- “Galicia must be there, among those companies that are demanding more workers, that are generating more economic activity and industrial employment in this sector,” she says
- She highlights that the Xunta is the first public administration to subsidise a training course of this kind
Santiago de Compostela, 6 March 2026
The Regional Minister for Economy and Industry, María Jesús Lorenzana, stated today that the aid scheme for certifications in the defence sector has already received, in less than a month since it opened on 13 February, 22 applications that amount to more than half of its budget, which stands at 1.5 million euros.
Lorenzana, accompanied by the Director-General for Industrial Strategy and Business Land, Margarita Ardao, took part today in the presentation of the Executive Programme in Defence Industry in Galicia, co-financed by the Xunta and the Escuela de Organización Industrial (EOI) Foundation and which also has the collaboration of the Spanish Association of Technological Defence, Security, Aeronautics and Space Companies (TEDAE).
She explained that Galicia is the first public administration in Spain to subsidise a training course of this kind for professionals and managers of Galician companies with potential access to the defence sector, whether current participants in or aspiring applicants to European programmes, international consortia or dual-use projects who wish to gain in-depth knowledge of its governance, funding systems or contractual structure.
It will be held at the EGAP between April and September this year in a blended format (in-person and online), and will feature teaching staff who are expert connoisseurs of the defence and security sector, whether from an institutional or business background. Those interested may register from next Monday 9 March until the 23rd of the same month on the EOI website (https://www.eoi.es/).
With regard to the certification scheme, it offers maximum grants of up to 75,000 euros for those companies that seek to position themselves as suppliers in the defence sector and must comply with basic requirements in terms of the necessary certifications, approvals or qualifications. “Our interest lies in making it easier for companies to have the capacity to make the leap into the defence sector,” she said, stressing: “Galicia must be there, among those companies that are demanding more workers, that are generating more economic activity and industrial employment in this sector” in which “it is not utopian to think that we can achieve significant industrial development”, she stated. In this regard, she pointed out that “training is an element that must be present throughout this whole strategy”.
Lorenzana took this opportunity to emphasise that “Galicia is currently in a very good industrial moment”. She thus highlighted that employment in industry is at record levels, with 192,300 people in work and growth already almost four points above the Spanish average. She also pointed out that the region has just recorded the second largest increase in industrial production in Spain in January, at 1.9 per cent, in contrast with the nationwide decline (-2.7 per cent).
