681 of the companies that left Catalonia due to the 1-O vote have already returned.

BarcelonaThe cases of the Banco Sabadell, the La Caixa Foundation and its holding company Criteria, the Molins cement factory Or Laboratorios Ordes, which has returned its registered office to Catalonia after leaving in the wake of the 1-O referendum, is not a one-off; there have been more movements. For the first time, concrete data is available: 681 of the companies that moved their registered offices out of Catalonia at the end of 2017 and during 2018 have already returned. This is evident from the latest report on registered office movements by Informa BD, part of the Cesce group, corresponding to the first quarter of 2025. ~BK_SLT_L~ also shows the return of Catalan companies that left as a result of 1-O. It is true that among those that have not yet returned, there are some that are part of the Ibex 35, such as CaixaBank (although in this case it has returned to its main shareholder, Criteria), Colonial, or Naturgy. In fact, the 681 companies that have returned to Catalonia represent 7.39% of the 9,221 that have left since the fourth quarter of 2017, according to Informa.

The study indicates that there was an increase in companies leaving Catalonia "as a result of the political crisis," but highlights that "a return effect is observed, with companies deciding to relocate their headquarters to Catalonia after having moved." Thus, it indicates that 681 companies have made this round trip. The year with the most returns was 2019, with 113 headquarters returning to Catalonia, followed by 2023, with 107. By region, the region from which the most companies have returned to Catalonia is Madrid, specifically 410; followed by the Valencian Community with 74 and Aragon with 65.

The current government, led by Salvador Illa, set as one of the objectives of its term to ensure the return of the companies that left. A goal that the president of the Catalan employers' association Fomento del Trabajo, Josep Sánchez Llibre, has also repeatedly set for himself.

The first-quarter study confirms a long-standing trend: every quarter, Catalonia has a negative balance of business headquarters; that is, more are leaving than arriving, but that's in number, because if we look at turnover, Catalonia is gaining business. Thus, in terms of the number of headquarters, since 2015, "Madrid has recorded the highest number of positive balances, with 37, while Catalonia has not recorded a positive balance in 41 quarters."

However, in the first quarter of 2025, Madrid recorded a negative balance of -7, compared to a positive balance of 181 headquarters in the first quarter of last year. In the case of Catalonia, the first quarter of 2025 was one of the best in the entire series, with a negative balance of -23 headquarters, compared to a negative balance of -84 headquarters in the first quarter of last year.

Catalonia wins business

Another issue is the business that companies contribute or subtract from each region with their headquarters changes. Here, Catalonia is almost always the best-positioned region. In fact, in the first quarter of this year, between the companies that left and those that arrived in the Principality, Catalonia gained €436 million in business. Well above the second-largest region, Asturias, which gained €68 million. In other words, Catalonia gains business volume despite losing its corporate headquarters.

Madrid is in the opposite camp. Despite gaining its corporate headquarters, it loses business. Specifically, the region of Díaz Ayuso, in terms of turnover, lost €29 million in the first quarter of this year. And the region that lost the most turnover was Aragon, with a negative balance of €228 million.