Spain

Geostrategically located in the European Union, Spain is recognized as one of the most important economies in the world, due to its great projection for international business and investment.

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SPAIN PROFILE

Description of the country's economic outlook

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Geostrategically located in the European Union, Spain is recognized as one of the most important economies in the world, due to its great projection for international business and investment. In addition to having an attractive domestic market, it also facilitates the possibility of establishing business relationships with third markets such as Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

Additionally, according to ICEX Spain Export and Investment, a Spanish public business entity, this nation is the fourth largest economy in the EU and the fourteenth in the world and has a GDP of 1,200 million dollars. It also ranks thirteenth in the world in receiving investments and hosts more than 14,000 foreign companies in its territory.

Spain is a place desired by entrepreneurs or investors in the world to carry out the international expansion of their companies, since thanks to its strategic geographical location it is cataloged as the gateway to the markets of the European Union, North Africa, the Middle East Middle and Latin America.

In this way, the EU is the market with the best purchasing power in the world and is made up of nearly 500 million consumers, while the interconnection with LATAM allows access to more than 600 million consumers and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) which brings together approximately 2 billion consumers.

Likewise, thanks to the great development of the Spanish business sector, it positioned itself very well internationally, so alliances with companies in the country generate profitable opportunities to enter other markets. Another important aspect to highlight is that foreign multinationals located in this country represent 44.5% of Spain's total exports to the world.

Another attribute of its economy is its modernity, which is backed by highly qualified knowledge in each of the productive sectors, showing that services represent close to 75% of Spanish business activity.

SPAIN PROFILE

Why invest in Spain

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Promoter of foreign investment

This nation has been classified as one of the most important economies in the world, which according to ICEX Spain Export and Investment, an entity attached to the Spanish Secretary of State for Trade, is fifteenth in size among the main 25 economies on the planet and has with a great capacity to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) according to the AT K Kearney FDI Confidence Index Report, where it occupies position 11. This has been achieved through its strong domestic market and the possibility it has investors to operate with third markets from Spain.

Also thanks to a privileged geostrategic position within the European Union, which facilitates access to a market of more than 2,300 million potential customers throughout the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East and Africa). It also has a close relationship with Latin America, which makes it the ideal platform for business management and development.

Spain is a modern economy where knowledge is the most important pillar and where the services sector represents more than 74% of economic activity, according to data from the National Statistics Institute of that nation last year. It is an epicenter nation of innovation in the region that has a young and well-qualified population with a very competitive cost compared to the nations of Western Europe.

Favorable network of fiscal agreements to channel investments

According to the institutional portal of the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration of Spain, double taxation agreements (CDI) or double taxation treaties are essential to implement measures that help avoid or eliminate double taxation, as its name implies. These types of treaties are essential to promote foreign investment, whether foreign in Spain or with Spanish capital abroad, as they provide investors with legal certainty and reduce the taxation of said investments.

Currently, according to the ICEX Spain Export and Investment, an entity attached to the Spanish Secretary of State for Trade, the country has 99 agreements in force and is awaiting the final signing of another 5 with Bahrain, Montenegro, Namibia, Peru and Syria.

Additionally, given that Spain is the second largest investor in Latin America, it has also established 13 double taxation and investment protection agreements with the countries of the region and this places it at the head of the European countries that have signed the most tax treaties with Latin America. Latin. It is important to note that the agreements signed with some of the strongest economies on the planet can represent 95% of world GDP.
Along with these double taxation treaties, the country has signed several information exchange protocols with offshore jurisdictions, with the aim of avoiding tax fraud. For this reason, this nation annually exchanges lists of taxpayers with the countries with which it has established the treaty.

Modern transport infrastructure

Spain has a network of highways and motorways of more than 17,228 kilometers, which is constantly updated with the aim of increasing its efficiency and this has positioned this nation as the first European network of highways and motorways in Europe. In fact, with the implementation of its Infrastructure, Transport and Housing Plan (PITVI), the Government seeks to further improve its road network and expand the number of high-capacity roads by investing 36,439 million euros.

Regarding rail transport, the nation has a network of 16,000 kilometres, where high-speed train lines are a priority and which, for example, currently allow connection via high-speed train with 31 Spanish cities. In recent years, the nation has been a world leader in high speed, going from 550 kilometers to more than 3,400 kilometers.

