Canary Islands bets on eSports

The eSports sector continues to grow in Spain. The latest example is the agreement reached by the Government of the Canary Islands and the newspaper Marca, the best-selling in the Spanish press, for the promotion of eSports in the archipelago. It is not the only measure taken in this regard by the Canary executive, which in the last 6 months has opted for the archipelago as a promoter of eSports, following examples as prominent as that of Manchester City.

Thus, on January 16, the director of MARCA, Juan Ignacio Gallardo, and the Canary president, Fernando Clavijo, signed a collaboration agreement to develop joint activities with the aim of promoting eSports and electronic video games. According to this agreement, the two parties offer mutual support and exchange of information on issues related to the promotion, promotion and monitoring of activities related to eSports, video games, sports digital culture or training programs in the archipelago.

In this way, they explain from the Canary executive, the relations between the two parties are strengthened and efforts are joined with the aim of designing guidelines for action that serve to improve cooperation in everything related to the dissemination of eSports in the archipelago and one of its star projects, the e-Sports Talent Canarias. With this program, the Government of the Canary Islands seeks the definitive impulse for the digital transformation of the archipelago by developing eSports.

One of the reasons that have led the island executive to clearly bet on the development of eSports is the peculiar taxation of the archipelago. The Canary Islands have the ZEC, the Canary Special Zone, which allows its inhabitants and companies to enjoy special taxation. The ZEC is a special economic regime designed by the European Union, so that it offers companies that settle there a more lax taxation than in other parts of Europe with the legal guarantee of the European Union.

Among the advantages of the ZEC, the 4% tax rate on corporation tax stands out, the lowest in Europe. There are also exemptions from the property transfer tax and companies that settle here will be able to take advantage of the rest of the tax incentives related to the Economic and Fiscal Regime of the Canary Islands. Companies dedicated to technological R&D will take advantage of a deduction for technological innovation of 45%, a figure almost four times higher than the 12% that they would benefit from in the peninsula.

The agreement with Marca is not the first signed by the Canary executive in this regard. In November, it already signed a similar agreement with the London School of Economics with the aim of promoting the development of eSports in the archipelago. A few days later, Tenerife hosted the Spanish qualifier for the Challenger Series of League of Legends, one of the most prominent video games and that moves the most money and fans within eSports. Initiatives to which is added the visit of a delegation from the Government of the Canary Islands to Manchester City.

Beyond their football successes, the sky blues are one of the teams with the most digital presence in the world and have in their ranks some of the best professional eSports players. Manchester City was one of the first teams in Europe to see the potential of eSports and the Canary delegation, headed by its president Fernando Clavijo, learned closely about the City's eSports development project and how they have integrated the values of sport in the digital field.