The Department of Industry will have a budget of 221.7 million euros in 2027, barely 0.1% more than in the current fiscal year if European MMR funds are excluded. This slight increase, according to the minister Eduardo Arasti, makes it possible to “consolidate the growth of the last few years,” especially in the items aimed at the industrial sector, the SODERCAN action plan, SICAN, trade, and employment.
The new accounts strengthen the allocations for the Directorate General of Industry, which rises by 3.2%; for the SODERCAN Action Plan, which grows by 13.9%; and for the public company Suelo Industrial de Cantabria (SICAN), in order to take on the community’s strategic investments, such as stages 1 and 2 of La Pasiega, the Intermodal of the Logistical Center of La Pasiega, and the Las Escabadas Industrial Estate.
For the third consecutive year, the objective of public financing in R&D&I established by the Law on Science, Technology and Innovation of Cantabria is met. The 2027 budget in this area reaches 114 million euros, which entails an increase of 21.5% compared to last year and of 200 compared to 2023, as the Executive has detailed in a statement.
Likewise, the increases of 100% are maintained in the allocation of the Thermal Social Bonus, aimed at alleviating the energy cost for households with fewer resources, and in the aid that subsidizes 65% of wages in Special Employment Centers.
The accounts also strengthen the lines of support for retail trade and launch new grants and programs within the I Plan to Support Self-Employed Employment. At the same time, the Training Programs are updated “to the real needs of the companies.”
For Arasti, this budgetary project reflects that these are “clearly investment-focused” accounts that drive the development of industrial land “that Cantabria needs and that is already in process, and that has the necessary provision in the budget.”
In the same line, he has highlighted that the figures “give continuity to the investment attraction strategy that is producing such good results” and maintain the commitment to innovation as a “lever” for competitiveness, productivity, and job creation.
"The aim of this budget is to turn Cantabria into a land of opportunities, capable of attracting investment and talent* without leaving anyone behind," the minister emphasized, who appeared before a parliamentary commission to detail the new budget of the Department for 2027.
GENERAL DIRECTORATES, SODERCAN AND SICAN
The General Directorate for Industry, Energy and Mines will have 49.1 million euros, which represents a uniform increase of 3.2% compared with the current accounts and cumulative growth of 18.3% since 2023.
The General Directorate for Innovation, Technological Development and Industrial Entrepreneurship will manage a budget of 31,470,259 euros, with a cumulative increase of 9.7% compared with 2023.
In the case of SODERCAN, the effective budget to carry out the action plan of this public company attached to the Department amounts to 25.4 million euros, 13.9% more, of which 10 million are reserved for the financing of strategic projects.
As for SICAN, its budget will reach 54.4 million euros, intended, among other interventions, for phase 1 of stage 1 of La Pasiega, with 15.6 million euros to close the commitments of this first phase, and for stage 2 of phase 1 and phase 2, with 15.4 million euros, whose total investment between 2027 and 2030 will be 39.5 million euros.
Regarding the Intermodal of La Pasiega, which has a specific allocation for 2027, Arasti has stated that SICAN will contribute more than 1.3 million euros and ADIF more than 13.5 million euros, both amounts excluding VAT.
The budget of the General Directorate for Trade and Consumer Affairs stands at 7,167,700 euros, which represents an increase of almost 6% compared with 2026 and more than 52% compared with 2023.
For its part, the General Directorate for Work, Social Economy and Self-Employment will have 17,525,801 million euros, with an increase close to 18% in relation to 2026 and almost 32% compared with 2023. Among other measures, this allocation will make it possible to sustain self-employment through support to municipalities at risk of depopulation, with an allocation of 3.7 million.