Spain has become the most used country on the planet by international companies as a "springboard" to channel their investments towards Latin America, acting as the main 'bridge' chosen by companies from the United States, France, and Luxembourg to shorten the distance between both shores of the Atlantic.
According to the report "The Use of Springboards in Foreign Investment from the World to Latin America: The Role of Spain," prepared by the Business Council Alliance for Ibero-America (Ceapi) and the Complutense University of Madrid, a total of 744 foreign parent companies turned to Spain as a base to land in Latin America through 1,081 subsidiaries, which represents almost 1.5 subsidiaries for each parent company.
In detail, 125 American companies, 82 French, 64 Luxembourgish, 57 German, 51 British, and 41 Italian companies channeled their investments towards Latin America from Spain. Of the total 744 parent companies, 59.9% were headquartered in Europe; 21.1% in the United States and Canada; 8.7% in Latin America; 5.6% in Asia-Pacific; 2.3% in the Caribbean; and 1.3% in the Middle East and Africa.
The main destinations for these investments were Mexico (25.2%), Brazil (19.2%), Colombia (18.8%), and Chile (17.3%), while the rest of the countries in the region absorbed the remaining 19.2%.
"The Spanish economy functions as a 'hub' or strategic node that channels European, North American, Asian, and even Latin American investment towards Latin America, which helps to reinforce the role of multilateral companies in the integration of the Ibero-American space," summarized Isabel Álvarez, professor of Applied Economics at the Complutense University.
The study, presented this Monday at the offices of the Pérez-Llorca law firm, argues that Spain's role goes beyond mere capital contribution, also configuring itself as a "cultural and organizational bridge" that adapts management practices to the Latin American reality and as a coordinator of the regional networks of large multinational groups.
Furthermore, Álvarez emphasized that companies perceive advantages when investing in Latin America from Spain due to the lower "psychological distance," the signed double taxation agreements, the "legal umbrella" provided by the European Union, and the lower costs of capital financing.
The document estimates 26,784 global matrices with a presence in Latin America and 79,650 the number of their subsidiaries, which amounts to 2.97 subsidiaries per matrix. Spain concentrates 10.43% of those matrices (2,794) and 11% of the subsidiaries (7,323).
In this way, it ranks second in the number of subsidiaries, only behind the United States (10,881) and ahead of Italy (3,063), France (2,511), Germany (2,407), Japan (2,360), and the United Kingdom (2,248).
Latin America continues to be a net receiver of foreign capital, with 2.856 trillion dollars (2.553 trillion euros) received in 2024 compared to 920.591 billion dollars (822.893 billion euros) sent to other regions. However, its weight in the global total has reduced from 7% to 5% between 2010 and 2024.
55% of the investments directed to Latin America are concentrated in the services sector and 27% in industry, although there are "notable differences" between countries based on their productive specializations.
The president of Ceapi, Núria Vilanova, has pointed out that Panama and Uruguay are emerging as new 'hubs' to operate in Latam, similar to the role of Luxembourg in Europe, while the attractiveness of Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia is "proportional" to the size of their economies.
Looking at the medium term, the evolution of geopolitics and the expectations linked to the EU-Mercosur agreement and the renewal of the EU-Mexico treaty could open a new wave of projects that further reinforce the hinge function that Spain plays within Europe.
Spanish Investments in Latin America
The report details that the 'stock' of Spanish investments in Latin America reached 229 billion dollars (204.697 billion euros) in 2024 and that it is "more active than ever." Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico concentrated 83.4% of that volume.
The number of companies with more than 50% Spanish capital has quadrupled in the last decade, rising from 2,330 in 2014 to 10,811 in 2024.
Additionally, since 2013, Latin America has concentrated around 40% of annual Spanish FDI and more than 30% of total investments abroad, which, according to Ceapi, supports the use of the term "multiberoamericanas."