Madrid, Spain News

About Madrid, Spain

Madrid is the business center of Spain and the headquarters for the Public Administration, Government, and the Spanish Parliament. The Spanish Royal Family also resides in Madrid. Madrid is renowned for its culture, tourism is also an important source of income for the region.

Many multi-national companies have chosen the city as a base for regional headquarters, operations and call centres. Siemens Nixdorf, IBM, Boeing (R&D), Schweppes and Time Warner are among many household names located in Madrid.

According to PromoMadrid, a division of the Regional Ministry of Economy and Employment, Madrid is the second most important industrial region in Spain and the undisputed centre for high technology. Foreign Direct Investment in Madrid consistently exceeds 60% of the national total.

The Madrid Chamber of Commerce (Camara Madrid) has a number of initiatives aimed toward investment in the city, an example of which, is the SUMA Consulting Service, a free I.T consultancy aimed at advising small to medium sized companies with regards to their I.T infrastructure.

Figures provided by PromoMadrid for 2003 show the GDP by sector for Madrid was, Services 76.2%, Industry 23.7% and Agriculture 0.2%. GDP growth was 3.4%.

Madrid has around 16 Universities and a number of other Colleges covering a vast number of subjects, which provides the cities employers with highly educated and motivated workers.

According to a European Chambers of Commerce Survey in 2004 the Madrid region has been classified as the European region with the best job creation and economic growth prospects.

The current workforce stands at around 2.6 million out of a population of 5.8 million, of which 30% are educated to degree level. Unemployment is the lowest in Spain, having decreased to 6.2% by September 2004.

Also the survey states, "Madrid offers a highly qualified, committed and adaptable workforce at significantly lower costs than the rest of western and northern Europe". The workforce is also very young, nearly 70% of the working population is under 45 years old.

Other Major Cities:

• Barcelona
• Valencia
• Sevilla
• Zaragoza
• Málaga
• Murcia
• Palma de Mallorca
• Las Palmas
• Bilbao
• Córdoba
• Alicante
• Valladolid