When people talk about the rise of defence in Europe, it is easy to think of factories, shipyards or large production plants. But the shift now under way goes further. A growing share of investment momentum is not only moving towards traditional heavy industry. It is also increasingly linked to technology, innovation and research. And that is also starting to be felt in real estate.
The key point is not just that Europe is going to spend more on defence. It is that the nature of that spending is changing. As areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, drones, autonomous systems, advanced sensors and space technologies gain importance, the spaces needed by companies in the sector are also changing. It is no longer enough to think only in terms of industrial land or conventional warehouses. A more selective opportunity is beginning to emerge in assets capable of combining R&D, engineering and advanced production.
From Traditional Defence to Defence Technology
Defence still needs industrial capacity. However, an increasingly important share of added value is concentrated in technology-intensive activities. This is driving the growth of specialised companies, systems integrators, research centres and businesses developing dual-use solutions. In other words, solutions that can be applied in both civilian and military contexts.
This shift has a direct consequence: real estate demand is also changing. Unlike traditional facilities, these companies need spaces that can integrate research, development, design, testing and light manufacturing within the same environment. It is not simply a question of more square metres, but of different square metres.
The Type of Asset Gaining Relevance
One of the most interesting messages from the Colliers report is precisely this: defence technology needs a different type of property from conventional industry. Demand is focused on hybrid buildings that combine laboratories, engineering offices, R&D areas and advanced manufacturing spaces.
In addition, these assets must meet more demanding technical requirements. Physical security is becoming more important, with access controls, perimeter protection and specific regulatory compliance. Energy capacity, logistics connections and proximity to qualified talent also matter.
In other words, the opportunity is not in just any industrial asset. It is more relevant in properties capable of supporting complex technology activities, where the building is no longer just a container. It becomes part of the value proposition.
An Opportunity That Is Not Spread Equally Everywhere
As with other advanced industries, this new demand is not distributed evenly. It tends to concentrate in hubs where anchor companies, specialised suppliers, universities, technology centres and innovation ecosystems already exist.
Colliers identifies 38 key defence tech clusters in Europe. This reinforces an important idea for real estate: in this market, location is not measured only by access or land availability. It also depends on proximity to knowledge networks, technological capability and industrial specialisation.
Spain Is Well Positioned on This New Map
Within this context, Spain starts from a favourable position. Colliers places it in a second group of highly specialised and technological European countries, alongside Sweden, Italy, Poland and Norway.
This does not mean that Spain leads the European market. However, it does mean that the country has relevant capabilities to capture part of this new demand. Madrid stands out for its corporate, institutional and technological concentration. Meanwhile, southern Spain has a notable specialisation in aerospace and naval activities. This combination strengthens the country’s appeal for new investments linked to defence technology. It may also support the development of more sophisticated real estate projects.
A Real Opportunity, but a Highly Selective One
This should be qualified. The growth of defence technology does not imply indiscriminate demand for warehouses or industrial land. On the contrary, everything points to a more selective market. Infrastructure quality, energy availability, security, proximity to talent and the asset’s capacity for adaptation will be decisive factors.
The opportunity is mainly concentrated in assets that can combine industrial and technological uses within already consolidated ecosystems. In this sense, this evolution reflects a broader trend already visible in other advanced industries: the convergence of technology, research and productive activity.
What This Says About European Real Estate
Beyond defence, this movement confirms a deeper shift. Industrial real estate can no longer be understood only through the logic of storage, logistics or heavy production. Increasingly, part of the value is moving towards specialised, hybrid and technically complex assets.
That is where the real interest of this trend lies. Not so much in massive expansion, but in the emergence of new, demanding and highly localised demand that rewards specialisation. In this scenario, Spain has the conditions to play a relevant role if it can turn its technological and industrial base into the right real estate product.
Because, ultimately, the opportunity is not only that Europe is investing more in defence. It is that this new cycle needs different spaces. And for the real estate sector, that changes the rules of the game quite significantly.
