Spain, in full color

Dispersion is not an ally of vision. Isaac Newton designed a disc that, when spinning at full speed, appears blank. But if it stops, we see that it has seven colors. We could draw a parallel and apply this phenomenon to the world we live in and also to the reality of our country. Current events are volatile, news overlaps, we live immersed in a maelstrom of shocks... and the panorama we perceive is blurred, out of focus, and, of course, stripped of color and nuance. We need perspective.

If we're able to stop the record, we'll see much better what's inside. And when it starts rolling again, we'll understand it better. Everything happens so fast, and sometimes we have difficulty establishing priorities. These priorities have always been there. However, as John Lennon would have told us, we're busy with other plans. The goals Spain set for itself years ago are not new, especially after the change of scenery brought about by the pandemic and the arrival of European funds: investing more in innovation to ensure a true welfare state ; providing ourselves with a solid, modern, and competitive industry that supports our production model; and leveraging our talent to ensure the labor market is efficient and society is more advanced and prepared for change.

The problem is that, while the disk spins wildly, these colors are not visible at the forefront of political and institutional agendas. We do have accurate prisms that shed light on us. The European Commission has just warned us once again that, despite having a solid scientific foundation, Spain has failed to improve its innovation, with a lower R&D effort than its other European partners. And it calls on us to develop a long-term strategy that mobilizes, coordinates, and guides this public investment and facilitates private investment. This is no longer an economic choice, but a political responsibility, as the Draghi report warned us.

For their part, various experts and organizations are urging us to leverage our energy and digital potential to attract industry, given the resources and infrastructure we have to be a destination for investment in strategic sectors. Regarding employment, the World Economic Forum predicts that, in five years, almost 40% of Spanish workers will need to improve their skills , taking into account that automated work will grow from 20% to 33%. And a recent ICER study indicates that the energy transition, in which Spain could be a world leader, will require the incorporation of up to almost 6,000 new professionals, but many of these new skills are not yet integrated into training programs.

We also have good prospects that allow us to see the future with greater clarity. Achieving 3% of GDP in R&D&I, as the Government has proposed, by 2030, would allow us not only to match the most innovative countries—which, not coincidentally, are the richest—but also to provide a differential improvement to our public services and become a driving force for technology, knowledge, and talent.

But we must accelerate, because we are currently halfway to that goal. It will be essential to promote business investment , which has proven to be the most effective lever in terms of wealth creation, quality employment generation, and connection to global innovation networks. To achieve this, we will need ambitious public-private partnership projects, legally secure environments, and predictable and attractive tax frameworks for investment. Returning to Mario Draghi, his report points out that one of the greatest challenges for Europe, and specifically for Spain, will be to reduce bureaucracy and streamline the implementation of these projects.

If we talk about primary colors, one of them will be having a strong industry, with greater weight in our productive system. It will give us the autonomy that is more necessary today than ever and make us more resilient to any crisis, trade ups and downs, or geopolitical tensions. After 30 years, we have a new Industrial Law in the making, currently in parliamentary process. This text promotes greater strategic autonomy, the development and promotion of an industrial culture, and the transformation toward a zero-emissions industry. It also proposes a coherent direction for our industrial policy, in coordination with the autonomous communities and economic stakeholders.

But it will also be essential to address one of our weaknesses: industrial competitiveness. Therefore, it is expected to include measures to ensure energy efficiency, promote business growth, and stimulate investment to drive innovation. In particular, it will provide financing instruments for the industrialization of R&D. In short, it will be an industry-wide law that promotes collaboration among all stakeholders in the sector.

And it's clear that, without people, any future project will be incomplete. In Spain, we have an enviable population of scientists, engineers, doctors, and so on, but eight out of ten companies can't find the profiles they need. The challenge is to reconcile labor supply and demand, but also to train the professionals of the future. Therefore, we should be clear about the model we want to move toward, in which strategic sectors we want to be unbeatable—artificial intelligence, biotechnology, clean energy, and so on—and, based on that plan, train and attract talent with the competencies we're going to need, both in knowledge and skills, attitudes, and values. This plan should be a joint one between administrations, unions, the academic world, and companies. And it should also consider assets such as diversity, inclusion, intergenerational cooperation, and, very importantly, the reaffirmation of female talent as a driver of innovation.

Charles Darwin said that one of the mistakes of history is that it repeats itself. Five years ago, we were talking about a historic opportunity for Spain that, whether then or never, we couldn't afford to miss. We still have time to avoid losing it. But we must regain perspective and focus our full attention on what is truly important for our national project. We can all agree that these colors are not about politics. In any case, we must ensure that they are not taken away from us. And, above all, that we leave future generations a brilliant and colorful Spain.