SPEGC launches its 'Relocation Guide - Moving to Gran Canaria' aimed at professionals, expats and remote workers
The Economic Development Agency of Gran Canaria (‘Sociedad de Promoción Económica de Gran Canaria’ - SPEGC) recently launched a ‘Moving to Gran Canaria’ - Relocation Guide through its 'Best in Gran Canaria’ investment attraction initiative.
This guide provides all the information they need to establish their professional activity on the island, ensuring smooth and hassle-free adaptation to their new home: Gran Canaria. The guide places a firm emphasis on providing practical information from the viewpoint of relocated employees, expatriates, professionals and remote workers, facilitating their arrival on the island and minimising uncertainties in a relocation process which on many occasions includes family members and children.
Gran Canaria is a leading destination for global business and research projects, but it also offers a series of advantages that make it a unique destination to pursue a personal and family life with every guarantee of success and personal satisfaction. With its combination of quality infrastructure, digital connectivity, cost of living, climate, healthcare and legal security, Gran Canaria is an international hub where professional development and the pleasure of disconnection go hand in hand.
SPEGC has years of experience providing assistance for projects and people wishing to establish a base in Gran Canaria. This guide draws on this knowledge to propose a novel way of approaching the soft landing process in Gran Canaria. The document includes a unique Reading Guide with a recommended checklist of tasks and formalities before, during and after settling on the island (visas, identification documents - NIE, social security, municipal registration, taxes, etc.), along with advice and solutions for all the typical matters that must be dealt with by families planning to relocate in Gran Canaria (housing, areas to live, health, transport, etc.). It is an extensive yet practical compendium of all the technical, legal and administrative matters that professionals and their families encounter during the relocation process: although it offers very detailed information, the Reading Guide provides users with quick access to the knowledge they may need at any given moment. The technical information is grouped according to different profiles, whether workers moving for a short period of time or indefinite/long-term relocations. In addition, the guide has a dynamic and user-friendly approach that makes it easy to read, as well as including a printable checklist to facilitate the follow-up of pending tasks.
In pursuit of its mission of stimulating and promoting local economic development, the SPEGC and 'Best in Gran Canaria' place emphasis on accompanying and supporting professionals who choose Gran Canaria to pursue their life projects. Gran Canaria is an open, globally connected destination renowned for its hospitality and cosmopolitan lifestyle.
SPEGC also offers training activities in areas such as entrepreneurship, innovation and internationalisation, as well as an advisory service for companies establishing themselves on the island and support for business creation and consolidation initiatives.
‘Best in Gran Canaria’ launches a workshop about how to finance R&D and Technological Innovation activities in Gran Canaria (and how to best combine direct and indirect aid)
Professional event
- Registration deadline: 19/04/2021 4 pm
- Date: 20/04/2021 10:30 am - 12 pm
- Duration: 1.5 hours.
- Mode: Online
Useful information
- Price: Free
- Language: Spanish (VoD in English)
- Registration: SPEGC website
Tax incentives consisting of deductions for R&D and/or technological innovation projects may be combined with direct credit facilities for R&D activities and optimised during the project life cycle, or even in subsequent operational phases of the resulting technology.
In addition, thanks to its special Economic and Tax Regime the Canary Islands offer even more beneficial tax terms than the rest of Spain.
‘Best in Gran Canaria’ and SPEGC (Sociedad de Promoción Económica de Gran Canaria), provide information and advice on how to make the best possible use of these tax and financing incentives for R&D and innovation activities, including a specific Business Support Service (Servicio de Apoyo a Empresas - SAE) specialising in these matters. The SPEGC is also responsible for delivering information at regional level via the PIDi network of the Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI).
Objectives
The aim of this workshop is to highlight these benefits, provide more detailed information regarding the different direct and indirect tax incentives available and offer a series of guidelines and recommendations for their processing and management.
Target audience
All companies carrying out R&D or technological innovation activities in the Canary Islands.
Programme
- 10:30 am: Current context of R&D and innovation technology incentives in Gran Canaria, Cosme García Falcón, Managing Director (Sociedad de Promoción Económica de Gran Canaria -SPEGC).
- 10:40 am: Direct aid by the CDTI for R&D and technological innovation, (Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial - CDTI).
- 11:00 am: Intensity of the Tax Deduction in the Canary Islands for R&D and Technological Innovation. Case study: combination of direct and indirect aid, Eduardo García de La Santa, Head of Expansion at INCOTEC.
