INFORMA D&B: Pandemic Makes the Lowest Number of Spanish Companies Change Their Domicile Since 2014

Madrid is the community that wins the most companies, 572, and Catalonia the one that loses the most, 320, although in terms of turnover the situation is the opposite.

A total of 4,010 companies have moved their headquarters to another community during 2020, 19% less than the previous year, according to the Study on Changes of Address published by INFORMA. After a first semester in which transfers declined due to the health crisis, in the third quarter they increased notably, to decline again in the fourth.

The companies that moved their headquarters between April and May, only 672, represent the lowest data recorded since this study was carried out.

According to Nathalie Gianese, Director of Studies at INFORMA D&B: “From 2017 to 2018, the number of changes of address in Spain reached its maximum, driven by the effect of the Catalan independence process, and from 2019 it began to decrease. In 2020 this decline is exacerbated by Covid-19, reaching the lowest figure since 2014”.

Over the year as a whole, Catalonia is the community with the highest negative balance between company entries and exits, losing 320. The next, Murcia, cuts 204, mainly due to the transfer to Madrid of some 200 companies that belonged to the Luzantia group (dedicated to exploitation of a photovoltaic park in Jumilla). Castilla y León reaches a negative balance of 80 and the other eight autonomies that cut companies do not exceed 25.

In the opposite situation Madrid, which wins 572 companies in 2020, well ahead of the second, which is Andalusia with a positive balance of 93. Also companies Aragón, Asturias, Baleares, Extremadura, Galicia and the Basque Country.

During 2020, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Ceuta and Navarra have maintained negative behavior in all quarters, while Madrid is the only one that has always added companies. The Madrid community is the one that registers the most business movement, 1,642 companies have arrived and 1,070 have moved abroad. Catalonia has 443 entries compared to 763 exits.

Billing of companies that move

However, if we take into account the turnover represented by these companies that have changed their address, the situation is different. The Basque Country has a positive balance for the year as a whole of more than 1,400 million euros, due to the arrival from Madrid of Iberdrola Generación Nuclear SA with a turnover of more than 1,133 million euros.

Catalonia, which is the one that adds the most, 3,000 million euros, has the arrival of Bunge Ibérica SA, also from Madrid, with a turnover of 3,293 million euros. This makes Madrid the one that yields the most in terms of turnover, almost 4,650 million euros.

The ten companies with the highest turnover that have changed their address in 2020 have sales of 6,430 million euros.