Industrial love • Chapter summary

Industry makes up a significant portion of Spain’s national economy, estimated at 16% of GDP, although it is disproportionately focused in big cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia. In Barcelona, for example, the chemical and pharmaceutical industries are significant, with industry making up 21% of total Catalan GDP.

Across the nation, a significant percentage of industry comes from the automotive sector, one of Spain’s primary exports. More than 80% of the cars manufactured in Spain are destined for export, accounting for almost 9% of GDP. In spite of this strength, car manufacturing fell 5.5% between January and April 2019.

This chapter features interviews with Miguel Carsi, the CEO of Toyota, and José Maria Terol from Mazda, amongst others. The industry experts we spoke with all pointed to the diversification of mobility in response to sustainability demands and changing public regulation as the greatest challenge and reason why production has fallen. Carsi noted the public sector ought to clearly define stable rules that will not change every few years, as changing an industry takes time.

We also spoke to Spanish Minister for Industry, Commerce, and Tourism Reyes Maroto, who highlighted the pressing need for development in order for Spain to maintain its position as a leader in the age of Industry 4.0. To this end, she spoke to us of the government’s project Observatorio de Comercio 4.0, which works to modernize trade as a priority for the national agenda by working on a private-public forum, “building bridges to talk to companies and sectors” and ensure that all the different public administrations participate with the private sector. This is especially urgent in terms of SMEs, as 98% of companies in Spain are SMEs, 50% of which are made up of fewer than 10 employees.

As a hub for industry, Spain remains a great option in Europe as it has lenient regulations within the framework of the EU and prices that remain lower in major Spanish cities compared to other European hubs such as Paris or London.

On the other hand, the industrial sector’s growth is more responsive to geopolitical events than other industries, meaning that events like Brexit and the China-US trade war threaten to slow down growth for Spanish industries. The real challenge will be for Spain to meet its goal of making 20% of GDP from industry, in spite of potential geopolitical issues in the near future. ✖