- 11:45 am: Certification of R+D and Technological Innovation activities in the Canary Islands by the Spanish Innovation Certification Agency (Agencia de Certificación en Innovación Española - ACIE).
- 12:00 pm: Q&A
Gran Canaria: A unique regulatory environment to develop innovative projects, particularly for SMEs
Spain’s places third in Europe in terms of fiscal tax support for R&D projects, according to the OECD annual report for 2020. It is thus not surprising that the Canary Islands, thanks to its increased deduction percentages over the rest of the national territory, should be considered as the most advantageous tax system in Europe and, possibly, one of the best in the world.
This is possible thanks to the special 'Economic and Fiscal Regime' of the Canary Islands, which allows for increased deduction percentages on eligible expenses and extended tax quota limit, compared to the rest of the national territory, as follows:
| Canary Islands | Resto of Spain | |
| Deduction for ‘Technological Innovation’ | 45% | 12% |
| 'Deduction for R&D activities’ | Up to 75.6% | Up to 42% |
| Research staff salaries | +17% | +37% |
| Investments in fix assets for R&D activities | +28% | +8% |
| Quota limit (max. aggregate deduction to be applied) | Up to 90% | Up to 50% |
This tax shelter incorporates multiple benefits as it has been specifically designed to encourage innovative and disruptive ventures:
• It contemplates a category that is not considered by the tax regimes of other neighbouring countries: the deduction for ‘Technological Innovation’. It encompasses any technological advance in obtaining new products or production processes or the development of substantial improvements to existing processes, including first non-commercial prototypes and initial demonstration/pilot projects, including those related to animation and videogames. Hence, it allows for fiscal support to projects that would not qualify as pure R&D.
• A wide range of projects can benefit from these deductions, regardless of the economic sector that would apply the technological improvement or the maturity/TRL of the project.
• It has been especially designed for SMEs, as they can benefit both from the ‘deduction for technological innovation’ and a direct discount on Social Security contributions for the employees directly involved in the innovative venture (40% reduction in business contributions to the Social Security).
This smart combination (deduction accompanied by a reduction in Social Security contributions) applies to SMEs with labelled as ‘Innovative SME’ and results in a boost to the design and development of innovative projects within the company.
Gran Canaria not only offers technical resources, infrastructures/facilities and an ecosystem dedicated to R&D, but it also has the human resources necessary to undertake related projects. ‘Best in Gran Canaria’ by means of the Agency for the Economic Development of Gran Canaria (SPEGC) offers a ‘Support Service for Companies’ (SAE, it its Spanish acronym). It is a dedicated advisory service, aimed at local start-ups, companies and innovation professionals, but also at international projects that are looking for the ideal research base to test and validate their proposals.
Gran Canaria: A unique regulatory environment to develop innovative projects, particularly for SMEs
Spain’s places third in Europe in terms of fiscal tax support for R&D projects, according to the OECD annual report for 2020. It is thus not surprising that the Canary Islands, thanks to its increased deduction percentages over the rest of the national territory, should be considered as the most advantageous tax system in Europe and, possibly, one of the best in the world.
This is possible thanks to the special Economic and Fiscal Regime of the Canary Islands, which allows for increased deduction percentages on eligible expenses and extended tax quota limit, compared to the rest of the national territory, as follows:
| Canary Islands | Resto of Spain | |
| Deduction for ‘Technological Innovation’ | 45% | 12% |
| 'Deduction for R&D activities’ | Up to 75.6% | Up to 42% |
| Research staff salaries | +17% | +37% |
| Investments in fix assets for R&D activities | +28% | +8% |
| Quota limit (max. aggregate deduction to be applied) | Up to 90% | Up to 50% |
This tax shelter incorporates multiple benefits as it has been specifically designed to encourage innovative and disruptive ventures:
• It contemplates a category that is not considered by the tax regimes of other neighbouring countries: the deduction for ‘Technological Innovation’. It encompasses any technological advance in obtaining new products or production processes or the development of substantial improvements to existing processes, including first non-commercial prototypes and initial demonstration/pilot projects, including those related to animation and videogames. Hence, it allows for fiscal support to projects that would not qualify as pure R&D.
• A wide range of projects can benefit from these deductions, regardless of the economic sector that would apply the technological improvement or the maturity/TRL of the project.
