The president of the ZEC, Pablo Hernández, is in luck. Last year, the Canary Islands Special Zone attracted more companies than ever to the archipelago.
In an interview with Ekonomus, he explains the reasons for this phenomenon and breaks down the virtues that make Lanzarote an ideal destination for companies, particularly for artistic and creative activities.
“2023 was the year in which the most companies joined the ZEC in its history. We have exceeded 850 companies and more than 12,000 jobs.” Specifically, 119 new companies arrived last year, 28% more than the previous year.
Among other advantages, the ZEC, whose main objective is to diversify the archipelago's economy, guarantees companies a reduced corporate tax of 4%. To do this, they must employ at least 5 people if they are in Gran Canaria or Tenerife. This requirement is reduced to 3 employees in the case of Lanzarote and the other islands.
“Lanzarote is the non-capital island that attracted the most ZEC companies in 2023.” That year, 7 companies arrived, and so far in 2024 there have been another 5 incorporations into the island's productive fabric through the ZEC. Today, there are more than 60 companies based in Lanzarote that moved their activity to the island due to tax incentives.
Hernández points out that “Lanzarote has great potential for more companies in artistic and creative activities to move to the island.” These profiles are looking for “places with character, with more light, with a less fast-paced life, like Lanzarote.”
The audiovisual industry is one of those expected to grow on the island of Lanzarote. Hernandez explains that the impact of this industry on the archipelago “was limited in the past to the contracting of auxiliary services in filming” such as machinery, accommodation or meals.
Over the years, the local audiovisual industry “has been gaining professional layers” with the provision of more technical services. The ZEC has worked to ensure that, in addition to filming in the Canary Islands, companies establish themselves in the archipelago and thus create “a more deeply rooted business fabric.”
"The Canary Islands' tax incentives for cinema are equivalent to a return of half of what is invested, between 45% and 54%"
In addition, the end of the limit on tax incentives for cinema approved this year by the Council of Ministers will favor the development of large film productions in the archipelago.
“Basically, films worth 250 million euros could be shot in the Canary Islands before” (to access these tax breaks). “That level of investment had never been reached. It was reached just last year.” Hence the decision to eliminate the limit.
The president of the ZEC recalls that there are tax incentives for cinema throughout Spain: “In the peninsula it is equivalent to a return of between 25% and 30% of what is invested, while in the Canary Islands it is approximately half of what is invested, between 45% and 54%.”
Another important factor that contributes to the growth of the ZEC is the fact that its renewal is now automatic within the Spanish legal system. Hernández explains that this internal legal certainty, regardless of the decisions that could be taken at community level, makes “investors calmer and companies show more interest in the ZEC.”
