Currently, there are 65 companies in Lanzarote that came to take advantage of the ZEC benefits. And the trend is that there are more and more.
Among other advantages, the ZEC, whose main objective is to diversify the archipelago's economy, guarantees companies a reduced corporate tax of 4%.
"Although not all of them survive, as in any business environment, about ten new companies land in Lanzarote every year" to take advantage of the tax benefits of the ZEC, explains Pablo Hernández, president of the Canary Islands Special Zone (ZEC).
"Lanzarote has doubled the rate of arrivals, if before 5 arrived per year, now it is ten," says Hernández, who also highlights that, proportionally, more companies are arriving in Lanzarote than in other islands.
The president of the ZEC explains that not only has there been a generalized growth in the rate of incorporation, but also "the quality of the profile of the companies that are incorporated and their sustainability over time has improved".
In 2024 alone, 125 new companies arrived in the archipelago to take advantage of the ZEC benefits, totaling 895 entities that employ 11,045 people in the Canary Islands and invoice more than 3.2 billion euros per year.
The most important sectors in which the companies covered by the ZEC are focused are software development, audiovisual, video games, animation and special effects, logistics and wholesale trade.
Those that arrive in Lanzarote are mainly companies from the audiovisual and technology sectors. "Technologies of all kinds, advanced software development in transport or health, related to water cycles, online marketing, agriculture, digital ticket sales..."
In audiovisual, apart from the companies that come to film, "we have developed a strategy to attract companies to manage intellectual property from here and several have settled in Lanzarote".
In addition, Hernández anticipates that "in the not too distant future there will probably be news of some relatively large production that will be managed from Lanzarote".
He also highlights the "possibilities of Lanzarote to attract tourism intelligence companies in the very near future. Companies that sell tourism knowledge, how tourists consume, how they behave, what kind of services they want in the room, how they move around..."
Asked about the reasons why more and more businesses are arriving in the Canary Islands, Hernández highlights "the improvement of legal certainty with regulatory changes, with consistent criteria on the profiles of companies that can be incorporated, and disseminating all the regulations, jurisprudence and instruments so that everyone is clear about the rules of the game in the ZEC".
The president of the ZEC also highlights the work carried out to create synergies between the companies themselves and with research centers such as the Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute, the universities, the PLOCA or the Canary Islands Oceanographic Institute.
Thirdly, Hernández highlights the promotion tasks abroad. Among the fairs where they attract investors, he highlights as particularly productive those of video games, audiovisual and animation, aerospace sector, biomedical research, web and tourism technologies.
Another meeting with great impact, explains Hernández, is the fair of the International Fiscal Association, in which the ZEC representatives share with tax advisors from all over the world the advantages of the Canary Islands so that they can advise companies.