Foreign investment in Spain reached 12.446 billion euros in the first half of 2026, up 31.2% from the same period a year earlier.
Madrid and Catalonia received the largest amounts, while Castilla-La Mancha attracted 129.2 million euros. Overseas capital reached several Spanish regions, but most remained concentrated in a handful of places. The official Datainvex series provides the national total and regional figures.
Madrid received 5.6357 billion euros, almost half of the national total. Catalonia followed with 2.3586 billion euros, up 68.5% from the first half of 2025.
Datainvex, maintained by the Secretaría de Estado de Comercio, is the primary source for the national and regional breakdown. Its statistics place regional figures within the same series used to identify leading investor countries, making it possible to compare where capital goes and where it comes from. Bloomberg reported that investment from the United States rose despite political tensions, pointing to the continued strength of the American role in Spain’s foreign-investment figures.
Valencia also recorded a large inflow, at 1.8458 billion euros. Andalucía reached 903.6 million euros, while Castilla y León recorded 425.2 million euros.
Other regional figures included 185.3 million euros for Aragón, 172.4 million for Galicia, 170.5 million for Canarias, 157.1 million for Asturias, 126.1 million for Baleares and 110.9 million for the Región de Murcia.
Castilla-La Mancha ranked below the basic investment destinations but ahead of several other regions. Its 129.2 million euros put it ahead of Baleares and the Región de Murcia, though it remained well behind the largest metropolitan economies.
Foreign capital was also closely tied to new business activity. Investment from the United States made up 23% of the total, rising 84% from the first half of 2025. The Ministry of Economy, Commerce and Enterprise cited strong American participation as evidence that major companies and international funds remain interested in Spain. No other country matched the United States in the breakdown provided.
New projects added to the positive figures. Investment classified as greenfield, covering new facilities and productive capacity, rose by more than 52%.
Greenfield and brownfield operations together accounted for 30.5% of foreign direct investment in the first half of the year. Almost one euro in three went to projects involving new or existing productive installations.
The wider business picture can be considered alongside an earlier fuel report on rising costs for Spain's hauliers. The figures here point in the opposite direction: capital is entering Spain, rather than companies facing a cost increase.
Separate data from fDi Markets ranked Spain fourth worldwide for the number of foreign investment projects received during the first seven months of 2026. Only the United States, the United Kingdom and India ranked higher. That comparison counts projects, not the euro value recorded by Datainvex, so the two measures should not be treated as identical.
Spain's result is strong but uneven. Madrid and Catalonia received the largest sums. The United States supplied 23% of the total, and productive projects accounted for 30.5% of investment. Castilla-La Mancha's 129.2 million euros show that foreign investment reaches beyond the two leading destinations, though the regional spread remains limited. Capital and new projects are entering Spain at scale, but the inflow remains concentrated in a few regions.
