In a gleaming white technology campus half an hour’s drive north of Barcelona, Josep Maria Gomes wants to turbocharge an already thriving partnership between Spain and China.
His job at TecnoCampus, a hybrid facility housing a university and business and technology park in the city of Mataro, is to connect local start-ups with cutting-edge tech innovations. More and more these days, he sees these coming from China.
“In sectors like cybersecurity, Internet of Things, sensory robotics and artificial intelligence, they are much more developed than us,” says Gomes, who in a previous role for the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce tried to lure Chinese investments into sectors including AI and electric vehicles.
In recent months, organisations such as these have ridden the crest of a wave, as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez raced to establish himself as Europe’s “anti-Trump”.
As some European leaders dally over climate commitments, Sanchez has doubled down on the green energy and push for cleantech that helped Spain become the EU’s fastest-growing economy last year.
Amid a widespread backlash against immigration, the Spanish government has made clear that it needs new arrivals to power growth and enrich its society.
And with US President Donald Trump doing much to burn the transatlantic relationship, Sanchez has wasted little time in pivoting to China as an alternative, publicly pushing for a new EU approach.