• It has been especially designed for SMEs, as they can benefit both from the ‘deduction for technological innovation’ and a direct discount on Social Security contributions for the employees directly involved in the innovative venture (40% reduction in business contributions to the Social Security).
This smart combination (deduction accompanied by a reduction in Social Security contributions) applies to SMEs with labelled as ‘Innovative SME’ and results in a boost to the design and development of innovative projects within the company.
Gran Canaria not only offers technical resources, infrastructures/facilities and an ecosystem dedicated to R&D, but it also has the human resources necessary to undertake related projects.
‘Best in Gran Canaria’ by means of the Agency for the Economic Development of Gran Canaria (SPEGC) offers a ‘Support Service for Companies’ (SAE, it its Spanish acronym). It is a dedicated advisory service, aimed at local start-ups, companies and innovation professionals, but also at international projects that are looking for the ideal research base to test and validate their proposals.
Port of Las Palmas: strategic location for the offshore
The Spanish National Public broadcaster (Televisión Española – RTVE) shows in its programme “Port of Gran Canaria: strategic location for the offshore” the important role played by the Port of Las Palmas in the Oil & Gas and offshore energy sector, most remarkably during the global activity downfall caused by 2020’s synchronous oil and health crisis.
The Port of Las Palmas -situated on the north-eastern tip of Gran Canaria- is considered a strategic centre for the Oil & Gas sector and reports the highest connectivity rate of the region, as it serves as a connection point between Europe, Africa and the Americas. Port customers value its wide range of repair and supply services, but also the technical, legal and health auxiliary services embedded into the business value position of Gran Canaria. These factors have contributed to making Las Palmas Port a consistent base for a large number of global energy operators, which carry out maintenance, repair and commissioning operations within the port premises.
Gran Canaria is not only a reference for the O&G sector, but also for the assembly, repair and retrofitting of equipment for offshore wind energy, in addition to providing services to PSVs, seismic and scientific-vessels.
The largest bulk of these activities are carried out by the local business ecosystem: the demanding technical requirements and quality standards of both industries have led to the development of a highly skilled pool of local talent and companies that pursue the highest standards of excellence. There is thus a multiplier effect implied: the increased experience leads to larger and more complex projects steadily arriving to the island. The Port of Las Palmas is now among the
selected group of ports fully capable of catering to the needs of the Oil & Gas sector, readily positioned to attend the expected reactivation in 2021.
The Port Authority of Las Palmas, the Free Trade Zone of Gran Canaria and the Cabildo of Gran Canaria (Sociedad de Promoción Económica de Gran Canaria) work together through the ’Best in Gran Canaria’ initiative to promote the advantages associated with operating from a competitive & safe maritime hub.
Gran Canaria: on top of the national ranking for digital nomads
Gran Canaria has started 2021 strongly in the world of remote work, with the island being rated by professionals from the sector as the top Spanish destination on the leading portal for digital nomads, Nomad List.
In February 2021, Gran Canaria not only was the highest-ranked Spanish destination, it also occupied the sixth place in the global ranking (Tenerife ranked 10th while Barcelona was validated on the 15th position).
Gran Canaria showed the third-highest digital connectivity rate among the top destinations, ranked just behind Singapore and Berlin.
Nomad List (www.nomadlist.com) is a dynamic ranking with real-time updates that reflects the opinions and valuations of its vast network of users. In 2020, as many as 1 million digital nomads shared information on their favourite destinations. A total of 1,354 cities in 195 countries receive continuous evaluation of their quality as work and leisure destinations.
Gran Canaria performed remarkably well in the most valued attributes: cost of living, climate and connectivity. It also scored above average in other features such as security, diversity/LGBTQ+ friendliness and air quality.
Gran Canaria, and in particular the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, stands out due to the excellent climate, the range of coworking spaces, the quality of life and the healthcare system.
The Economic Development Agency of Gran Canaria (SPEGCm in its Spanish acronym) is a local agency that is firmly committed to raising awareness of the island and promote local economic performance through its ‘Best in Gran Canaria’ initiative. It also actively works to attract business projects and entrepreneurs, particularly those working in the field of technology and innovation.
The SPEGC participates this week in the first online version of Kidscreen Summit 2021
The Agency for Economic development of Gran Canaria (SPEGC) through the Gran Canaria Film Commission (GCFC) participates this week in the first online version of Kidscreen Summit 2021, the most important event for the children's entertainment industry, with the aim of promoting “Gran Canaria, the Island for animation” and its advantages for the animation industry at an international level.
