Neither inflation nor an increase in interest rates. There seems to be nothing to deter entrepreneurs in the province of Alicante, which accelerated its start-up rate by 10% in the first quarter of the year with 1,651 new companies compared to the same period of the year. former. It is the services sector that leads this growth with the opportunities created by both tourism and new technologies. However, liquidations also increased by 5% in this case.It also brought the loss of 461 signatures.
The province of Alicante reached the highest number of company establishments in the last 15 years, especially 5,145 in 2022, thanks to an increase of 4.5%. At the beginning of 2023, the rate of incorporation not only decreased but intensified.
This is demonstrated by data provided by the Spanish Association of Property, Trade and Property Registrars through its Deanery in the Community of Valencia. 19% reduction in bankruptcy proceedingsCapital increase remained at 337, up 10%, remaining at 46%.
And all this despite the fact that the economic context is far from ideal. Paloma Taltavull, professor of Applied Economic Analysis at the University of Alicante (UA), «It is very pleasing news that companies continue to work again, despite the continuing increase in inflation and interest rates.This makes any investment more expensive.
Due to the nature of new companies, It is the services sector that still acts as a driving factor, with percentages close to 50%.. In this sense, Taltavull also emphasizes the opportunity niche represented by new technologies, while emphasizing the strength of tourism, which has recovered from the heavy impact of the pandemic and once again offers activity figures very close to 2019. . In Alicante’s words, “Alicante has become a center of attraction for such companies, and others are emerging around it that serve a wide range of companies in the same field.”
Construction is another activity that also contributes to start-ups, something that is not surprising according to the professor, “if we take into account – he emphasizes – that we are the province with the most housing for tourism – and one that we have with wide demand by foreign buyers.
The other side of the coin is represented by company liquidations, as closings continue to be recorded at the same rate as last year, when the record was broken for the second time in a row at 1,249. In this sense, José María Gómez Gras, professor of Business Organization at Miguel Hernández University (UMH) in Elche, underlines that the founding of many companies is supported by new opportunities emerging in sectors linked to industries. digitization, There are also companies that have not been able to withstand the attacks of the crises experienced in recent years.new projects that were promoted without adequate feasibility analysis and therefore failed.
The establishment rate of companies registered in the province of Alicante in the first quarter is in line with the Spanish average.. In the Community of Valencia, however, the increase was 14.8%, almost five percentage points higher, due to the province of Valencia growing by 20.5%, while Castellón’s was 9.3%.
The balance between companies’ inflows and outflows
Data released by the Registrar’s Association also show that in the first quarter of the year, 153 companies split from the Valencian Community to other regions, with 150 companies ending up there, leaving a fairly balanced balance. It is the fourth community where more companies leave and the third where more entries are registered.