The end of the bankruptcy proceedings for the Girona Science Park – which will pass into the hands of the UdG as there is no buyer interested in the production unit – has once again put on the table the controversial role of public credits in the development of science parks. and technological.
At the beginning of the 2000s, the central government activated these lines of credit – popularly called parquetazo – with the aim of promoting the construction of science and technology parks. Many universities took advantage of this aid, especially in the first decade of the 2000s (see graph). But the centers immediately began to have problems, being unable to repay the loans within the established deadlines. “The Government stipulated that they had to be returned in the short term and that did not make any sense because of the business model and the type of investment that the parks needed,” comments Josep Miquel Piqué, president of La Salle Technova.
The construction costs, Piqué recalls, were too high (they included the building but also the infrastructure and equipment of the laboratories) for the rents they received from the tenant companies. Despite this, universities continued to support the model. Between 2000 and 2014, they raised loans worth 1,723 million euros.
In some cases, the investment was channeled directly through the university – which allowed the debt to be diluted with that of the institution as a whole – and in other cases the parks were promoted through foundations, the figure that has been most harmed by this system. In the sector, Piqué recalls, there was hope that this debt would be forgiven at some point, but the harsh impact of the financial crisis dispelled any hope.
“The last decade has been very hard. We have suffered a lot looking for ways to refinance debt year after year. However, we breathe a sigh of relief since the approval of a Government moratorium in 2021,” says Maria Terrades, director of the Barcelona Science Park, whose foundation has accumulated a debt of 150 million euros. Miquel Aran, manager of the Lleida Science Park, speaks in the same sense. “We have been uneasy for many years about our financial situation but now we are better thanks to the moratorium,” says the head of the consortium that operates the park.
Indeed, in 2021, the central government approved regulations that allowed loans to mature in 25 years. And that has given a great respite to the four parks that still carry debts from the big parks. Among them are the Barcelona Science Park, which has refinanced 37 million, and the Lleida Park, which has refinanced 17 million. And 23 years after the start of the program, 64 million of the 1,723 million lent by the Government still have to be returned, which represents around 4% of the total.
“This shows that short-term credit was not the appropriate instrument. Either the long-term return should have been approved or a call for subsidies should have been launched,” say the officials consulted, who admit that the Government surely had no choice but to provide lines of credit.
Felipe Romera, president of the Association of Scientific and Technological Parks of Spain, considers that despite the large amounts of accumulated debt, the park policy has represented the largest innovation program in the history of Spain. “Thanks to the Government’s credits, we have contributed to R&D and the creation of highly qualified employment,” he celebrates. According to data from the association, the turnover of the 64 associated parks has exceeded 2,000 million euros. In total, they host more than 8,000 companies, employing 189,000 workers. The average occupancy of the spaces is 89%, which shows that, despite everything, the Government’s commitment was not so wrong.
