Talent, tight labor costs and location, the keys that serve to position Alicante as a perfect enclave for companies in expansion or in the process of internationalization.
Alicante is becoming a technological and innovation ecosystem in the Mediterranean, hosting numerous digital companies and start-ups. In recent years, it is attracting high-level technology companies, especially from the IT industry, due to the many strengths they find in the city.
The main reasons in favour of these companies to settle in the city are the large number of coworking spaces, office spaces, business centers and industrial parks.
The industrial area of Atalayas is a large commercial enclave bringing together more than 220 companies with an annual turnover of well over 1,700 million euros and employing more than 6,000 people directly. The University of Alicante offers a constant source of talent in areas such as engineering, science, health, business, legal, social, arts and humanities. This institution manages to attract students from all over the world, boosting their professional careers. This, combined with the work it does in its on-campus science parks, connects the flow of knowledge and technology between the university, business and the marketplace.
“The University of Alicante offers a constant source of talent in areas such as engineering, science, health, business, legal, social, arts and humanities.”
The province is magnificently communicated by air, land and sea, where the city of Alicante plays a direct role in the latter two ways. The commercial port, the network of highways and freeways and the AVE high-speed train linking Alicante with Madrid are a clear example of this. The Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández International Airport, which links directly with the main cities in Europe, is the main reference point for air transport.
The labor cost of R&D jobs in the city of Alicante is another added value, being lower than in the main cities of Spain, Madrid and Barcelona. For instance, if a company was thinking about a software development center, hiring a senior developer would cost around 17% less in Alicante than in Madrid, the difference being much higher when comparing with other EU and US cities.
“Hiring a senior developer would cost about 17% less in Alicante than in Madrid”
In addition, the city is home to EUIPO, the European Union Intellectual Property Office, which is responsible for managing the EU trademark and registered Community design, bringing added value to companies.
These three axes of location, talent and costs, allow the city of Alicante to position itself as a perfect enclave for companies wishing to begin their expansion process or internationalize in Spain. These are ideal basic conditions, which make Alicante an attractive option, knowing in advance that new members joining this industrial ecosystem will have a soft landing in the Spanish market.
