- The director of Igape, Covadonga Toca, underscores that Galicia already has more than 40 aerospace companies, 1,700 direct jobs and a turnover of over 165 million euros
- She highlights the launch of the Strategic Initiative in Aerospace, Security and Defence (IESDA), which is expected to mobilise nearly 900 million euros in investment
- She emphasises the key role of SMEs in consolidating and expanding the value chain, as well as the need to turn innovation into industrial activity
- She also underlines the Galician Aerospace Industry Observatory as a tool for anticipating the sector’s challenges and opportunities
Vigo, 14 April 2026
The director of Igape, Covadonga Toca, took part today in Vigo in the closing session of the Ordinary General Assembly of the Galician Aerospace Consortium (CAG), where she highlighted the growth experienced by the sector in recent years and reaffirmed the commitment of the Xunta de Galicia to promoting it as one of the strategic pillars of the Galician economy.
During her speech, Toca highlighted the “extraordinary” evolution of the aerospace industry in Galicia, which has gone from having a very limited presence barely fifteen years ago to now bringing together more than 40 active companies, with involvement in international projects in engineering, advanced manufacturing and technological development. This ecosystem now generates more than 1,700 direct jobs and exceeds 165 million euros in turnover, with forecasts for short-term growth.
In the current geopolitical and technological context, Toca underlined that the aerospace, security and defence sectors are called upon to play a central role in European and national policies, in a scenario she described as a “structural change”.
In this context, she recalled the launch of the Strategic Initiative in Aerospace, Security and Defence (IESDA) 2025-2030, promoted by the Xunta de Galicia with the aim of turning these areas into a key lever for economic growth. The strategy plans to mobilise nearly 900 million euros in investment over the coming years and focuses on boosting business growth, attracting investment and strengthening the territory’s technological and productive capabilities.
She also announced that this initiative is already being implemented, with actions such as the development of strategic projects, support for defence certifications, and specialised training programmes.
Knowledge and strategic vision for the sector
The director of Igape also highlighted the role of the Galician Aerospace Industry Observatory, promoted in collaboration with the CAG, as a key tool for analysing the sector’s evolution, identifying opportunities and providing companies with strategic information for decision-making. According to her, this instrument will help establish Galicia not only as an industrial benchmark, but also as a generator of knowledge and strategic vision in the aerospace field.
The director of Igape stressed that the sector’s main challenge is to “turn innovation into industry”, transforming the knowledge generated into products, processes and solutions with a real impact on the market. To that end, she recalled that Igape works with a comprehensive approach that includes access to financing, support for industrialisation, the drive towards internationalisation and guidance for SMEs in their transformation and scaling processes.
