The public works tender activity in 2023 remained high, according to a report from SEOPAN, the Spanish employers’ association that represents leading construction groups. The value of new contracts reached 28 billion 160 million euros, a figure roughly equal to 2022, falling just 0.1 percent. Tenders stayed at their peak for the second year in a row, marking the strongest pipeline in fifteen years.
When broken down by administration, the General State Administration was the sole institution to boost its tender volume, rising by 31.6 percent compared with declines in autonomous communities and municipal councils. Overall contract volume fell by 17.3 percent in autonomous communities and by 8.6 percent in local councils. Looking at the share of total spend, several ministries accounted for the majority of infrastructure investment, totaling 10,580 million euros and representing 37.6 percent of all contracts. Local administrations followed with 34.2 percent and 9.637 billion euros, while regional administrations represented 28.2 percent with 7.943 billion euros.
Within the General State Administration, the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge was the only one to reduce its public works tenders, by 14.4 percent to 746 million euros. Within the scope of the department, the Directorate-General for Coastal and Marine Sustainability cut contracts by 76.4 percent, while the Directorate-General for Water, Hydrography, Confederations and State Water Unions opened tenders close to the prior year’s level.
In contrast, the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, formerly the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, largely operates through public companies and central bodies. ADIF issued tenders totaling 4.145 billion euros, a figure similar to 2022; the General Directorate of Highways issued 1.546 billion euros, up 82 percent; AENA reached 593 million euros, up 84 percent; Port Authorities tendered 1.242 billion euros, up 151 percent; and the State Land Transportation Infrastructure Association initiated contracts worth 148 million, up 2,745 percent from the previous year.
Other ministries also increased their tendered amounts, reaching 2.019 billion euros in total. This represents roughly a 75 percent rise from the previous year, when 1.157 billion euros were approved. The 2023 figures come from SEOPAN, which includes large companies such as Ferrovial, ACS, FCC, Grupo San José, OHLA and Sacyr among others.
Communities reduced their tender activity overall, though a few autonomous regions expanded their programs. Cantabria increased its contracts by 41 percent to 167 million euros in 2023. The Junta de Andalucía also grew, by almost 31 percent to 1.407 billion euros, while Aragón rose 22.5 percent to 185 million, and the Junta de Castilla y León increased to 682 million euros, up 12.5 percent.
The Community of Madrid saw the largest decline, dropping from 2.195 billion euros in 2022 to 684 million in 2023, a fall of nearly 69 percent. Significant reductions also occurred in Navarra (64 percent), Asturias (56 percent), the Balearic Islands (49 percent), La Rioja (45 percent), and Extremadura (29 percent).
Non-capital municipalities were the hardest hit by a nearly 1.2 billion euro decrease in public works allocation, totaling 4.261 billion euros in tenders, a 22 percent drop. In contrast, provincial-capital municipalities increased contracts by 4 percent to 3.317 billion euros, while regional assemblies and other bodies rose by 3 percent to 1.405 billion. Other local governments tendered 652 million euros, up 23.3 percent from 2022.
Ports and waste treatment projects saw notable shifts. State investment in ports almost doubled, with tenders reaching 1.201 billion euros compared with 488 million the year before. Spending on waste treatment infrastructure and related equipment also climbed sharply, hitting 266 million euros.
On the flip side, several administrations cut back on health and sports equipment, treatment plants and desalination facilities, and several dams and reservoirs. Although funds directed to highways, rail networks, and parks and gardens rose, the overall level remained stable according to SEOPAN’s year-end overview.