Nadia Calviño presented the 2024 results for Spain at a press conference in Madrid on 19 February 2025.
Good morning,
Thank you very much to Lucas and to the European Commission for letting us use this wonderful space once again this year to present the annual results for 2024.
I am joined by Director General and Head of Operations Jean Christophe Laloux, European Investment Fund Chief Investment Officer Marco Marrone, Head of EIB Group activity in Spain María Serrano and Head of the EIB Group local office in Spain Fernando Torija. We are here to present the results for 2024, which was a great success in both quantitative and qualitative terms. It was a year in which:
- We invested a total of €89 billion, 90% of which was invested in the European Union.
- We set records regarding green finance, finance for energy and innovation, venture capital finance, and investment in cohesion regions.
- We doubled our investments in security and defence.
- We provided financing for key flagship projects for Spain and for Europe.
- And we consolidated the Group's strategic direction in order to maximise our contribution to making Europe more competitive and secure at a historically significant time and in a particularly complex geopolitical environment.
In short, in 2024 we prepared ourselves to ensure we can provide as much support as possible to the new political cycle that has just begun in the European Union.
With this in mind, once again in 2024, Spain was among the countries that received the most financing from the EIB Group with over €12.3 billion, which has mobilised investment totalling €45 billion – equal to around 3% of Spain's gross domestic product.
The number one priority was and still is to consolidate the EIB’s role as the climate bank.
Of every ten euros invested in Spain in 2024, six euros went to supporting the green transition, an area that has received a record investment of more than €7.2 billion.
We are all aware – and in Spain especially so – of the increasing costs resulting from climate change impacts. People are becoming increasingly aware of the need to invest in prevention and resilience measures for climate events.
Every euro invested in prevention saves between five and seven euros in damage repair costs, not to mention the injuries and loss of life and other unrecoverable costs caused by these events.
With this in mind, I would like to highlight the EIB Group’s rapid response, as it immediately contacted the autonomous communities of Valencia and Castilla La Mancha, the areas that were most affected by the devastating flooding in October.
From the very outset, we have been in contact with the national and regional authorities to provide the necessary resources and to support infrastructure reconstruction projects, helping to build back better.
We are still in constant dialogue with central government and the affected communities to allocate financing where it is most needed, and the EIB will address any financing requests as swiftly as possible.
Beyond targeted financial support in catastrophic situations, the EIB also has a fundamental role in financing infrastructure projects.
In this regard, I want to highlight the fact that Spain received more EIB Group financing for the energy sector than any other European country in 2024, benefiting from over €5 billion in financing that is set to mobilise more than €15 billion in investment.
More specifically, in 2024, we doubled investment in distribution, transport and storage networks, which are key to bolstering security and competitiveness.
Europe clearly needs to scale up investment in energy security and infrastructure, as well as support for the sectors that are most affected. It is also important to invest in research and technological innovation as part of the green transition.
Spain plays a vital role in this area, and I am proud to say that the EIB Group is making a decisive contribution to this, as these figures show. The projects we finance reinforce energy security along the entire value chain, from renewable energy generation, energy efficiency, distribution networks and cleantech innovation, to the manufacture of parts required to generate renewable energy.
In 2024, the EIB Group also made record investments in water management infrastructure in Spain, providing up to ten times more than the average it has invested in previous years. These investments supported projects like the one I had the opportunity to visit last year in Barcelona, which concerned the city’s water supply.
Moving forward, we are working on a specific Europe-wide water programme worth around €4.5 billion to make our continent more resilient to droughts and flooding, which are increasingly common across Europe.
With regard to social infrastructure, the EIB provides financing for investments in priority areas to improve people’s well-being.
In 2024, one in every three euros that the EIB provided for housing went to Spain. Through various financial instruments, Spain received a record €1 billion for housing – channelled through the main banks, autonomous communities and municipalities.
We supported loans to small affordable housing developers, helped banks provide green mortgages to enable people to buy and refurbish a property, and also supported social housing developments, some of which I visited in Valencia and Barcelona last year.
Another concrete example is our financing of hospitals and health centres, benefiting more than 4 million people in Spain. We also provide financing for cutting-edge research and innovation projects in the biomedical sector.
For instance, just last week we announced a loan to Amadix, a company undertaking an innovative cancer detection project, with other investments in this area to follow in the future. We have provided financing for investments made by the autonomous community of Madrid to improve primary care, and we will soon sign an agreement with the Xunta de Galicia to renovate A Coruña hospital.
We also invested more in education than in previous years, providing more than €540 million for primary and secondary schools in a number of autonomous communities, including Andalusia, Catalonia, Castilla y León, Galicia, Madrid and Valencia. We have also set up partnerships, such as the one with Quotanda, a Spanish fintech company aiming to boost employment and reskilling opportunities for young people.
We provided nearly €1 billion in 2024 to improve mobility in cities by investing in transport networks, while focusing on sustainability – an investment with a clear positive impact on people’s lives.
Examples include projects to expand the electric bus fleets in Madrid and Valencia, support for high-speed rail infrastructure projects such as Y vasca, working with Aena to improve facilities in important airports – such as the one in Palma de Mallorca – and also improving port infrastructure, such as that in Bilbao.
In 2024, the EIB Group provided more than €2.4 billion in financing for cutting-edge innovation projects in Spain in the scientific and medical fields, to improve industrial processes, and in the biotechnology sector.
The European Investment Fund works with 12 venture capital funds to support innovative companies. It supports technology transfer in universities and research centres and early-stage startups in Spain operating in vital sectors, such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, robotics, space and health (healthtech).
The EIF offers key support for the Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem, providing one in every five euros raised by investment funds in Spain in 2024.
