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Catalonia Signs €4.5 Billion Industry Pact to Rebuild Its Manufacturing Base

The cross‑sector pact aims to reverse industrial decline by targeting semiconductors, artificial intelligence, transport and workforce training, with implementation contingent on parliamentary budget approvals.

Overview

  • President Salvador Illa formally signed the third Pacte Nacional per a la Indústria at the Port of Barcelona on June 15, 2026, committing an initial near‑€4.5 billion package through 2030 and a joint aspiration to reach €5 billion if budgets permit.
  • The agreement bundles 190 actions across priority areas such as semiconductors, AI, agroindustry, automotive, industrialized housing, infrastructure upgrades and expanded vocational training places.
  • A significant share of the announced envelope reflects ordinary or previously planned spending, including about €500 million for desalination and water resilience, so some funds are re‑labelled rather than wholly new cash.
  • Employers and unions — Foment, Pimec, CCOO and UGT — helped design and endorsed the pact, which aims to raise firm productivity, attract investment and grow the size of Catalan companies that are now mostly microenterprises.
  • Implementation hinges on future parliamentary budget deals with partners such as ERC and the Comuns and on constrained public finances, a gap that will determine how quickly the plan reverses decades of industrial decline in Catalonia.