Who benefits when companies relocate their headquarters?

BarcelonaSince the October 1st referendum, the relocation of company headquarters has been a hot topic. During the last quarter of 2017 and throughout 2018, many companies moved their headquarters out of Catalonia. Since then, Informa D&B, part of the Cesce group, has been producing regular reports on the movement of company headquarters between the different Spanish regions. But who benefits from these headquarters changes? The latest report, from 2025, draws two very clear conclusions. Catalonia, although still losing headquarters, is losing significantly fewer. Furthermore, with the headquarters that relocate to the Principality, it gains substantial revenue. The other conclusion is that Madrid, which always had a positive balance – receiving more companies than it lost – now has a negative balance and, moreover, is losing revenue: specifically, 403 million euros.

The study highlights that of the 10,394 companies that left Catalonia between 2017 and 2025, a total of 762 have re-established their headquarters in the region, representing 7.33%. Most of those that have returned to Catalonia left between the last quarter of 2017 and 2018, and among the returning companies are some very significant ones, such as This is the case of Banco Sabadell and of CriteriaCaixa, the investment holding company of the La Caixa Foundation.

In fact, CriteriaCaixa plays a particularly significant role in Catalonia's projected gains in 2025 from the relocation of company headquarters, contributing over €2.5 billion in revenue. Premier Pigs also stands out, though to a lesser extent, having returned to Catalonia from Aragon and contributing approximately €214 million.

The study always performs two analyses: one is the net change in company headquarters, that is, the number of companies arriving minus those leaving in each region. According to Informa D&B, this figure demonstrates "the economic attractiveness of the different autonomous communities." Since 2016 – when these movements began to be analyzed – only the Balearic Islands have maintained a positive balance. And Madrid, which received the headquarters of many companies from Catalonia when they left – and also from many other parts of Spain, especially Castile and León and Castile-La Mancha, due to its status as the capital city – had always maintained positive figures until 2025, with a net gain of 70 headquarters, after 1,698 companies left and 1,628 arrived. In fact, Catalonia was the region that received the most companies from Madrid: a total of 361. In terms of the net gain in the number of companies, the best-performing region was the Canary Islands, which gained 79, followed by Andalusia, with 76, and the Balearic Islands, with 15 (minus 1 in 2016). However, the second region that lost the most was Madrid, with -70, and the third was Extremadura, with -42. Net gain in revenue

In terms of net revenue, that is, the revenue gained from relocating headquarters minus the revenue lost, Catalonia clearly ranks first, with €2.963 billion. The second region with the highest revenue gain is Murcia, with €256 million, and the third is the Canary Islands, with €149 million. On the other hand, the region that lost the most revenue, despite being the third to gain the most headquarters, is the Balearic Islands. In this case, CriteriaCaixa also plays a significant role, as this investment holding company was headquartered in Palma before returning to Barcelona. The second region with the largest revenue loss was Madrid, with €403 million, and the third was Aragon, which lost €374 million in revenue. Regarding the 2025 relocation of headquarters between Madrid and Catalonia, the Principality of Catalonia clearly came out on top. Last year, 361 companies from the region presided over by Isabel Díaz Ayuso relocated to Catalonia, while 320 Catalan companies moved to Madrid. While Catalonia came out ahead in terms of numbers, it fared even better in terms of revenue. Catalonia attracted €1.124 billion in business from companies that moved from Madrid, while the autonomous community of the Spanish capital gained €649 million from Catalan companies that relocated there.