Madrid receives 21% of state investment, Catalonia falls to 8.6% in 2025 data

Data release

On 17 July 2026, the Spanish finance ministry sent to parliament the 2025 regional investment figures compiled by the IGAE. Total regionalizable investment reached €15,369 million, up 17.9% from 2024. Madrid captured €3,218 million (20.9%), while Catalonia received €1,321 million (8.6%). Valencia followed with €1,738 million (11.3%), Andalusia with €1,620 million (10.5%), and Galicia with €1,580 million (10.3%). More than half of the overall €25,764 million state investment was not regionalizable, covering foreign spending and central services.

Catalonia's chronic shortfall

Catalonia's share is less than half its 19% contribution to national GDP and well below its 17% population share. The 2025 figure marks a 6.2% drop from 2024, when it received €1,409 million (10.8%). Over 2013–2022, annual investment never exceeded €1,000 million. Per capita, Catalonia got €163, the second-lowest among regions, though economists caution that per-capita calculations overstate thinly populated areas. In absolute terms, Catalonia ranked fifth, behind Madrid, Valencia, Andalusia, and Galicia.

Business backlash

Business groups reacted sharply. Foment del Treball said the underinvestment "asfixia a la economía catalana" and represents "un freno a la competitividad". Pimec called it a structural deficit harming SMEs. The Col·legi d'Economistes president Carles Puig de Travy proposed an investment consortium to manage funds from Catalonia.

We believe it is necessary to create an investment consortium to manage them from Catalonia and thus guarantee an adequate level of execution.

The accumulated investment deficit is near €50,000 million, with pending projects like Rodalies (€5,000 million), El Prat airport (€2,000 million), and the Mediterranean Corridor (€2,000 million). The Cambra de Barcelona shared the concern, and the Generalitat backed the consortium idea, originally agreed with ERC.

Railway dependence

Most of Catalonia's investment came from public companies, especially Adif and Adif Alta Velocidad (€668.5 million). Direct ministry investment was only €201 million. This heavy reliance on large rail projects causes year-to-year volatility and helps explain low execution rates: in 2023 only 45% of budgeted investment was executed, and in 2024 it reached 60%.

Political context

The data arrives amid negotiations on regional debt forgiveness and a new financing model. The figures had not been published since 2022, and their release reopens old grievances. La Vanguardia's editorial notes that neither the Sánchez government nor the Illa-led Generalitat has resolved the chronic deficit, and calls for action before the legislature ends. Earlier, Madrid president Isabel Díaz Ayuso had accused the central government of favouring Catalonia, but the numbers show the opposite.