Spain has received, so far, a total of 37,040 million in European funds, with Andalusia at the head of the allocation of resources and Catalonia in second position. Furthermore, it is the country that, to date, has best distributed aid from the Next Generation program throughout the territory, according to the provisional balance published by the Representation in Spain of the European Commission. A situation, explains the Ministry of Economic Affairs, that implies that aid is not being concentrated in the main cities, as is happening in other countries, but rather that "great capillarity" is being achieved in the deployment of investments.
The Andalusian community has already been allocated 3,830 million, surpassing Catalonia, which has received 3,643 million. One step below are the Community of Madrid and the Valencian Community, with 2,681 and 2,303 million. The Government considers the funds that have already been authorized “assigned”, without this meaning that the transfer has been made. In total, autonomous governments can currently allocate more than 24,000 million.
Spain, furthermore, is the country that has managed to finance the most tractor projects. At this moment it has authorization for 746, far above Italy or France. Not all funded projects fall into this category – which are more than 500,000, according to the Government – but only those initiatives that are significant due to their importance and volume, where large companies and SMEs are involved.
The territory that has managed to receive the most financing for these relevant projects is Catalonia, with 102 business initiatives related, mostly, to the energy transition and digitalization. The conclusion drawn in view of the published data is that Catalonia is the European region in which European funds are best distributed throughout its territory, with initiatives distributed across the four provinces. At a certain distance, in terms of the capillarity of the projects, the autonomous community with the most driving initiatives is Andalusia, with 86. They are followed by Castilla y León, with 57; Basque Country, with 53; and Madrid, with 46, always according to data provided by Brussels.
Although Spain is the EU country with the most significant projects financed with European funds, it is inevitable that a significant part of them is concentrated around provincial capitals. In this sense, the metropolitan area of Barcelona, with 44 initiatives, and Madrid and its surroundings, with 42, stand out as the poles with the most beneficiaries. However, the contrast with the projects that have already received funding from the Next Generation program located in other large European cities is notable, since around Paris, for example, there are 17 initiatives, while in Berlin there are only two.
Despite this capillarity, there are territories in Spain that, at least for the moment, suffer from an absence of relevant initiatives financed with European funds. In both Castiles, in areas of Aragon and in others in Andalusia, there are large areas of land that have not yet received community aid, according to information from the Commission.
As of November 2023, the Spanish Administration has paid in the aforementioned 37,040 million distributed in four disbursements, one initial and three ordinary. In total, the Government aspires to receive 117,000 million in this legislature that has just begun: another 33,000 million in transfers and 84,000 million more in loans, according to the Addendum approved by the Commission. The Executive plans to request the fourth disbursement, of 10,000 million in subsidies, before the end of the year, Economy sources explain. By 2024, the Ministry of Finance has already announced that it will include up to 25.6 billion more in the General State Budgets. The first loans will begin to be received next year. For 2025, the request for a maximum of 44.6 billion is planned and for 2026 the objective is to reach 44.3 billion between loans and credits.
This sampling of the distribution of European funds is part of the commitment to transparency of both the European Commission and the different governments and the same criteria are applied to all countries. “It is important to remember the finalist nature of these funds, which must be directed to the objectives set (for example, low-emission zones, green areas or bicycle lanes) to maintain the flow of payments from the community budget and avoid their return by the public administrations and beneficiary companies”, highlights Economía.
Nadia Calviño's department is also finalizing the list of the 100 largest beneficiaries of the Recovery Plan, as well as the 50 main companies awarded tenders. This ranking has already been published by the majority of EU countries and serves to understand in more detail the deployment of European funds.
