CDTI Innovación, in collaboration with ICEX, has promoted the development of the Innovation Spain 2026 Report, produced by the I+E Foundation, an initiative that analyzes the Spanish innovation ecosystem and its attractiveness for international R&D investment.
The report will be officially presented on April 22 in collaboration with ICEX at its headquarters in Madrid, during a joint event that will bring together institutional representatives, executives from major multinational companies, and leaders from Spain’s scientific and technological ecosystem.
In 2025, CDTI channeled more than €2.375 billion in public funding to over one thousand innovative companies, consolidating its position as the main driving force and funding body for business R&D&I in Spain.
The Innovation Spain 2026 Report, which will be presented on April 22 at an event organized in collaboration with ICEX, confirms a unique moment for the Spanish economy. Spain is positioning itself as one of the most attractive destinations in the world for R&D investment and for the establishment of international innovation centers. This reality has been actively promoted by CDTI Innovation as part of its current 2024–2027 strategic cycle and is now reflected in the sustained recognition of analysts and investors worldwide.
According to the report, Spain has moved beyond being merely an attractive market to becoming a hub from which multinational companies develop innovation with global reach. Major companies across diverse sectors such as telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity have chosen Spain to establish R&D centers that serve their global operations. This transformation is the result of years of public policies supporting innovation and the development of an ecosystem that CDTI, together with other stakeholders, has helped to build and strengthen.
Human capital is one of the key pillars of Spain’s appeal as a technological partner. The country has a scientific and research base of internationally recognized prestige, a wide-reaching university system, and a growing critical mass of professionals with digital and STEM skills. CDTI Innovation actively works to channel this talent into high-value business R&D projects, connecting companies with knowledge generated in universities and technology centers.
Spain also offers one of the most favorable tax incentive frameworks for R&D in Europe, giving it an advantage over other technological investment destinations. CDTI complements this environment with its own financing instruments, covering the full cycle of business innovation—from research to market deployment.
The report highlights Spain’s position as a benchmark or emerging hub in several high-potential sectors: renewable energy and green hydrogen, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, the aerospace industry, and cybersecurity. CDTI Innovation focuses a significant part of its activity on these areas through dedicated funding calls and its participation in major European initiatives such as IPCEIs.
Spain’s geographic position as a bridge between Europe, Africa, and Latin America, its full integration into the European research and innovation area, and its network of active trade agreements make it a strategic location for companies seeking global reach. CDTI Innovation reinforces this positioning through its international CDTI-SOST office network, with a presence in ten countries and coverage across more than fifty markets, as well as through its role in managing and promoting Spanish participation in Horizon Europe.
Meanwhile, the dynamism of Spain’s entrepreneurial ecosystem—characterized by a growing number of active startups and steadily increasing venture capital investment—completes the picture documented in the report. CDTI Innovation contributes to this ecosystem through INNVIERTE, its capitalization instrument, which acts as a benchmark investor in technology-based projects with international scaling potential.
The Innovation Spain 2026 Report provides international site selection decision-makers with solid, well-documented information and data to consider Spain as a priority location for their R&D centers. The country offers the necessary conditions in terms of talent, infrastructure, incentives, ecosystem, and strategic positioning to ensure optimal results. CDTI, as a central player in driving growth based on technological innovation and in financing business R&D&I in Spain, is ideally positioned to support multinational companies seeking a reliable partner country with the capabilities and an excellence-driven ecosystem that is rapidly expanding both domestically and internationally.
CDTI Innovation
The Centre for the Development of Technology and Innovation (CDTI E.P.E.) is the innovation agency of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. Its objective is to promote technological innovation within the business sector. CDTI’s mission 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 its 2024–2027 Strategic Plan, CDTI provided more than €2 billion in support to Spanish companies and startups
cloud technology axon
Addleshaw Goddard (AG), the London-headquartered international law fir...