Kidscreen Summit 2021, is held for the first time entirely in online format and will run from February 8th to March 5th. The first week of February from the 8 th to the -12th will be the time when the children's entertainment industry has meetings between companies and professionals and in the remaining weeks events and conferences dedicated to the latest trends in the international animation industry will take place.
This summit will bring together nearly 2,000 attendees from more than 54 countries, including content creators, distributors, industry executives, professionals and producers from the animation industry from around the world. Gran Canaria attends this market again to continue promoting the opportunities that the Island offers for the animation industry.
This year the Gran Canaria Film Commission will have its own “meeting suite”, supporting the local studios Ánima, Birdland, Koyi and Futurum Kids, where each of them will have a meeting room. As usual, the GCCF also attends the summit under the umbrella of Canary Islands Film together with other Canary Islands entities dedicated to attracting investment. in professional meetings with different professionals in the sector.
The differential factor is stated by the solid relationship between Kidscreen and Gran Canaria: after several years participating in the event, Gran Canaria once again attends the star forum of the American market with a prominent position, with its own Suite and delegation and with the will to give learn about new fiscal and production opportunities. This strategy of linking with the main animation design and production markets has been particularly satisfactory for the local industry: up to 7 studios and 150 professionals have chosen the island as their base of operations, from where they produce content of international scope.
Without a doubt, Kidscreen Summit is a perfect showcase for the promotion of “Gran Canaria the island for animation”.
Link with further information about Kidscreen 2021 online edition:
https://summit.kidscreen.com/2021/
The SPEGC provides online advice for workers and businesses planning on making the move to Gran Canaria
The Corporation for the Economic Development of Gran Canaria has reactivated its Softlanding Service for businesses looking to establish themselves in Gran Canaria. After a hiatus of various months due to the health crisis, we have recommenced our efforts to attract companies to Gran Canaria, reinforcing the service to provide advice regarding the administrative procedures involved for workers and companies that have begun the process to base themselves on the island.
The aim of this Softlanding Service is to facilitate the process for employees and also to offer added value for companies, which appreciate the SPEGC’s involvement to ensure their workers are duly received and establish themselves satisfactorily.
The service is not only for businesses and their employees but also for remote workers who plan on basing themselves temporarily in Gran Canaria.
So far, three online 1.5 hour workshops have been offered for a total of around 30 workers. During these sessions, workers are given advice regarding administrative procedures such as obtaining work visas and tax numbers, Social Security and municipal registration, along with general information on the different residential zones, transport, health and education services and general aspects of life on the island.
A direct email contact has also been established for workers looking to move to Gran Canaria to resolve any doubts relating to accommodation during their first days on the island, the best residential zones, means of transport available, the necessary documentation to enter into a lease agreement, validity of driver’s licences, procedures for registration of vehicles and Customs procedures, among other information.
This soft landing advice is provided to businesses as part of the Business Support Service (SAE) offered by the SPEGC to businesses and individuals who need guidance to launch new businesses or implement innovation or internationalisation projects.
FuturumKids plans to establish its global HQ in Gran Canaria
State-of-the art animation and media company FuturumKids has announced plans to establish a global HQ for its growing list of future productions. From 1 October FuturumKids will be based in Gran Canaria where its new HQ will house both the company’s main offices and a full animation studio.
FuturumKids is a specialist producer of children’s and family media content targeting the global TV market. While production on the first series of Paddles, its delightful new CGI animated show for four-to-seven-year-olds, has been continuing in London and Dublin, the company has been looking to establish a single global HQ to meet its future needs. This was planned as a long-term move, enabling the company to develop and produce a number of projects in one place over an extended period.
With this in mind, FuturumKids has been carrying out regular meetings with representatives of local government and film commissions in Dublin, London, Belfast, Brussels and other animation hubs. The eventual choice of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was based on a number of factors including tax breaks, incentives, labour availability and support on the ground.
Gran Canaria made a strong showing in all these fields; tax incentives, which covered 50 per cent of production costs, proved a particularly important consideration for FuturumKids in its plans for addressing what is a very competitive market.
The first production at the new FuturumKids HQ will be Ling Ling, a 52 x 11 CGI series recently showcased at Cartoon Forum. This charming and funny new show tells the story of a lively little girl panda recently arrived in Ireland from Shanghai and how she adjusts to life at her new school.
