Chamber report shows Catalonia ahead of Madrid in attracting foreign investment

Catalonia tops the list in Spain for attracting productive foreign investment, accounting for 22.5% of the total, and refuting claims that the political situation has had a negative effect.

That is according to a study from the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, which also shows that the Madrid region accounts for 17% of productive foreign investment in Spain.

In fact, chamber head Joan Canadell said that "countering" the "fake news" put out by the Spanish government that Madrid attracts more investment was a motive for the report.

Backed by a pro-independence group, Canadell became chamber head in June, and he claimed the report shows the bid to split from Spain has not negatively affected investment. 

The study analyzed cumulative net investment stock "based on official and public data" but differs from Spanish government figures, which take gross capital flows into account.

According to chamber economist, Joan Ramon Rovira, using the data on gross investment makes it difficult to distinguish between financial and stock investments.

The report finds that the net value of productive stock linked to foreign investment came to 25.5 billion euros in 2017, making up 10% of Catalan GDP.

The study analyzed the 2003-2017 period, observing that Catalonia's share of foreign investment in Spain has varied little, from 23% in 2003 to 22.5% in 2017.