During a lunch-discussion organized by the Propeller Club of Algeciras, the delegate of the Cádiz Free Trade Zone Consortium, Fran González, defended the profound change experienced by the institution in recent years, going from a situation of technical bankruptcy to consolidating itself as an economic engine and reference investor in the province, with a special projection on the Bay of Algeciras.
During his speech, the delegate recalled that in 2020 the Free Trade Zone faced “a very complicated scenario”, with 190 million euros of debt, accumulated losses, an image crisis and a lack of institutional credibility. “Today we can say that we have turned economic management around,” he stated, emphasizing that the 2021-2025 Viability Plan has been largely fulfilled, with a debt reduction of 53%, reaching it at 89 million, and obtaining profits for the first time in 13 years.
González highlighted that the Free Trade Zone currently has a presence in 13 municipalities in the province, with 2.5 million square meters of productive spaces, where more than 400 companies operate, generating 4,380 direct jobs and about 7,500 indirect jobs.
In this context, he highlighted the importance of the tax precincts of Cádiz and the Bay of Algeciras. For the latter, the Free Zone already has a company that will occupy the 100,000 square meters of land, which will be announced at the beginning of 2026. In Algeciras, the Free Zone also plans to develop industrial land in the Cortijo Real Industrial Park, with a public-private investment model to establish a business park in accordance with the needs of the sector.
The delegate explained that the financial improvement has made it possible to promote a Comprehensive Modernization Plan, endowed with 13 million euros from 2021, focused on the renewal of infrastructure, administrative digitalization, improvement of accessibility and adaptation of productive spaces to a new 4.0 industrial model.
Special relevance was given to the Decarbonization Plan, with which the Free Zone aspires to become one of the first public institutions to close the circle of the carbon footprint, through the calculation, registration and compensation of emissions. The objective is to offer spaces with zero footprint and environmental certificates to companies, facilitating their access to aid and tenders, along with restoration projects for salt flats and estuaries as blue carbon initiatives.
González positioned Cádiz as “the best exponent of the Blue Economy”, which has allowed the development of Incubazul, a high-tech incubator promoted together with the University of Cádiz. The project, located in a building built with 100% recycled containers, has already incubated 100 companies, with a strong orientation towards technological innovation applied to the maritime field.
On this basis, he announced the progress of the new ZF Blue Core hub, conceived as a space for acceleration and support for SMEs, with support for internationalization, access to financing and free services adapted to business needs. The opening of two new spaces is planned, one next to Incubazul and the other within the fiscal precinct of Cádiz, integrated into a network of public and private alliances.
González also recognized the need to reinforce complicity between the bays of Cádiz and Algeciras, lamenting that "sometimes they live with their backs to each other", and defended moving towards "shared and backbone projects, capable of generating a solid business ecosystem throughout the province."
The delegate recalled that Cádiz will host the Latin American Free Zone Conference in 2026, an event that will allow “sharing a model of opportunities” and internationally projecting the province's role as a logistics, industrial and innovation node linked to the sea.