The Parliament of Catalonia has approved, by a large majority and without a single vote against it, a motion urging the Catalan Government to allocate €7 million in 2027 to support Catalan industrial clusters. The clusters are calling for this funding to be made available during the first half of 2027 to ensure the swift deployment of resources and strengthen their capacity to act. The aim is to expand innovation, industrial transformation and business collaboration projects that contribute to improving the competitiveness of Catalonia's productive sector.
The parliamentary agreement represents an important step towards consolidating a cluster policy that Catalonia pioneered more than three decades ago. Increased public funding would help establish a stronger and more stable support model, in line with leading European industrial regions such as the Basque Country and Flanders, where clusters play a prominent role in policies aimed at competitiveness, innovation and economic transformation.
The approval of the motion reflects a broad consensus on the need to strengthen the role of industry in the Catalan economy. A strong, competitive and innovative industrial sector is essential for generating high-value-added economic activity, creating skilled employment, consolidating production value chains and ensuring Catalonia's ability to compete internationally.
In this context, clusters are a strategic tool for turning this shared objective into concrete projects. Their ability to connect companies, technology centres, universities and other stakeholders within the ecosystem facilitates the identification of common challenges and the development of collaborative initiatives that would be difficult to undertake individually. This role is particularly relevant for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which form the backbone of Catalonia's business community.
Currently, the 28 clusters accredited by ACCIÓ bring together more than 3,200 companies and associated organisations and account for 36% of Catalonia's industrial turnover, according to data from the agency itself. These figures highlight the scale and mobilisation capacity of an ecosystem that helps drive innovation, business transformation and competitiveness across numerous value chains in the Catalan economy.
The clusters welcome the broad parliamentary support for this initiative, which recognises the importance of providing these organisations with adequate and stable resources to continue their work and increase their impact on businesses.
“This motion recognises that clusters play a key role in improving business competitiveness. Collaboration enables us to accelerate innovation, advance industrial transformation and create new opportunities across the region. It is now essential that this institutional support translates into stable resources and that, in the future, it is also complemented by stronger funding schemes for collaborative business projects, generating an even greater tangible impact on the Catalan economy,” says Eloi Montcada, Cluster Manager at INNOVI – Catalan Wine Cluster.
Strengthening the resources allocated to clusters would enable them to intensify their activities in strategic areas such as identifying new business opportunities, collaborative innovation, internationalisation, talent attraction and development, digital transformation, the adoption of artificial intelligence and the integration of sustainability criteria into production processes.
Beyond supporting cluster organisations themselves, the aim is to multiply opportunities for collaboration between companies and ensure that industrial challenges are translated into new projects, investments and higher-value-added activities. Ultimately, strengthening clusters means strengthening the ability of Catalan companies to innovate, grow and jointly address the major challenges of the future.
A cluster is a group of companies and knowledge organisations that share a common business sector, value chain or strategic field and collaborate to improve their competitiveness.
Clusters bring together companies that may compete with one another but also share common challenges and opportunities. Through professionally managed cluster organisations, they promote joint projects in innovation, new business development, internationalisation, training and business transformation.
This approach generates collaborative advantages, facilitates access to knowledge and accelerates processes of change that would be more difficult to tackle individually, particularly for SMEs. Clusters therefore act as a bridge between the real needs of businesses and public instruments designed to support competitiveness.
Catalonia is a pioneer in cluster policy, with a history dating back to 1992. Today, this policy is primarily implemented through the Catalunya Clústers Programme, promoted by the Government of Catalonia through ACCIÓ.
Established in 2014, the programme aims to strengthen business competitiveness, particularly among SMEs, through collaborative work, strategic analysis and the development of transformative projects.
Cluster policy is based on the principle that business competitiveness depends not only on individual company capabilities but also on the quality of the environment in which companies operate, their relationships with other businesses and their ability to access knowledge, talent and new opportunities.
In this regard, clusters are a public-private collaboration tool that connects industrial policy with the strategic challenges faced by businesses, helping to direct initiatives towards tangible results in transformation and competitiveness.
The 28 clusters accredited by ACCIÓ represent a wide range of economic activities and strategic value chains in Catalonia, from manufacturing industries to advanced technologies and services linked to productive activity.
The network comprises the following organisations:
AMBIT: Living spaces cluster
Barcelona Clúster Nàutic
Beauty Cluster
Catalan Water Partnership
Catalonia Health
CBC - Clúster de la Bioenergia de Catalunya
CEEC - Clúster de l'Energia Eficient de Catalunya
CICAT - Clúster d'Il·luminació de Catalunya
Clúster Audiovisual de Catalunya
Clúster de Mobilitat Lleugera
Clúster Digital de Catalunya
Clúster Food Retail de Catalunya
CREC - Clúster de Residus de Catalunya
CSIM - Clúster de Serveis Immobiliaris
EDUTECH - Clúster de tecnologia educativa
FEMAC - Clúster de la Maquinària i dels Medis de Producció Agrícola de Catalunya
Foodservice Cluster
INDESCAT - Catalan Sports Clúster
IN-MOVE by Railgrup
INNOVACC - Clúster Català de la Carn i la Proteïna Alternativa
INNOVI – Clúster Vitivinícola Català
KID´S CLUSTER
Leather Cluster Barcelona
MAV - Clúster Materials Avançats de Catalunya
MODACC – Clúster Català de la Moda
Packaging Cluster
Tech Tourism Cluster
We Mind Clúster, Salut Mental, Neuro i Longevitat
Comments