Can Catalonia benefit from Sánchez's rearmament plan?
Together conditions its support on the Spanish government's investment measures in the Principality, as the PNV does in the Basque Country.
BarcelonaPedro Sánchez had his photo taken on Friday with the main guidelines of the major Spanish defense and telecommunications companies outside the Moncloa Palace. Indra, Hispasat, Airbus, Oesía, and GMV, among others, were present at the working meetings, and the Spanish prime minister reaffirmed his desire to move closer to investing 2% of GDP in defense and to discuss with the sector's major companies how Spain will fit into Brussels' plan to mobilize 800. A plan that will include major Spanish companies, yes, but... And Catalonia? To what extent can the Principality benefit from the public investment being prepared?
Junts has conditioned its support for any measure that must pass through the Congress of Deputies on Catalonia also benefiting from the investment package, although at this time it is still unclear what will and will not be counted as military spending. The Spanish president's idea, in any case, is that these technologies should be dual-use, to extend the concept to include cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and border security. Junts also agrees: "Catalonia can be there and should be there," said spokesperson Míriam Nogueras in this week's debate in the Spanish parliament. "We have industrial and research capacity," she added. What does this mean? Party sources explain to ARA that they will demand that investment under this program also go to companies in the Principality that are not directly involved in the military industry, but rather in research, computing, or artificial intelligence.
Catalan companies
At this point, they cite companies they believe should play a role in all this: Sateliot, Pangea Aerospace, Cero 2 Infinity, Aistech Space, rebeco SAT, and the Armonia group. They also refer to start-ups such as Grasshopper Air Mobility and Omnios Cognitive Solutions, among others. "There is a huge constellation of companies, from large to small, that can benefit from business development linked to security," summarize sources from Junts. The Spanish Association of Defense, Security, Aeronautics and Space Technology Companies (TEDAE), which brings together companies in the defense, security, and aeronautics sectors, also includes Applus+, Aritex, and GTD as members in Catalonia—which have between 50 and 150 employees.
For all these reasons, however, it is crucial that the Spanish government expand the concept of what is considered the defense industry in accordance with the EU. Sánchez himself addressed this issue with companies in the sector on Friday: he attempted to reach a consensus with executives on concepts such as the protection of national borders, the fight against terrorism, cybersecurity, and the climate emergency, according to Europa Press. Sources from Foment del Treball consulted by this newspaper affirm that this issue is key, since until these are specified, companies will not decide whether or not to activate new production lines. In any case, they reaffirm that Catalonia can take advantage of the "opportunity" in the aeronautical, automotive, and chemical industries and aspire to a distribution equivalent to 18.8% of Catalonia's GDP.
Junts' position is similar to that of the PNV with the Basque Country, which has also asked Sánchez to ensure that investments have an impact on its territory. There is, for example, SAPA, linked to the world of defense, or Sener. Esquerra (Republican Left) has a different position, as does EH Bildu, who are wary of increased military spending. "We don't want to commit to more spending; we need to manage the combined military expenditure of the 27 EU countries plus the United Kingdom and Norway in another way, which together spend more than three times what Russia spends on weapons," party sources told ARA, adding that they have not commented on the presence of Catalan companies.
In any case, everything will depend on how the Spanish government distributes the funds in accordance with the European Union: political scientist and peace and conflict analyst Jordi Armadans warns that a portion of the European loans will go to shared projects between countries and that, in this regard, only the largest companies will directly benefit from the investment.
The distribution of the industry
The report Economic and social impact of the defense, security, aeronautics and space industries, published in November 2024 and prepared by the consulting firm PwC for the business association TEDAE, estimates that this sector had a direct or indirect impact of €19.688 billion on Spanish GDP in 2023. It cites the following regions as key players: Madrid, Andalusia, the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Castilla-La Mancha. Madrid is where most of the headquarters of the large TEDAE companies are concentrated (such as Indra and Navantia, with 500 and 1,000 employees, respectively), and according to the report, they represented 54.86% of the region's industrial GDP; in Andalusia, 20.96%—closely linked to the location of army infrastructure in the region; in the Basque Country, 14.30%; and in Castilla-La Mancha, 14.21%; while in Catalonia, the figure is much lower: 4.12%. The PwC report argues that this entire industry has significant growth drivers from now on: increased spending in the general state budget, increased civil aviation activity, and the rise in international conflicts.
