Aragon must “take advantage of the wave” of investments to maintain economic growth

The 40 billion euros of investment announced this year are a great opportunity for Aragon, which can transform them to ensure future economic growth by acting as a pole of attraction for other activities. In the case of data centers , it would involve companies dedicated to sectors such as Artificial Intelligence that can take advantage of the proximity to these facilities and, with the Stellantis gigafactory, create a call effect for the auxiliary industry. An idea that has been conveyed by Ibercaja in the Presentation of the Aragonese Economy Magazine number 83, where they have raised the forecasts upwards, estimating 3% for 2024 and 2.1% for 2025 in the region.

“One of the challenges facing Aragon at the moment is to take advantage of the shockwave of investments to attract other activities. This is what will generate a sustained and recurring effect on the GDP in the coming years. Investment has a minor effect, but it can attract other activities that generate more,” said Enrique Barbero, Communications Director of the entity.

For his part, the head of Economic Analysis, Santiago Martínez, has clarified that the effects of these announcements will be reflected in the indicators “in the medium term”, ensuring that the gigafactory “will have more impact” than data centres or other investments linked to renewable energy. Precisely these last forecasts were made before the announcement of Stellantis, so they expect the final figure “to be somewhat better” than the one announced, although slightly. 

THE GIGAFACTORY WILL HAVE A GREATER IMPACT ON EMPLOYMENT THAN DATA CENTERS

In this regard, they have also addressed what investments will mean in terms of employment, which they have pointed out as one of the “limiters” of growth for next year due to the worse employment data (+1.8%) compared to Spain (+2.5%) and population trends, with an increasingly ageing region. In this regard, Barbero has assured that the gigafactory and other industrial investments will also be more relevant. 

“There is a disproportion between the magnitude of the investment and the direct job creation for the operation of the centres, as occurs with any infrastructure. Initially it is strong but then the operation requires less activity. The impact multipliers are going to be greater in the industry, both economically and in terms of job creation,” he stressed.

There is also concern about the lack of labour and available housing required for this type of investment. Professor Luis Fabra of the University of Zaragoza, who has written a special article in the magazine, has stated that new construction is “insufficient” , since the figure is around 3,000 properties per year while demand is “three times that”. The second-hand and rental market is also insufficient to maintain a balance while prices continue to reach new highs. 

A fact that could have consequences such as “losing new investment opportunities”, as well as not being able to meet those already announced. “We need to increase housing and improve the rental market, the population data is very clear”, he pointed out. Despite this, Fabra has highlighted that the situation of the Aragonese real estate market presents favourable data with respect to other communities, which would be an incentive to “attract companies and talent”.

For all these reasons, the entity has demanded action on all possible fronts to take advantage of an investment volume that they have described as “enormous”. “It is historic and the companies that are establishing themselves are diversified… they are looking at the region. We all have to ensure that this continues to be the case and that this asset continues to be differential”, concluded Barbero.