On the other hand, the air transport that connects the main Spanish cities through 46 airports also connects Spain with the main cities of the world. This nation is also an important crossing point for lines linking America and Africa from Europe. The Government, through its 2021 Air Navigation Operational Plan, will invest close to 127 million euros to achieve the recovery and technological transformation of its aeronautical sector.

According to ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones, an entity attached to the Spanish Secretary of State for Trade, with the aim of minimizing restrictions on inter- and intra-port competition and encouraging the competitiveness of its ports in the world economy, the Government, in addition to updating The Ports Law also authorized the Port Accessibility Investment Plan to optimize the land accessibility of the port system through an investment of more than 1,418 million euros.

Free regulation of currency operations

Spain eliminated the vast majority of price controls except for sectors controlled by the national government and those under national regulation. Likewise, it lifted all restrictions on operations in foreign currency, except for certain movements of capital intended to prevent money laundering and tax fraud.

Highly Skilled Labor

With an active population of 23 million people who are well-qualified and capable of adapting to technological changes, Spain, in addition to having a working capital specially prepared in the scientific and technical areas, also manages one of the most profitable labor costs in the European Union.

Additionally, with the annual increase in the arrival of immigrants to the country, in addition to improving diversity in the labor market, the construction and service industries are also promoted.


Main taxes

Below you can find some of the main taxes in Spain, if you want to know in detail the country's tax information you can download our Global Taxes App.

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25%

Tax on capital gains and dividends

21%

Consumption taxes

15 %

Income tax

21%

VAT

25%

Tax on societies

7,65% to 32%

Taxes on estates and donations

Tax on activities economic (IAE)

Sectors of interest and market opportunities

These are the sectors that offer the most investment opportunities in the country and that have the support of the government for their development.

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Information and communication technologies (ICT)

The Spanish Government has understood the important role of information and communication technologies in the productivity and competitiveness of its country, since it has an impact on the development of local industry, the modernization of its business structure, sustainability and the creation of services with added value for its population.

Due to the above, the Government designed the Digital Spain Plan 2025, which outlines the guidelines and strategies to continue strengthening the sector and to prepare for technologies that will be of great importance in the Spanish market, such as 5G, cybersecurity, the Big Data or Artificial Intelligence, mainly.

The Spanish ICT sector, which reached a turnover of 120,000 million euros and had a share of 3.8% of its GDP the previous year, offers a wide range of investment possibilities in areas such as: shared service centers, IoT or Internet of things, 3D printing technology, smart cities, the Fintech sector, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and Big Data and finally 5G technology.

It is worth noting that in this nation there are several ICT clusters and technology parks that add up to 35,000 companies in the ICT sector, both national and foreign, which last year generated nearly 500,000 jobs.

In this way, it is dimensioned because in the European context Spain stands out widely for its high level of connectivity, the integration of digital technology and digital public services.

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Industry chemistry

Important sector for the generation of wealth and employment in Spain that attracts a large capital from international investors. This industry, which is made up of more than 3,072 companies, had a turnover of 66.4 billion euros in 2019 and generated 69,000 direct and indirect jobs.

According to data from the FDI Markets, investment monitor of the Financial Times, published by ICEX Spain Exportation and Investments, an entity attached to the Spanish Secretary of State for Trade, the apís chemical industry represents the second criterion of its exports, reaching the 38,474 million euros exported to international markets last year. This is how 57.9% of its chemical production is exported to various nations.

It is one of the industrial sectors with the highest growth projection worldwide. The increase in production necessary to meet the new international demand is estimated at 4.5% per year, which must be sustained until 2030.

Spain is considered internationally as an important destination to carry out research, development and innovation (R+D+i) projects in the nation's Chemical Industry and this has allowed it to occupy fourth place in the number of new multinational projects.

This is how this Spanish productive segment offers important investment opportunities in industrial scaling in biocatalysts, water treatment and desalination by membranes, energy storage, batteries, new material graphene, circular economy - Bioeconomy, digitization of industry, agrochemical and recycling, mainly.

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Logistics and Transportation

Due to the high quality standards, Spain is recognized for its robust network of air, land, rail and maritime infrastructures, which favors the development and growth of logistics and transport in the economy of this nation.

In addition to representing 7.9% of Spanish GDP, this sector achieves an annual turnover of 111,000 million euros and generates one million jobs.

