Spain slams infrastructure company aiming to move to Netherlands for fiscal benefits

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Spanish politicians Wednesday slammed a decision by infrastructure company Ferrovial to move its headquarters from Madrid to the Netherlands to save taxes.

“We’re talking about a company that owes everything to Spain, and that has grown thanks to public investments financed by citizens,” Economy Minister Nadia Calvino said in an interview with La Sexta.

Calvino said she telephoned Ferrovial’s President Rafael de Pino early Wednesday to “express her rejection” of the decision she called “a mistake.”

The Spanish multinational construction company announced Tuesday it would ask shareholders for approval to move its headquarters from Madrid to the Netherlands.

The company said it wants to move to a more “judicially stable” market to help it gain financing to become more global and benefit from the Netherlands’ fiscal regime, according to the Spanish daily El Pais.

Sabadell Bank estimates that Ferrovial could save €40 million ($43 million) in annual taxes by moving to the Netherlands, although the initial relocation costs would be substantial.

Labor Minister Yolanda Diaz accused the company of letting down Spain at a time when businesses should pitch in to help the economy.

Other junior coalition members, Unidas Podemos, called Ferrovial “anti-patriotic” and said it was trying to “evade taxes.”

Ferrovial was founded in 1952 as a railroad company but from the 1990s onward, it expanded into airports, toll roads and construction and began a global company.

Some of its largest projects include Terminal 4 at Madrid Airport and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

Whether the company will move to the Netherlands and list on the US market, as it intends to, will depend on shareholders.