The CDTI Innovation presents the Spain 2026 Innovation Report to boost investment attraction and multinational R&D centers
- The CDTI Innovation, the innovation agency of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, has promoted the 2026 Innovation Spain 2026 Report developed by the I+E Foundation, an entity that groups leading multinational companies with a long history in our country
- The report, presented at an event held at the headquarters of ICEX Madrid and closed by the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Universities, Juan Cruz Cigudosa, constitutes a reference guide for international decision-makers who evaluate Spain as a location for their R&D centers.
- In 2025, the CDTI channeled more than 2.375 billion euros in public funding to more than a thousand innovative companies, consolidating itself as the main public instrument to support business R&D&I in Spain.
The CDTI Innovation presented on April 22 the Innovation Spain 2026 Report, at an event held at the headquarters of ICEX Madrid. The report, developed for the CDTI by the R&E Foundation, which integrates multinational companies with a solid presence and investment in Spain, analyzes the Spanish innovative ecosystem and offers international decision-makers a rigorous and documented analysis of Spain’s attractiveness as a destination for investment in R&D and the implementation of innovation centers of global reach.
The event was closed by the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Universities, Juan Cruz Cigudosa, and was attended by the Director General of the CDTI, José Moisés Martín Carretero, who moderated a round table on the keys to R&D in Spain from an international perspective with directors from HP Iberia, Ericsson Spain and Portugal and IBM Spain.
The Spain 2026 Innovation Report certifies a unique moment for the Spanish economy. Spain has ceased to be only an attractive market to become a territory from which large multinational companies develop innovation with global projection. Companies from sectors as diverse as telecommunications, the pharmaceutical industry, artificial intelligence or cybersecurity have chosen our country to install R&D centers from which they operate for all their international structures. This transformation responds to years of policies supporting innovation and an ecosystem that the CDTI, together with other agents, has helped to build and strengthen.
The report is structured around three axes: the attractiveness of Spain for attracting investment in terms of economic potential, infrastructure, human capital and emerging sectors (Spain to come); the conditions, facilities and incentives it offers for innovation and project development (Spain to stay); and its strategic position as an enclave of connection with Europe, Latin America and North Africa (Spain to start). Each of these blocks connects directly with the vectors of the Strategic Plan 2024-2027 of the CDTI Innovation, which guides the activity of the Center towards the strengthening of the Spanish innovative ecosystem and its international projection.
Among the aspects that the report highlights, is the position of Spain as the fourth economy of the European Union and the twelfth in the world, with four consecutive years capturing foreign direct investment above 30 billion euros. The country also has one of the largest fiber optic coverages in Europe, an urban 5G coverage above the European average and an investment in R&D that in 2024 grew almost twice the average of the continent. Spain is also the third country with the highest return on Horizon Europe and offers one of the most competitive R&D tax incentive frameworks in Europe.
The report also identifies the sectors in which Spain already occupies a reference position or has greater leadership potential: renewable energies and green hydrogen, biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry, the aerospace industry and cybersecurity. The CDTI Innovation concentrates on these areas a central part of its activity, through its specific calls, its participation in major European initiatives and its external network of CDTI-SOST offices, with a presence in ten countries and coverage over more than fifty markets.
The Innovation Spain 2026 Report offers international site selection decision-makers solid and documented information and data to consider Spain as a priority location for their R&D centers, having the necessary conditions in talent, infrastructure, incentives, ecosystem and strategic position to guarantee the best results. The CDTI Innovation, as a central actor in the promotion of growth based on technological innovation and the financing of business R+D+I in Spain, is in the main position to accompany multinational companies looking for a reliable socio-country, with the necessary capacities and with an ecosystem of excellence in full expansion.
You can access the full report at the following links:
CDTI Innovation
The Center for Technological Development and Innovation, CDTI E.P.E. It is the innovation agency of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, whose objective is the promotion of technological innovation in the business environment. The mission of the CDTI is to ensure that the Spanish business fabric generates and transforms scientific and technical knowledge into globally competitive, sustainable and inclusive growth. In 2025, within the framework of the Strategic Plan 2024-2027, the CDTI provided more than 2 billion euros of support to Spanish companies and startups.
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