The Financial Times, through its specialized foreign investment section FDI, has recognized the Canary Islands Special Zone with its Global Free Zones Award 2025 as the best special tax regime in Europe specializing in knowledge industries.
The jury has recognized its collaboration with universities and other training centers in bringing training opportunities closer to the talent needs of companies, and highlighted the facilities provided in the islands for companies that establish themselves there, as well as the coordinated support from institutions.
The ZEC has experienced strong growth in the audiovisual, video game, software development, artificial intelligence, research and development, special effects, animation, and renewable energy sectors, in addition to those traditionally found in the Canary Islands, such as logistics, maritime, and industrial.
Success stories
Cases like Arquimea, one of the most important R&D centers in Spain; Fortiche, which develops the most-watched animation on Netflix, winner of 4 Emmy awards from the Canary Islands; PwC, which makes artificial intelligence and blockchain with personnel from the archipelago; Atos, which develops support for the Olympics or the Champions League from the islands; Wooptix, which determines the future of the global semiconductor industry; or Bitbox, which develops the computer tools for IKEA, are some examples of the more than 900 companies that are developing one of the fastest-growing technological ecosystems in Europe.
“Diversification cannot start from scratch. That's why we have developed a strategy to anchor diversification based on activities in which we already have potential, such as astrophysics, digital arts, animation, or tourism technology, and we try to add layers of related activities,” says Pablo Hernández, president of the Canary Islands Special Zone.
More than 900 companies and 11,500 jobs
The prestigious British publisher has recognized the REF incentive as one of the great advantages for knowledge-based companies. It has also recognized access to financing through tools such as the indirect materialization of the RIC and coordinated support with the Island Councils and the Government of the Canary Islands, which provide spaces such as incubators and soft-landing support.
The Canary Islands Special Zone already accounts for more than 5% of employment in the sectors in which it operates in the Canary Islands. It has experienced considerable growth in recent years, with a 43% increase in employment in the last 6 years, from 7,693 jobs in 2020 to the current 11,591.
In terms of the number of companies, the Canary Islands Special Zone hosts 914 companies, with a growth of 32% since the 691 that were based there in 2020.
And so far in 2025, more than 83 new companies have registered, with almost 3% of all companies established in the Canary Islands this year having done so attracted by the ZEC, which predicts a growth in its weight in the Canarian economy.
"The ZEC has gained competitiveness since the Great Recession"
The Canary Islands Special Zone was one of the first tax regimes in the world to adapt to the new international tax rules, requiring that the activity be effectively carried out in the Canary Islands.
“Possibly the ZEC didn't take off at the beginning because other, much more aggressive regimes had more freedom. Since the Great Recession, as States have been closing loopholes to aggressive fiscal positioning, we have gained a lot of competitiveness,” Hernández pointed out.
In that sense, he reaffirmed: "Our substance-based structure has a double advantage: it ensures that the truth incentive improves the Canary Islands' economy, and it prevents international organizations from seeing the ZEC as a harmful tax regime, what we commonly call a tax haven, and from establishing measures to limit it."
The intensification and technification of promotion, the adaptation of incentives to new international tax rules, and the development of local talent and infrastructure have attracted numerous prominent international companies.
