▲ Repsol, the Spanish energy and petrochemical multinational, based in Madrid. It has been present in Mexico since 1999. In 2018, it began opening service stations, which currently number more than 200 spread over 19 states. On the list Forbes Global 2000 of the year 2020, Repsol was classified as the 645th largest public limited company in the world.Photo Europe Press
Braulio Carbajal and Alejandro Alegria
Newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, February 10, 2022, p. 4
Spain is, only surpassed by the United States, the second country with the largest investments in Mexico since there is a record, with participation in key sectors of the national economy such as finance, telecommunications, energy, tourism and textiles, among others, reveal official data.
Figures from the Ministry of Economy (SE) indicate that from 1999 to the end of the third quarter of last year, Spanish companies have invested 76 thousand 40 million dollars in Mexico, a figure that is only surpassed by the 285 thousand 632 million coming from the United States, the country’s main trading partner.
In 2021, according to the SE, Spain invested 2,666 million dollars in Mexico, which represented 10.7 percent of the 24,831 million dollars that entered the country through foreign investment.
Spanish investment exceeds that of countries such as Canada (46 thousand 240 million dollars), Japan (29 thousand 544 million), Germany (28 thousand 278 million) and the Netherlands (21 thousand 214 million).
In recent days, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Mexico (Camescom) highlighted that the amount invested shows the commitment and vocation of permanence of that investment in the country
. Regarding the statements made by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador during his morning conference on Wednesday, Camescom reported that there would be no position.
Most attractive sectors
The favorite sector of the Spaniards in Mexico is the financial sector, since of the more than 76 billion dollars that have been invested in the country from 1999 to date, 32 thousand 126 million dollars have been in the area of financial services and insurance, where they have giant representatives such as Santander and BBVA.
In second place are telecommunications, where Spanish companies have invested 15 thousand 419 million dollars, with Telefónica being the main representative of this sector.
It is followed by the energy sector with investments of 8,843 million dollars, with companies such as Iberdrola, Gas Natural Fenosa, Abengoa, Elecnor, ACS, Acciona, Gamesa, Renovalia, Repsol, among others.
The fourth most important branch is infrastructure, with a total amount of 7,857 million dollars from companies such as OHL, FCC, Isolux, Abengoa, ACS-Dragados, Acciona Agua, CAF, Cobra, Alesa, Gamesa, Azvi, Aldesa. , Assignia, Elecnor, and others.
In other areas, firms such as Zara, Iberia and hotel chains such as Barceló, among others, stand out.
The controversy has also been present in the performance of large Spanish companies in the country. This is the case of Iberdrola, strongly questioned by the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for alleged acts of corruption in past six-year terms. Last week, the validity of its electricity generation permit at a plant located in Pesquería, Nuevo León, concluded.
The firm Acciona is pointed out by the Federal Electricity Commission for having caused a blackout in 2020. The company Abengoa was recently denied the modification of its power generation permit at its only plant in the country, Naturgy.
