, wherein all participants of the supply chain, including shipping lines, port and terminal operators, customs authorities and other parties, can interact and access shipping data and documents. Per the announcement, PAV has integrated into the TradeLens project as “Early Adopters,” meaning that the port will …

Cryptocurrency investors governed by Spain could face mandatory reporting of their holdings for tax purposes under a new draft law the government approved Friday, Oct. 19, local daily news network ABC reports. Unveiled at a press conference by the country’s finance minister María Jesús Montero, the measures seek to make holders of cryptoassets declare them regardless of whether they are in Spain or offshore. Specifically for tax purposes, she said, the government wishes to gain “identification of the holders and the balances contributed by these virtual currencies.” “It is stated as mandatory that people and companies inform the Tax Agency …

One of Spain's busiest ports based in the city of Valencia has announced the creation of a "smart port" which will use blockchain and big data technologies. The news was revealed in a release published Wednesday, Oct. 3, on the port’s official website. Jose Garcia De La Guia, who is responsible for implementing new technologies in the Port Authority of Valencia, explains that they see blockchain as a good option for improving logistics not only in Valencia, but in many international ports: "Starting from Valencia, we offer to use blockchain as a strategic option to provide transparency of logistic chain, …

Chinese energy company Risen Energy has partnered with a Spanish cryptocurrency mining farm will to develop capacity of up to 300 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic power. The news was reported by a Chinese media outlet PV Tech Thursday, October 4. Several months after CryptoSolarTech confirmed it was building two farms near the city of Malaga using energy-efficient technology, Risen “will develop and take on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) responsibilities for the projects,” according to the new report. For comparison, Bitcoin network consumes an average of about 200 MW of energy for mining every day, according to the Bitcoin Energy …

On Sept. 17, Europa Press reported on the contract the autonomous community of Aragon, one of the 17 Spanish autonomous communities, signed with Alastria — a blockchain ecosystem of more than 274 entities, including companies and institutions which create blockchain-based tools in line with Spanish and European Union legal frameworks. This blockchain is aimed to improve the transparency and efficiency of the administration, which in turn will attract business and investments. A week later, federal officials decided to keep up with their regional colleagues with the national Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food sharing plans to apply blockchain technology in …