The United States solidifies itself as the main foreign investor in Spain, concentrating 116,094 million euros in productive direct investment and around 1,286 subsidiaries that employ 200,000 workers, double that of ten years ago. At the same time, with an accumulated stock of 97,247 million euros, the United States is now the main destination for Spanish investment abroad, ahead of any European partner, with national companies generating 143,500 jobs in 45 states.
The first edition of “The Bridge Report 2026, Spain - U.S. Economic Relations”, prepared by AmChamSpain, raises the accumulated direct investment in both directions to more than 213 billion euros and the jobs linked to bilateral economic flows to more than 340,000.
The document emphasizes that it is not a relationship of unilateral dependence, but of interdependence forged over decades on the basis of long-term industrial, energy, financial, and technological projects.
Digital infrastructure in Spain
The study focuses on the qualitative leap in US investment in digital infrastructure in Spain, with commitments exceeding 36.6 billion euros in data centers and artificial intelligence for the period 2025-2030, concentrated especially in Aragon and Zaragoza, the largest wave of North American 'greenfield' investment recorded in the country.
According to the report, these developments will place Spain among the main digital hubs in Europe and will attract new investments in renewable energies and electricity grids to meet the growing demand for carbon-free energy.
Beyond direct investment, the United States maintains a portfolio investment stock in Spain of 183,863 million dollars - about 170,000 million euros -, a volume that exceeds productive investment stock by more than 45% and reinforces the weight of large US institutional investors in the Spanish stock market and debt.
According to AmChamSpain, this presence of financial capital contributes to making financing for companies and public administrations cheaper, by functioning as a signal of confidence in the Spanish market.
Trade and energy
In the commercial sphere, Spain and the United States exchanged goods and services for more than 70,000 million euros in 2024, with a Spanish surplus of 10,570 million in services -tourism, consulting, technology- that practically compensates for the deficit in merchandise. In this way, the balance is much more balanced than the figures for goods suggest, which reflect a growing deficit linked above all to energy purchases.
The United States contributed 31.2% of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) consumed by Spain in 2025 and already reaches a share of 36.6% in the first quarter of 2026, in addition to 15.2% of the crude oil imported, consolidating itself as the country's leading energy supplier.
This dependence on American gas and oil explains a good part of the trade imbalance in goods, but, at the same time, it coexists with a notable presence of Spanish energy groups in networks and renewables in the United States, giving rise to an energy interdependence of a strategic nature.
Human dimension
The economic relationship is also supported by an expanding human base: 50,623 US citizens were registered in Spain in 2024 and in the same year 15,638 residence permits were granted, which places Spain as the main destination in the European Union for Americans by number of authorizations.
The report associates this growth with the combination of quality of life, competitive costs, and access to the single market offered by Spain, as well as the rise of digital nomads and professionals in the technology sector.
AmChamSpain remarks on the strategic nature of this link in a context of trade tensions and debate on European autonomy, and defends maintaining the bilateral conversation "with data, not with headlines".
The organization, which integrates more than 240 companies with an aggregated turnover of 240 billion euros in Spain, presents “The Bridge Report” with the intention that it becomes an annual reference to measure and manage a relationship that it considers “deeper, more balanced, and more strategic” than conventional statistics reflect.