CDTI Innovación has unveiled the Spain Innovation Report 2026, which analyzes the Spanish innovation ecosystem and provides international decision-makers with a rigorous, well-documented assessment of Spain’s appeal as a destination for R&D investment and the establishment of globally scalable innovation centers.
The event was closed by the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Universities, Juan Cruz Cigudosa, and featured participation by the CDTI’s Director General, José Moisés Martín Carretero, who moderated a roundtable on the keys to R&D in Spain from an international perspective with executives from HP Iberia, Ericsson Spain and Portugal, and IBM Spain.
The report marks a singular moment for the Spanish economy. Spain has ceased to be merely an attractive market and has become a hub from which multinational corporations develop innovation with global reach. Companies across diverse sectors such as telecommunications, the pharmaceutical industry, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity have chosen our country to establish R&D centers that serve their entire international operations. This transformation reflects years of policies supporting innovation and an ecosystem that CDTI, together with other players, has helped build and strengthen.
Structure of the Report
The report is structured around three pillars: the attractiveness of Spain for drawing investment in terms of economic potential, infrastructure, human capital, and emerging sectors (Spain for Inbound Investment); the conditions, facilities, and incentives it offers for innovation and project development (Spain for Staying); and its strategic position as a gateway connecting Europe, Latin America, and North Africa (Spain for Starting). Each of these pillars directly aligns with the vectors of CDTI Innovación’s 2024-2027 Strategic Plan, guiding the Center’s activities toward strengthening the Spanish innovation ecosystem and its international projection.
Among the aspects highlighted by the report is Spain’s position as the fourth-largest economy in the European Union and the twelfth worldwide, with four consecutive years of foreign direct investment above €30 billion. The country also boasts one of Europe’s broadest fiber-optic networks, urban 5G coverage above the European average, and R&D investment that in 2024 grew almost twice the continental average. Spain is also the third country with the highest return under Horizon Europe and offers one of Europe’s most competitive frameworks for R&D tax incentives.
The report also identifies sectors where Spain already holds a reference position or demonstrates the greatest leadership potential: renewable energy and green hydrogen, biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry, the aerospace industry, and cybersecurity. CDTI Innovación concentrates a central portion of its activity in these areas through its targeted calls, participation in major European initiatives, and its outward network of CDTI-SOST offices, with a presence in ten countries and coverage across more than fifty markets.
The Spain Innovation Report 2026 provides international site‑selection decision-makers with robust, well-documented information and data to consider Spain as a top-priority location for R&D centers, given the necessary conditions in talent, infrastructure, incentives, ecosystem, and strategic position to ensure optimal results. CDTI Innovación, as a key driver of technology‑based growth and the financing of R&D&i in Spain, is uniquely positioned to partner with multinational companies seeking a reliable country ally with the capabilities needed and with an ecosystem of excellence in full expansion.