Thanks to its location in the South of Europe, where the main freight traffic routes are found, Spain has become a strategic point for the interconnection of trade flows and the redistribution centers of the foreign trade of the EU and the rest of the world. world. This connectivity promotes the development of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), where Spain has 2 of the nine multimodal European corridors that make it up and which are considered vital for the European Union, such as the Atlantic Corridor and the Mediterranean Corridor.

Among the main business opportunities offered by this sector are the release of capacity for rail transport, reverse logistics and E-Logistics, among others.

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Agriculture and fishing

This is one of the main sectors of the country's manufacturing industry that has achieved a turnover of over 129,000 million euros and that has allowed it a 2.7% share of its GDP and that also generates nearly 500,000 jobs. job.

Currently, Spain is consolidated as the fourth agri-food power in Europe and the tenth on the planet thanks to the recognition in international markets of the quality and variety of its products. This internationalization process is vital to consolidate its strength and growth.

The agriculture sector is undergoing a process of digitization and sustainability to respond to new consumer requirements and guidelines regarding climate change.

In this way, it is not surprising how Spain is managing foodtech, supported by its Technology Centers, with which they lead the world in the development of new ingredients, high-quality protein sources, improvement in nutritional properties and precision agriculture. Therefore, Spain offers interesting business opportunities in the segments of organic products, agritech and foodtech.

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Audiovisual industry

Spain is the sixth country in the world for the volume of exports of audiovisual products such as movies, music and television series. According to data from the Ministry of Culture, the audiovisual sector currently represents 28% of all cultural industries, which together account for 3.2% of the nation's GDP.

This has been achieved by the talent of professionals, the diversity of locations and the tax incentives that attract international filming to this country and that are attracting the attention of international platforms.

This nation has the capacity to execute all the phases of any type of filming, since according to ICEX Spain Exportation and Investments, an entity attached to the Spanish Secretary of State for Trade, it has more than 72,000 professionals and 6,700 companies dedicated to the audiovisual sector. Additionally, the sector offers profitable investment opportunities in co-production, advertising, broadcasting and animation services, and audiovisual effects.

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Automotive industry

Spain ranks second in Europe in vehicle manufacturing and eighth in the world. This sector represents 10% of GDP and 18% of total Spanish exports, which contributed to the 17.5% increase the previous year. Additionally, the automotive industry generates about 2 million jobs and where 300,000 are direct jobs.

Due to the foregoing, an investment was generated from the actors in the automotive sector estimated at nearly 4,000 million euros per year and destined mainly for the expansion and modernization of production plants. This undoubtedly allowed it to be recognized as the most efficient and automated in Europe thanks to its 1,000 industrial robots that support work for every 10,000 workers.

According to ICEX Spain Export and Investment, an entity attached to the Spanish Secretary of State for Trade, 82% of the vehicles manufactured in Spanish territory were exported to more than 100 countries the previous year, a large majority were members of the European Union. European and other external markets such as Africa, Algeria, Egypt, South Africa and Tunisia.

This segment of the Spanish industry offers interesting investment opportunities in industrial digitization 4.0, connected and safe vehicles, recycling in the automotive industry and new vehicle propulsion systems and battery energy storage, among others.

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Tourism

Spain is an important world leader in tourism, reaching 80 million tourists annually, which is attributed to its rich cultural and natural offer, as well as its great infrastructure, the quality of roads, transport and hotel density.

The country has been recognized as the third country among 48, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, thanks to its historic cities, monuments and museums. The body has also declared Spain a biosphere reserve for its Natural Areas and Natural Spaces.

This, together with its more than 2,000 km of green slopes, ski facilities, rural activities, wellness, beaches recognized with the Blue Flags ecological label and its more than 300 sunny days, make Spain a tourist destination with a wide range for those foreign visitors. Among the main investment opportunities offered by the country are cultural heritage, health and gastronomic tourism MICE tourism and traveltech.

Our advisors in Spain

España - Mavens

Legal Mavens, S.L.

Mavens is a law and economics firm dedicated to providing advice to enterprises, institutions, families, and individuals in most of their entrepreneurial, institutional and business activities.

España - Castellà

CASTELLÀ Auditors Consultors

CASTELLÀ Auditors Consultors is a public accounting firm established in 1963. The experience they have gained over the years along with their commitment to continuous improvement and high professional standards have allowed them to create a solid firm that responds to today’s business demands.