Invest in the Canary Islands
Gran Canaria offers attractive business opportunities, economic incentives and a high quality of life, with a pleasant climate all year round, modern infrastructure and a qualified workforce, which makes it a preferred destination for European investment and business creation. .
On the island of Gran Canaria you can find a great diversity of landscapes, historical places and different microclimates. The great quality of life of its inhabitants, a spring climate all year round. Gran Canaria one of the main tourist destinations in Europe. On the other hand, due to its geographical isolation and distance from Europe, it has a special economic and tax regime, with many advantages for investors.
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We have a great port and airport infrastructure, in which more is being invested every day.
Gran Canaria Airport is one of the most modern in Spain and one of the busiest in Europe, with enormous daily air traffic that helps both the development of tourism and commercial relations with other countries. For these and many other reasons Gran Canaria is the right place for rest, vacation and/or business.
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The island is considered a large theme park where centuries of history, natural beauties and many attractive opportunities to enjoy entertainment and leisure combine.
Discover why Gran Canaria is not only a privileged place as a tourist destination. As an investor you will also have unique advantages. The many tourist attractions of Gran Canaria, in addition to an excellent support system for business investment, make it an ideal destination for the development of projects and investments, ZEC ZONE. The Canary Islands, part of the European Union, enjoy one of the most favorable economic and tax regimes in Europe, as compensation for its remoteness and insularity, which make it a very attractive area for investment, with a range of incentives. aimed mainly at promoting investment, placing the average corporate tax rate at only 6%.
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The islands have a special and differentiated tax regime (REF) Economic situation and the rest of Spain and the EU, the bases of which are inspired by the free trade agreements in the consumption of franchises and a lower indirect tax burden established in the Canary Islands since the 19th century and are currently aimed at generating investment decisions and responding socially to the modernization of the productive and commercial apparatus.
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Among the measures to support investment, the following should be highlighted:
– ZEC: offshore zone with tax rates between 4% and 8%
– Reserve for Investments in the Canary Islands: exemption of up to 90% in corporate tax for reinvestment of these funds in business activities.
– Reduction of indirect taxes (IGIC): 7%. Non-application of VAT.
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Tariff exemptions, subsidies for food imports, various exemptions related to making investments, government incentives for investment projects, etc.
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Also notable is the breadth of the technological offering, which covers most of the company's needs in a number of areas such as renewable energy and the environment, biotechnology, information technology, telecommunications, medical technology , etc. In this sense, we must make special mention of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, mainly oriented technical courses, and the high level of R&D in renewable energy, water purification and desalination achieved in the island's disciplines. which has become one of the main exporters of knowledge and techniques. Along these lines, thanks to the development of the aforementioned University, Gran Canaria has recorded the creation of a wide range of graduates, especially in the field of technical careers, ensuring the availability of the highest qualified workforce.
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Thus, Gran Canaria offers great business opportunities and advantageous economic and fiscal investment incentives. The high quality of life enjoyed by its residents with a spring climate throughout the year, with modern transportation and telecommunications infrastructure and the high qualification of its human capital, which makes Gran Canaria a privileged destination for European investment. development and new businesses.
8 reasons to invest in Gran Canaria
1. Unique natural conditions
The rich and varied vegetation of the island and the beautiful landscapes are one of the main attractions. It is not only the favorite place for citizens of the European Union, but the luxurious environment for its residents, as it allows the perfect combination of business with the best options for leisure and relaxation.
2. Favorable strategic location
Gran Canaria has reinforced its strategic position as a logistics platform for trade between the three continents (Europe, Africa and America) through the Gran Canaria Free Zone. This space has delimited 326,000 m² dedicated to logistics business operations, which have important customs and tax benefits.
3. Stable political framework
The Canary Islands' ability to manage health and educational services makes it one of the most autonomous state's competence ceilings, which is guaranteed by the financing system of the Autonomous Communities themselves reinforced by a special tax system.
The most prestigious international rating agencies have assessed the credit quality of the debt in Canarian regional currency, with the same rating for Spain (the maximum achievable by an Autonomous Community).
4. Growing local market
Gran Canaria registered a figure of 789,908 inhabitants in an area of 1,560 km ². We are, therefore, facing one of the most densely populated areas of Spanish territory. If we add to this circumstance the high tourist occupancy rate throughout the year, in 2003 we reached the number of 2,865,475 visitors, the potential market for companies based on the island is much higher than those in other regions. .
5. Competitive workforce
Gran Canaria is a young island. 45% of its population is under 30 years old. It has great potential aimed at training the workforce through an extensive network of primary and secondary schools, as well as the University. Professional qualifications also include industrial and advanced service sectors. On the island there is also widespread use of English and German.
6. Excellent service and communications infrastructure
• The Port of Las Palmas, the largest port in the Canary Islands, processed more than one million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) of containers in 2004.
• In the case of Gran Canaria Airport it handled more than 10 million passengers and 41 tons of cargo in 2004.
• The Canary Islands are one of the places with the greatest confluence of submarine telecommunications cables in the world.
7. Leading technological research
There are excellent universities and public research organizations carrying out intensive R&D&I in areas as diverse as microelectronics, aquaculture and renewable energy. The degree of development of the information society is enormous, due to the economic and institutional support provided by the competent authorities in the development of specific programs.
8. Reduced tax burden
The Canary Islands have historically enjoyed economic and differentiated tax treatment.