Spanish Business Climate Index (Barómetro del Clima de Negocios) for 2019 presented at the Ministry of Economy and Trade in Madrid on 27th November 2019

On 27.11.2019 the Business Climate Index for the year 2019 was presented at the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism (Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo) in Madrid.

Representatives of foreign chambers of commerce, embassies and consultants who accompany investors on their investments in Spain were invited, including attorney Dr. Bernhard Idelmann of the Düsseldorf law firm DR. IDELMANN & ASSOCIATES.

The Spanish business climate index is based on surveys of the management of foreign companies active in Spain. The index thus provides some insight into the assessments of investors already active in Spain. Almost 600 companies took part in the survey this year.

The majority of the companies surveyed view their investments in Spain very positively. Spain offers an excellent infrastructure, well-trained employees, a stable environment and a large market of around 47 million consumers, which also offers access to the Latin American market with more than 500 million people.

Nevertheless, the inefficiency of parts of the Spanish administration, which also negatively influences business processes, was also noted by many companies. In this respect, there is a clear need for improvement in many areas.

Overall, more than 90% of the companies surveyed were optimistic about their future business development in Spain, which is why these companies wanted to maintain or expand their investment activity in Spain at the current level.

Spain continues to benefit from above-average economic growth of around 2% per annum. This growth is expected for both 2019 and 2020 and is well above the EU average and the level of the large EU countries France, Germany and Italy.

Uncertainties and risks, especially for the export of goods produced in Spain, are primarily seen in external and international factors such as the possible imminent Brexit and the international trade disputes between the EU, the USA and China.