• In 2017, the EIB provided EUR 10.811 billion worth of financing for projects in Spain
  • Nearly 1% of GDP
  • EU country attracting most financing for SMEs and infrastructure development
  • Second biggest EU recipient of financing in 2017 under the Investment Plan for Europe

The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group presented today in Madrid the results of its activity in Spain in 2017. The Group made available EUR 10.811 billion worth of financing in the country last year, corresponding to nearly 1% of GDP. A large part of this amount, EUR 6.2 billion, went to providing credit on favourable terms to nearly 61,000 Spanish firms employing 558,000 people.

In 2017 EIB Group financing for innovation in Spain grew substantially to EUR 1.446 billion. These funds were pumped into promoting the development of projects in a variety of sectors including pharmaceutical research, transport, mobile telephony and vehicle design. The EIB Group also dedicated EUR 2.295 billion to financing strategic energy and transport infrastructure, making Spain the biggest EU recipient of the Group's infrastructure funding in 2017. One of the major infrastructure schemes financed was the “Y vasca” project to build 160 km of new high speed rail line between Vitoria, Bilbao and San Sebastián. Lastly, the EIB Group provided EUR 870 million in support of investment in energy efficiency and climate action.

At the press conference to present the EIB Group’s activity, EIB Vice-President Román Escolano said: “2017 was a highly positive year for EIB activity in Spain. Investment in innovation increased markedly, in line with Spain’s competitive economy in full recovery. Support for projects enabling more sustainable production and climate action also grew. As in previous years, we are very satisfied with our support for SMEs, which are key to wealth creation and employment in our country”. The EIB Vice-President also referred to the Investment Plan for Europe Plan, stressing that “in 2017, Spain was once again the second biggest EU recipient of financing under the Juncker Plan”.

Investment Plan for Europe: results in Spain in 2017

Last year, the EIB Group signed financing worth EUR 2.590 billion for Spain under the Investment Plan for Europe, the second largest amount in the whole of the European Union.

Since the Investment Plan for Europe was launched in 2015 and up to December 2017, the EIB Group approved financing for 70 projects in Spain totalling EUR 5.6 billion, which is hoped to mobilise more than EUR 32 billion worth of investment. This funding contributes to supporting major projects fostering innovation, sustainable production, the introduction of the latest digital technologies and the competitiveness of our companies, and provides investment in economic sectors that have most difficulties obtaining finance on competitive terms. The bulk of this investment is directed towards research, development and innovation (RDI), support for new more environmentally friendly production methods, and the transport sector.

Specifically, EIB Group financing under the Juncker Plan has supported the innovation plans of firms such as Bazt y Maier in the Basque Country, Laboratorios Rovi in Madrid and Andalusia, Acerinox in Cádiz, and Incarlopsa in Cuenca, to name but a few. The Group also fosters more sustainable transport with loans financing schemes such Talgo’s new innovation strategy or the Metro Guagua project to install exclusive-lane green buses on the Canary Islands. Also in 2017, the EIB Group financed the construction of social housing in Navarre and Barcelona under the Juncker Plan.

EIB Group results

Total EIB Group financing last year amounted to EUR 78.16 billion, of which EUR 69.8 billion corresponded to EIB loans and EUR 9.3 billion to the activity of the European Investment Fund (EIF), the EIB subsidiary specialising in providing risk financing solutions to financial intermediaries to support SMEs and boost innovation in Europe.

Furthermore, since 2015 and up to December 2017, the EIB Group approved total financing of EUR 51.26 billion under the Investment Plan for Europe in the EU as a whole, which is designed to trigger estimated total investment of EUR 257 billion. This represents 82% of the plan’s investment mobilisation target of EUR 315 billion by July 2018. Last December, the European Parliament approved the expansion of this initiative: its implementation period has been extended to the end of 2020 and its investment target has been increased from EUR 315 billion to EUR 500 billion.