Alicante shakes off headwinds as startup surge continues, but closures rise too
A glance at the first quarter shows a clear trend: inflation and rising interest rates have not slowed Alicante’s entrepreneurial pace. The province added 1,651 new companies in the period, marking a 10% jump over the same quarter last year. The services sector is the main engine of this expansion, driven by tourism and the rapid adoption of new technologies. Yet the period also saw a 5% uptick in liquidations, with 461 business signatures disappearing. These dynamics illustrate a market that is highly active in creation even as incumbents face tougher conditions.
Overall, Alicante posted the strongest year-on-year level of company formations in the last 15 years, capped by a notable milestone of 5,145 new registrations in 2022, reflecting a 4.5% rise. Early 2023 did not cool this momentum; rather, the incorporation rate intensified, signaling sustained entrepreneurial confidence. These figures come from the Spanish Association of Property, Trade and Property Registrars through its Valencia region delegation. The data also show a 19% drop in bankruptcies, and a capital increase of 337 new registrations, up 10%, with 46 still recorded at that time. These indicators collectively point to a resilient but selective market where opportunity clusters are forming in specific sectors and locations.
Analysts and academics note that the current climate remains challenging. Paloma Taltavull, a professor of Applied Economic Analysis at the University of Alicante, describes the news as encouraging: companies continuing to operate despite ongoing inflation and higher borrowing costs. She notes that investment costs have risen, yet the willingness to start new ventures persists, especially in fields tied to digital services and tourism support networks. This optimism is tempered by the reality that higher energy and financing costs demand sharper business planning and clearer paths to profitability.
With new firms mostly appearing in the service arena, roughly half of the activity centers on service-related models that serve a broad spectrum of clients. The technology niche stands out as a notable growth area, while the tourism sector — still recovering from the pandemic’s hit — is back near pre-crisis activity levels, underscoring Alicante’s appeal as a hub for startups. Local observers emphasize that Alicante has evolved into a magnet for such ventures, attracting others that feed an ecosystem centered on the same field and related industries. Construction also plays a meaningful role, boosted by a strong housing market that attracts tourism buyers and international demand. These factors together help explain why Alicante remains a fertile ground for early-stage companies and new business formats.
State records show both brisk formation and notable closures in the past 15 years
The flip side of the coin is the wave of closures, with liquidation activity matching last year’s pace and echoing a recent peak. During the quarter, the number of dissolutions sits alongside persistent new registrations, a dynamic that reflects both the opportunities opening up in digitization and the risk that some ventures could not survive ongoing economic pressures. Experts like José María Gómez Gras, a professor of Business Organization at the Miguel Hernández University in Elche, point out that many startups emerge from new opportunities in digitized sectors, but some fail due to limited feasibility analysis or insufficient resilience against macroeconomic shocks. This highlights the importance of solid feasibility work and adaptable business models for long-term survival.
The registrar data also show that Alicante’s quarterly establishment rate aligns with the national average. In the Valencian Community, the growth pace outstrips regional peers, with Valencia province recording a 20.5% increase and Castellón 9.3%, while overall community growth sits at 14.8%. This disparity underscores the uneven distribution of entrepreneurial momentum within the region and points to Alicante as a particularly active zone for new ventures in the current cycle.
The quarterly balance between inputs and outputs in Alicante shows a fairly balanced pattern. Within the Valencian Community, 153 firms shifted their registrations to other regions in the first quarter, while 150 companies relocated in the opposite direction, indicating a steady churn that tends to reflect shifting market opportunities rather than a collapse in entrepreneurial confidence. The data place the Valencian Community among the leading regions where both inflows and outflows are most pronounced, a sign of an dynamic, evolving business landscape.