The government launches the España Crece Fund to mobilise 120 billion euros in productive investment

16 March 2026

presentation
  • The new fund, managed by ICO, will provide continuity to the investment in transformation from European Recovery Plan funds to further modernise our economy
  •  ICO will see its capacity as a national promotional bank increased through a capital injection of 13.3 billion euros with funds from the Recovery Plan, which will allow it to grant up to 60 billion euros of financing and will reach 120 billion euros with the addition of private sector co-investment. 
  •  2.8 billion from the Plan will be used to design aid-based instruments that offer favourable conditions. 
  • Through a range of financial instruments (such as loans, project finance, capital injections, guarantees) ICO will offer funds to accompany companies throughout their life cycle (particularly SMEs) and boost investment in sectors of particular economic importance such as affordable rental housing, the green transition or transformative projects that foster technological innovation.
  • With regard to the construction of affordable rental housing, España Crece plans to mobilise up to 23 billion euros in financing and thus contribute to the construction of 15,000 homes per year.

The government is launching the España Crece Fund, a strategic public-private collaboration initiative that will mobilise around 120 billion euros in investments to consolidate the current stage of economic growth and the modernisation of the Spanish productive fabric.
The fund, to be launched in the second quarter of this year, extends the transformative momentum of the Next Generation EU funds beyond 2026, the end of the Recovery Plan.
 

The España Crece fund will be managed by Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), which will receive a capital injection of 13.3 billion euros, structurally reinforcing its capacity as a national promotional bank. Of this amount, 10.5 billion euros are Recovery Plan loans and 2.8 billion euros come from non-repayable transfers, which will make it possible to offer, in certain cases, more advantageous conditions regarding term and cost.

With these resources, ICO will have its own capacity to invest up to 60 billion euros, while at the same time promoting co-investment with the private sector, so that the financing mobilised will reach around 120 billion euros.

Instruments for business growth and investment priorities in strategic and forward-looking sectors

España Crece will offer a wide range of financial instruments (loans, project finance, capital injections, guarantees) and make it easier for financing to provide a continuous stream of aid to companies making their way through the different stages of their life cycle, from start-up to expansion.
The fund will prioritise areas of particular relevance to the Spanish economy, such as the construction of affordable rental housing or the green transition, as well as innovative projects in cutting-edge fields (bio-tech, food-tech, care economy), thus ensuring a balanced development across the country.

España Crece funding will be targeted at sectors with a high potential for transformation, where public aid is decisive to achieving a competitive and innovative productive fabric.

Spurring the building of affordable rental housing

España Crece will prioritise the promotion of the construction of affordable and social rental housing as one of the fundamental levers for strengthening social cohesion and the competitiveness of the Spanish economy, where access to housing is one of the major economic challenges.

The goal is to contribute to increasing the supply of available housing and facilitate the implementation of these developments which, due to their income profile and investment horizons, require adapted financing instruments and risk sharing to mobilise additional investment.

To this end, España Crece will combine long-term financing—including, where necessary, non-reimbursable tranches to ensure the economic viability and repayment capacity of certain projects—with equity investment solutions aimed at strengthening the own funds of the development and management vehicles.

Indicatively, the envisaged fund architecture would mobilise up to 23 billion euros of investment in the affordable rental construction segment and contribute to the construction of around 15,000 homes per year.

In this vertical, ICO will act as a catalyst, promoting co-investment and attracting private capital to scale the impact. In this sense, public participation contributes to improving the viability of the operations themselves, accelerating their implementation and mobilising additional resources while maintaining principles of action that are consistent with their public positioning.