4Incentives for investments in certain regions
4.3 Special reference to investments in the Canary Islands
The Canary Islands Autonomous Community has traditionally enjoyed a regime of commercial freedom involving less indirect tax pressure and exclusion from the sphere of certain State monopolies. These conditions have given rise to an economic and tax system which is different from that existing in the rest of Spain.
Of course, an attempt has been made to reconcile these special circumstances with the requirements of Spanish membership of the European Union.
In this regard, the Central Government has been increasing flexibility as much as possible in connection with the functioning of regional incentives and localization of investments on the Canary Islands, imposing no further limitations than those stipulated in EU legislation and giving preferential treatment to investments in the peripheral islands by requiring a minimum level of investment lower than that established for the rest of Spain. As a corollary of these efforts to address the uniqueness of island regions, the European Commission to authorized the creation of the Canary Islands Special Zone (Zona Especial Canaria or ZEC) in January 2000, with a view to attracting and encouraging the investment in the Canary Islands of international capital and companies which make a decided contribution to the economic and social progress of the Canary Islands.
The period for using the benefits of the ZEC is through December 31, 2027, although this may be extended if authorized by the European Commission (please also see Chapter 3 and https://canariaszec.com). However, the authorization for registering companies in the Official Register of Entities of the Canary Islands Special Zone has been extended to December 31, 2023, by means of Royal Decree-Law 31/2021, of December 28, 2021.
It is important to note that incentives aimed at upgrading and modernizing the production of plant and animal products (specifically, bananas, tomatoes, and fishing-related industries) are also available under the Community Program to Support Agricultural Production on the Canary Islands.
Along these same lines, please note the Integral Strategy for the Canary Islands Autonomous Community, approved by decision of the Council of Ministers dated October 9, 2009. The main objectives of this Strategy were implemented in Additional Provision Fourteen of Sustainable Economy Law 2/2011, of March 4, 2011, as a guide for initiatives of the Government and of the General State Administration on the Canary Islands. In particular, under the former Strategy priority was to be given to initiatives connected with the policy to internationalize the Canary Island economy, energy planning, with special attention to renewable energies, ground, airport and port infrastructures, subsidies for goods transport to or from the Canary Islands, the fostering of tourism and the contribution to the development of industrial sectors and of telecommunications on the Canary Islands.
In particular, from the standpoint of internationalization, the state-owned enterprise Sociedad Canaria de Fomento Económico, S.A. (PROEXCA) was formed under the Department of Economy, Knowledge and Labor of the Canary Island Government, with a view to fostering the internationalization of the Canary Island enterprise and attracting strategic investments to the Islands. PROEXCA acts as an official agent for the promotion of investments on a regional scale, serving companies which seek to invest in the Islands and which offer them high added value and sustainability.