The EIF doubled its support for Spanish startups in 2024, covering their entire growth cycle.
The European Tech Champions Initiative deserves a special mention. It has had a big impact in Spain, helping to create an investment fund ecosystem to scale up startups in Europe. Ultimately, the aim is to ensure that innovative ideas, technologies and companies that are born in Europe can develop, grow and stay in Europe.
In 2024, investments made by the European Investment Fund made it possible to launch Kembara, the first €1 billion Spanish mega fund that aims to support businesses across Europe. And this operation has had a significant impact, stimulating growth in the venture capital market in Spain.
In 2025, we hope to invest in a second Spanish mega fund.
Spanish startups are also benefiting from funds in other countries that have received support.
In fact, I can announce that thanks to this initiative, a capital investment has been signed with another innovative Spanish company called TravelPerk, which offers digital solutions for the business travel sector.
This operation means that we have now invested €300 million in three Spanish startups under this EIB Group-driven initiative, enabling them to develop and grow.
The EIB not only boosts startups, but also supports small and medium-sized enterprises.
In 2024, the EIB Group provided over €2.7 billion – channelled through the main banks in Spain as well as other finance institutions – to support projects carried out by 186 800 SMEs and mid-caps that have benefited from good financing conditions. This financing helped to secure 2.4 million jobs.
Around 20% of EIF-supported European SMEs are in Spain. This highlights how important the EIB Group considers Spain, and also underlines the impact of the financing that it supports in our country. The Group has a growing emphasis on the social economy – promoting integration, microfinancing, and entrepreneurship among women, while also helping students to enter the workforce and supporting business development in rural locations, an area in which the EIB Group is playing an increasingly important role.
Economic and social cohesion is another of the EIB Group's strategic priorities, providing €6.13 billion in financing for areas in Spain where per capita income is below the European average – a record financing figure making up 50% of the EIB Group's total financing in Spain. This demonstrates that the Group’s investments cover the whole country, boosting green projects, innovation and agricultural development, while also supporting the implementation of infrastructure projects.
On this map, you can see examples of the projects that best encapsulate our activity in Spain in 2024.
- These include high-speed rail infrastructure projects, such as Y vasca.
- As well as operations to expand and modernise electricity networks throughout the country.
- Also relevant are projects for renewable energy generation and storage, such as the cutting-edge project in Gran Canaria, which involves the Salto de Chira pumped-storage hydro plant, solar energy and a desalination facility.
- Other examples include support for research on the use of blood tests for early cancer detection, an area that we will continue to invest in going forward.
- As well as research on brain implants for the treatment of neurological diseases, such as Parkinson's disease.
- We also supported the construction of affordable and sustainable housing.
- And advanced manufacturing processes for parts required to generate wind energy.
- We invested in an immunology research centre.
- In water supply infrastructure.
- In biological pest control in agriculture.
- And helped to roll out low-orbit satellites.
- And, as I mentioned earlier, we supported 186 000 SMEs through agreements with the main financial institutions in Spain.
- We also supported projects in companies in the automotive industry – an important sector and technology area in our country.
I would like to bring this presentation to a close by highlighting our priorities for 2025.
The EIB will continue to play a key role as a catalyst for strategic investments – in both the public and private sectors – supporting Europe's strategic priorities and the political priorities outlined by the new European Commission, with a focus on five points:
1. Energy
First of all, energy. I plan to visit the Salto de Chira project in Gran Canaria in the coming months. It is a flagship project that could be very important for Spain’s strategic autonomy and that of other island territories. This year, we hope to boost investment in cross-border connections, while continuing to support renewable energy generation, and the transmission, distribution and storage infrastructure that it requires.
2. Innovation and technology
There is so much talent in Europe and in Spain, boasting leading research centres and world-class startups. There is no reason for us to envy other technological superpowers.
At the EIB, we are working on a TechEU platform that will make it possible to channel private investment into European companies and EU projects, closing in the gaps in companies’ life cycles and in innovation. There are many innovative projects currently underway in Spain in the field of disruptive technologies, and this must make us confident about the future. The EIB Group will remain a strategic partner in this area.
3. Social infrastructure, support for housing
Thirdly, we will work on social infrastructure, with a particular focus on housing. As you know, we are working with the European Commission on a pan-European housing platform to mobilise all key players and tackle this very important challenge. At the EIB, we will act in three key areas: (i) the development of new techniques and materials in the housing sector, (ii) the refurbishment and improved energy efficiency of the available building stock across Europe, and (iii) the construction of new affordable housing developments to facilitate access to housing, especially for younger people.
4. Agriculture and water management
We will continue to strengthen our support for the water sector, which is critical for Spain.
Just this week, we announced the first investment in a specific Spanish agri-food fund called Impact Bridge with CDTI. It is a fund that will support Spanish SMEs in the agri-food sector that are committed to sustainability and innovation.
5. Recovery and Resilience Fund
We are already at cruising speed in our efforts to roll out the instruments that were launched with EU funds, along with the Ministry of Economy and Trade and the autonomous communities.
In just six months we have approved key projects in areas such as electricity distribution networks, education, health and water, and to support SMEs in projects to boost innovation, digitalisation and sustainability.
The high demand we have experienced reflects the success of the instruments in place. This inspires hope for the continued allocation of NextGeneration funds in partnership with autonomous communities in Spain.
I have summarised the highlights of our activity during my first year as president of the EIB Group.
2024 was a year of records and strategic redirection for the Group, enabling it to engage fully with its role as the financial arm of the European Union at such a key time in history.
Without further ado, I welcome any questions you may have. Thank you very much.