Defense and technology: a Catalan bet
A few years ago, the government of the Generalitat established a commission of experts, a kind of board of wise men, to determine which sectors Catalonia should focus on for sustained growth. One of the conclusions was obvious: tourism. It was a time when there was great interest in promoting the aeronautical industry, with little presence in Catalonia. It was not achieved. In fact, land that had been reserved to create a kind of park dedicated to this activity is currently occupied by a large outlet in the municipality of Viladecans. On the other hand, over time, an ecosystem of start-ups emerged, making Barcelona and Catalonia an international benchmark.
The conclusion is that, for a sector to commit to a territory, many elements must be combined. The desire of administrations is not enough. "The world is full of empty science and technology parks," recalled the weekly The Economist a few years ago. Initiatives are needed to make a territory attractive and to encourage industries to settle there, which in the long run will attract other related activities. This is what happened with the start-ups.
Catalonia has been accustomed to turning its back on all activities related to defense. It is a sector that is always associated with armaments, but, as Pedro Sánchez's executive has striven to explain, it also has the aspect of "security." Although there is an interesting representation of providers of this activity in Catalonia, the fact is that not many industries have been established with the label of "defense." Now, for the first time, Catalonia does not want to be excluded from this business, which has great potential, given the change in geopolitical balances and the need to strengthen European strategic autonomy.
Last year, a minimum of 33 billion euros were mobilized to ensure that this expenditure represents 2% of gross domestic product (GDP), and European programs were also launched. These are necessary resources for Europe to gain autonomy. In this context, Catalonia must take a step forward and make a clear commitment to be an important part of a business that also has a significant technological component, a good part of which has civilian uses.
A study by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce coordinated by former ERC minister Roger Torrent identified about 800 Catalan companies that can occupy a space in this business, in addition to attracting an additional 1 billion euros for Catalan GDP and creating 10,000 jobs. The Generalitat, for its part, has launched a plan to introduce 400 Catalan companies into the defense sector. The objective is to involve companies that are currently dedicated to the automotive, space, metallurgical, or machinery sectors with dual technologies, that is, those that can have both civilian and military uses.
For now, everything is sustained by SMEs, and it would be necessary to foster or attract some large industry to act as a tractor, as happens in other sectors. The presentation this Monday in Catalonia of Indra's plans, with a great technological weight and aspiring to be one of the great champions of the business, and which wants to attract Catalan industries, represents an important step in this direction.