Spain’s government is giving Chinese companies a direct route into the country’s economy, speeding approvals for major investments as money from the United States and United Kingdom pulls back. Madrid is shifting its foreign investment strategy: Moncloa will handle all basic decisions, cutting through layers of bureaucracy that have frustrated foreign investors for years.
The new fast track sits with the Committee of Foreign Investments. Its job is to speed up permits and bring together authorizations that used to pass through a maze of local and regional offices. The prime minister’s economic office and the Ministry of Economy will now have almost all the power to approve or block billion-euro projects. For companies looking to enter Spain, the message is simple: win over Moncloa, and the rest falls into place.
Spain attracted 12.446 billion euros in gross foreign direct investment in the first half of 2026, a 31.2% increase over the previous year. The US accounted for 23% of the total and increased its investment by 84%, information from Registro de Inversiones Extranjeras (Datainvex).
This overhaul comes as Spain’s usual investment partners are pulling out. In the first half of the year, foreign divestment jumped to 9,038 million euros, three times last year’s figure and the highest since 2018. Most of this capital flight came from the UK and US, with companies from each country pulling more than 3,800 million euros. Although the US made up 23% of gross investment, its net contribution is now negative, as is the UK’s. Spanish economic publications point out that the gap between gross and net flows shows how complicated the investment picture has become.
Chinese investment remains small, just 2% of the total in 2025. The government wants to change that. Major announcements from Chery, BAIC, SAIC, CATL, Envision, Hithium, and Hygreen Energy have made headlines, but actual Chinese capital inflows remain low: just 55 million euros in the first half of the year, with almost no divestment. Over the last decade, Chinese companies have invested 7,611 million euros in Spain, but last year’s total was just 675.9 million. Reports from Spain’s Ministry of Economy say the new fast track aims to address these low figures by cutting approval times for major projects to about six months.
For Beijing, Spain now looks like a rare safe spot in the European Union. Once established in Spain, Chinese firms can avoid EU tariffs, especially on electric vehicles, and use the country as a base to reach the rest of Europe, where rules are getting tougher. The government’s new approach responds to complaints from Chinese investors about Spain’s slow bureaucracy and long waits for permits, which have often stalled or blocked major projects.
Spain ranked fourth globally by the number of new foreign investment projects in the first seven months of 2026, making it one of the EU’s top destinations for such projects, information from fDi Markets. The figures reflect growing international interest in Spain, extending beyond Chinese capital.
Madrid’s push to welcome Chinese capital is stirring debate. The European Commission has warned about the risks of closer economic ties with China, pointing to the growing trade deficit and possible threats to Europe’s control over basic technologies and industries. Brussels is tightening rules on cybersecurity and public contracts to protect European firms from outside competition, especially from countries outside NATO. Spain’s move is now seen as a challenge to EU unity and policy direction.
At the same time, the government is keeping its anti-takeover shield for another year and widening it to cover more sectors. It also aims to make EU company controls permanent. But the new fast track for foreign investment goes further: it takes away the veto power of local and regional authorities, putting decisions in the hands of the central government. This centralization has made some in the business world uneasy, with concerns that proximity to Moncloa could become the basic to getting big deals approved.
Despite the government’s upbeat tone, the numbers show a gap between promises and reality. Chinese firms have pledged nearly 7,900 million euros in five mega-projects over the last two years, but much of this money is still tied up in the pipeline. The hope is that the new fast track will unlock these deals and bring in new capital as Spain’s old allies head out.
Spain’s turn toward China matches broader changes in European trade. In Galicia, for example, imports from Asia have now passed those from the Americas. The government is betting that making Spain the EU’s easiest entry point for Chinese capital can make up for the loss of US and UK investors and provide a new driver for growth.
By centralizing power and favoring one group of investors, Spain could find itself at odds with both Brussels and Washington. The next few months will show whether Moncloa’s bet on Chinese money pays off or leaves Spain open to new problems in a changing world.
