British investment in Catalonia up to €84 million

As the UK authorities struggle to negotiate over Brexit, investment from Britain into Catalonia rose to 84.8 million euros in the first quarter of this year, a significant increase on the 63.5 million euros in the same period in 2017.

A report from the Afi consultancy in conjunction with the British Chamber of Commerce in Spain also says that, directly and indirectly, UK firms provided work to some 34,188 people in Catalonia in 2016, almost 1% of the country's active workforce.

In the report's presentation on Thursday, Afi member José Manuel Amor said the perception of UK investors towards Spain "continues to be positive" despite the uncertainty surrounding the talks on Britain leaving the European Union.

Where Catalonia is concerned, Amor said that the figures reporting a rise in investment by British companies show that "there has been a continued commitment from British investors towards the Catalan economy."

By sector, the largest part of the investment from the UK went into construction and real estate, closely followed by wholesalers and support services.

"Growing interest" to invest in Catalonia 

The head of the Catalonia Trade & Investment agency, Joan Romero, said "there's been growing interest from British firms about coming to Catalonia," and suggested that Catalonia could act as a "center" for business for UK companies with Brexit on the horizon.

Romero also pointed out that Catalan exports to the UK had grown by 3%, to over four billion euros, with 3,300 companies exporting their products to the UK, some 2,200 of which do so on a regular basis.