When Europe’s tech community decamps to Paris for Viva Technology, 11–14 June 2025, the buzz on the show floor will not only be about the latest generative‑AI demos or quantum‑proof encryption chips. It will also be about capital—where it is coming from, where it is going next, and which cities are positioning themselves to capture the next wave of high‑growth companies. Few European capitals have done more than Madrid to court that capital, especially from France, and the city is sending a dedicated investment‑promotion team to VivaTech to make the case in person. Their pitch is straightforward: French firms are already key players in Spain’s economy, and Madrid has become the natural launchpad for their next stage of growth.

A Deep-Routed Investment Partnership

French capital has been woven into Spain’s economic fabric for decades, and nowhere is the pattern more vivid than in the Madrid region. Over the past five years French companies have invested more than €3.7 billion annually in Spain, and roughly three quarters of that—74.4 per cent—has flowed into the Community of Madrid. Put differently, for every four euros of French foreign direct investment (FDI) entering Spain since 2020, three have landed in the metropolitan area around the capital.

That concentration reflects both the historical depth and the contemporary breadth of French corporate activity. France now ranks as the third‑largest foreign investor in Madrid and has supplied 11 per cent of all FDI inflows into the region over the past 30 years. The sectoral footprint is equally broad: telecoms and other information‑and‑communications businesses have long anchored bilateral investment, but French names are now prominent in finance and insurance, construction, real estate and a swath of manufacturing niches—from rail rolling‑stock to cosmetics.

The employment ledger is just as striking. French‑owned firms sustain 130,859 jobs in the Community of Madrid—more than any other foreign investor—and the region hosts one in three Spanish jobs linked to French FDI. While heavy‑industry and infrastructure giants still account for a sizable chunk of payrolls, the growth engine is shifting toward high‑skill, high‑wage functions. Programming, IT consulting and other digital services now appear alongside retail in the fastest‑expanding job categories.

Greenfield projects tell a similar story of dynamism rather than simple consolidation. Since 2013 Spain has been the third‑largest global destination for French greenfield projects, trailing only the United States and China. Madrid ranks fifth worldwide among individual cities—on a par with Singapore, New York and Shanghai—when it comes to attracting fresh French build‑outs, an achievement even more impressive given London’s continued dominance of the table. At city level, Madrid typically lands around 20 new French greenfield projects every year, making France the capital’s second‑largest source of new‑build investment by both project count and associated employment.

Scale matters, but so does network density. More than 4,200 French‑capital companies are active in Spain, and fully 1,532—about 36 per cent—are headquartered in Madrid city. Collectively they generate over €54.8 billion in annual turnover. For French entrepreneurs looking to internationalise, the presence of such a critical mass of compatriot peers, suppliers and customers reduces both information gaps and execution risk. For established French corporates, Madrid has become the default Iberian—and increasingly pan‑Iberophone—hub, a place where group‑wide digitalisation drives, shared‑services centres or regional venture arms can plug directly into talent and connectivity.

Why Madrid Should Be on Every French Tech Investor’s Radar

A connected digital backbone. Madrid has quietly built one of Southern Europe’s densest clusters of data‑centres, supported by subsea‑cable proximity, a liberalised telecoms market and a resilient power grid. Hyperscale providers, content‑delivery networks and edge‑computing specialists now view the city as their preferred Iberian availability zone, making it an easy jump‑off for software‑as‑a‑service (SaaS) scale‑ups that demand low‑latency reach across Spain, Portugal and, increasingly, North Africa.

A large but navigable test market. With 7.0 million residents in the metropolitan area and a GDP larger than that of many EU member states, Madrid offers French founders a sizeable yet manageable sandbox for piloting new consumer and enterprise technologies. B‑to‑B disruptors in mobility, energy or healthtech can validate Spanish‑language products in a sophisticated regulatory environment before rolling into Latin America, while B‑to‑C platforms gain instant exposure to Europe’s second‑most‑visited capital and its high‑spending tourist flow.

Talent in depth—and breadth. The region graduates nearly 30,000 STEM students a year and hosts nineteen public and private universities with globally ranked computer‑science or engineering faculties. Tech multinationals have long tapped that pool for back‑office coding, but the shift toward cloud, cybersecurity and AI operations has raised the skills bar, creating a virtuous circle: specialised degree programmes follow corporate demand, while an international lifestyle and competitive cost‑of‑living index help Madrid lure senior engineers from Paris, Lille or Sophia Antipolis.

A robust and well‑financed ecosystem. Madrid’s startup and venture‑capital ecosystem is thriving. The city’s start‑up density may still lag other European capitals, but the growth rate exceeds that of any other major EU capital. Crucially for French scale‑ups, local corporates have become energetic partners: Spanish banks, energy companies and telecom incumbents act as early‑adopter clients and LPs in thematic funds, shortening pilots and de‑risking market entry.

Infrastructure that scales with you. Madrid’s status as Spain’s aviation hub is well documented, but the less visible logistics backbone is equally compelling: same‑day rail freight into the industrial belt, motorways that put 50 million Iberian consumers within a 600‑kilometre radius, and a seaport gateway via nearby Valencia. For cloud‑native ventures that still ship hardware this blend of physical and digital infrastructure keeps inventories lean and service‑level agreements intact.

An R&D magnet. French corporates have long treated Madrid as more than a sales outpost. Thales, Capgemini or Schneider Electric all run research centres in the region, leveraging both local domain expertise and national R & D tax credits that can shave up to 42 per cent off eligible costs. Newcomers are increasingly choosing Madrid for Centres of Excellence in artificial‑intelligence operations or cybersecurity, betting that a mix of granular telecom data (courtesy of Spain’s open‑data policy) and on‑the‑ground human‑capital pipelines yields better models and faster iteration loops.

Predictable costs in a volatile world. Madrid’s labour costs run notably below below Paris for equivalent profiles, while prime downtown office rents remain less than half those in the French capital. Energy prices, a perennial concern for data‑intensive firms, are among the most competitive in Western Europe thanks to Spain’s renewables surge. Layer in EU‑level incentives for green digitisation projects and a supportive regional and local grants regime, and the total‑cost‑of‑ownership delta becomes hard to ignore.

Join us at VivaTech

Against this backdrop, Viva Tech is more than a trade fair—it is a matchmaking arena. Madrid’s municipal investment‑attraction team will be on‑site throughout the four‑day event, ready to arrange one‑to‑one meetings, outline expansion needs or help scout office space and technical talent. French founders looking to scale beyond the Hexagon, Paris‑based corporate venture arms seeking their next minority stake, or family‑owned industrials exploring digital twins and Industry 4.0 pilots will all find a welcome mat in Madrid.

The logic is compelling: French investors have already laid deep roots in Madrid, and the city has in turn built the physical, digital and human infrastructure to help the next cohort of French tech champions thrive. As Europe’s tech scene converges on Paris this June, Madrid is poised to remind visitors that sometimes the smartest way to innovate abroad is to start just 1,050 kilometres to the south‑west—where a French accent is increasingly part of the city’s entrepreneurial soundtrack.