Invest in Spain

The IT sector in Spain employs 192,964 people, 120,000 of which focus on consulting and software activities, according to the last sector map published by the Spanish Association of Electronics, Information Technology and Telecommunications Enterprises (AETIC).

This sector encompasses over 13,800 companies with employees distributed across Spain according to location prioritization: proximity to end customer or the size of the market targeted. These companies embrace a range of different IT segments: equipment manufacturing (612), IT equipment consulting (664), program consulting and provision (5,082); data processing (970), database activities (564), equipment maintenance (3,306) and other IT activities (2,605).

Currently, over 62.4% of all enterprises in the sector are based in Madrid and Catalonia, regions that also account for over 50% of business in the sector. Nonetheless, it is highly likely that growth in setting up enterprises in this sector will evolve towards other regions, due to the importance software factories are gaining and the characteristics of specific niche markets.

For instance data processing service provision with IT centers and on-line and off-line processes, which are not affected so much by the size of the market in the region where they locate. Moreover, they do not need to be located close to the companies that require their services; hence regions such as the Canary Islands can leverage the special tax regime there and provide competitive advantages that benefit providers.