2023-11-09 17:30:18
One of the points included in the agreement between the PSOE and Junts for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez refers to the flight from company headquarters suffered by Catalonia, especially in 2017, due to the referendum declared illegal by the Constitutional Court. The document provides “a plan to facilitate and promote the return to Catalonia of the headquarters of companies that changed their location to other territories in recent years”.
Since the 1-O stage, some 5,200 offices have left Catalonia and some 2,500 have disembarked. In the same period, the process in the Community of Madrid has been the opposite, with a positive balance of 1,749 registered offices, the result of the arrival of 8,037 and the departure of 6,288 during this period.
What mechanism facilitated the departure of venues in 2017?
With the referendum of October 1, 2017, there was a real exit tsunami of company headquarters in Catalonia. The massive escape lasted during the months of October and November of that year. Among them, those owned by La Caixa, which like other companies, had asked the then Minister of Economy, Luis de Guindos, a legal change to facilitate that move. A royal decree approved by the Government of Mariano Rajoy (PP) facilitated the rapid change of residence of a company, so that the decision could be made by the board of directors, without having to go through the procedure of a shareholders’ meeting, even if the company’s statutes stated otherwise. . The entities that were in the greatest hurry to carry out this movement were the banks, which could not afford to run the risk of being even a tenth of a second outside the euro zone. CaixaBank moved its headquarters to Valencia and Banco Sabadellto Alicante.
What companies initiated the change of residence?
On October 4, 2017 it all began. Oryzon, the biotechnology company founded by Carlos Buesa, started the dance that day by announcing that it was taking its headquarters to Madrid. This company was followed by Banco Sabadell, which announced the transfer of its headquarters to Alicante, taking advantage of the headquarters of the former Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo (CAM), on October 5; like CaixaBank, which chose to locate its headquarters in the old Banco de València and has established itself in the capital of Túria after absorbing Bankia. The next day, October 7, La Caixa Foundation and its investee company, Criteriaannounced the transfer of their headquarters to Palma de Mallorca and that same day, agbar It did the same and opted for Madrid, although in September 2018 it returned the headquarters of its parent company, SGAB, to Barcelona. Also Abertis, Cellnex or Colonial They opted for the capital of Spain. The advertisements continued with Gaesco, SegurCaixa Adeslas or VidaCaixa, October 9th; or the next day by Catalana Occidente (hoy Occident), Planeta, Indukern o Edreams, all of them to Madrid; as well as Idilia Foods (Cola-Cao, Nocilla), on October 11, who opted for València. And the dance continued with Bimbo Iberia, Applusa Madrid; quail to Haro (La Rioja); The Golden Witch, to Pamplona or the Rooster Group to El Carpio (Córdoba), as well as Ordesa Laboratoriesto Huesca; Cementos Molinsto Madrid, with legal disputes between family shareholders included, among others.
What has been the subsequent evolution?
The worst year was 2017. Currently, the balance between the business headquarters that leave and those that land in the community continues to be favorable to the former, that is, those that leave. So far this year, until September 30, 679 companies have packed their bags, while those that have opted for Catalonia are 571, which gives a negative balance of 108, according to data from the registrars’ associations. In total, in the same period, the Community of Madrid, although it has lost strength and even lost more than it gained in the second quarter, registers a net increase of 17 venues, having registered 1,293 until September 30 and 1,276 Departures. Since 2017, the year of the 1-O referendum, more than 5,200 offices have left and, on the other hand, throughout this period more than 2,500 have chosen to locate in Catalonia, according to data from the Commercial Registry. In Madrid, exactly the opposite happens, with the exception of last year in which a testimonial change was recorded in the last quarter, with 376 departures and 373 arrivals and in the second quarter of the current year. Throughout this period, the community of the capital of Spain has accumulated a positive balance of 1,749 registered offices, the result of the arrival of 8,037 and the departure of 6,288 during this period.
Have there been attempts to attract those who will move?
Although initially, the current president Peter Aragonés He was in favor of carrying out some action to target companies that changed headquarters, later this was ruled out. The Generalitat’s argument was that this would be discriminatory with respect to companies that maintained their headquarters in Catalonia. For example, two Ibex companies, Fluidra and Grífols, chose to stay, along with many others. In any case, this is an issue that continues to worry the business world, although it has not translated into the progress of operational headquarters, but yes in the loss of shareholder meetings or boards of directors. The new president of the Chamber of Barcelona, Joseph Santacreu, considers that it is necessary to attract companies that have moved their headquarters. Also the president of Foment del Treball, Josep Sánchez Bookhe recently claimed during the presentation of awards and medals of honor of this employer. “economic stability” so that companies that changed their headquarters after the October 1 referendum return to Catalonia. Working to achieve the return of many of the headquarters that moved was one of Sánchez Llibre’s electoral commitments when he became president in 2018 and did so again after last year’s elections. “This is where they should be,” he sentenced.
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