Paddles series two will be another project undertaken at the Las Palmas HQ. Paddles is the story of a polar bear cub accidentally delivered by the Stork to a frozen River Shannon in Ireland – and brought up by a pack of Irish wolfhounds. Through the adventures, mistakes and discoveries of its funny and huggable star, and his friends Bracken, Bridie and Fagan, Paddles shows its young audience that being different is something to be celebrated and enjoyed. Series one of Paddles will be broadcast on Cartoonito UK from the autumn of this year. More broadcast and distribution deals involving Paddles are imminent.
FuturumKids’ founding principals include not only members of the team behind the Emmy award-winning Jakers!, but also senior figures from HIT Entertainment and its global franchises Bob the Builder, Barney and Thomas and Friends.
Francis Fitzpatrick, CEO FuturumKids, says: “This was a very tough decision as London and Dublin, where we have worked in the past, are both great places to produce animation. However, a strong package involving not only labour availability and local support but also tax breaks and attractive incentives made Gran Canaria the strongest contender. We are looking forward enormously to working there.”
Cosme García , Managing-Director of SPEGC, the Agency to promote foreign investment in Gran Canaria, and responsible of the Gran Canaria Film Commission, adds: “We are delighted that a global company with an outstanding complement of UK and Irish talent such as FuturumKids has decided to come to Gran Canaria and produce its delightful new series Ling Ling here. This is a strong endorsement of the animation strategy we have developed alongside our government.”
The Canary Islands: one of the world’s most advantageous tax regimes for R&D and innovation activities
The latest annual report of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) places Spain in third place behind France and Portugal in terms of tax support for innovation in Europe. Spain is also sixth in the worldwide ranking for companies with tax benefits and fourth for start-ups and companies without tax charges.
The model applied in Spain offers tax benefits for R&D and technological innovation projects, as well as a whole range of tax savings that include reduction of taxable income deriving from licensing of intellectual property (Patent Box regime); reduction of the impact of Social Security contributions; and finally the most well-known instrument, deduction of expenses for Technological Innovation (12%) and R&D (up to 42%). It therefore comprises a hybrid model as it is both volume-based and incremental in various circumstances (17% for R&D staff salaries, 8% for investment in equipment), up to a maximum of 50% of the gross tax due and with the possibility of carry-over for 18 tax years.
This high-potential regulatory tax instrument includes ex-ante evaluation of each project and may be monetised and duly combined with other sources of public financing such as the funding offered by the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) and other private sources.
In addition, the application of the Canary Islands Economic and Tax Regime allows the Islands to offer an even more beneficial tax regime than the rest of Spain. The main differences are as follows:
- Deduction for Technological Innovation: 12% on the Peninsula and 45% in the Canary Islands.
- Deduction for R&D activities: up to 42% on the Peninsula and up to 75.6% in the Canary Islands.
- Research staff: up to 17% for salaries on the Peninsula and 37% in the Canary Islands.
- Investments for R&D activities: 8% on the Peninsula and 28% in the Canary Islands.
- Reduction of the annual tax base: up to 50% on the Peninsula and up to 90% in the Canary Islands.
As can be seen, the Canary Islands offer one of the world’s most generous tax regimes for R&D. Gran Canaria in particular also offers a series of features which make it the ideal destination to take advantage of these benefits: infrastructure, connectivity, public and private resources devoted to R&D (the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with more than 150 research groups including the Canary Islands Oceanic Platform, Canary Islands Technological Institute, Spanish Bank of Algae, etc.) and outstanding research talent.
These incentives offered at a national and regional level may be combined with direct credit facilities for R&D and optimised during the project life cycle, or even in subsequent operational phases of the resulting technology.
The purpose of the initiative ‘Best in Gran Canaria’ spearheaded by the Agency for the Economic Development of Gran Canaria is to raise awareness and provide advice regarding the application of these tax instruments and the financing available for R&D activities. This agency under the auspices of the Gran Canaria Island Council offers a ‘Support Service for Companies’ (SAE) and advice provided by certified experts regarding tax incentives for innovation available to start-ups, companies and innovative entrepreneurs, whether at a local or international level.
Without a doubt, all these reasons make the Canary Islands and Gran Canaria in particular an absolute must for R&D projects and the ideal place to make the most of all the tax support available for R&D and Technological Innovation.