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The autonomous community of Madrid and the capital of the country have a population of almost 5 million people and a surface area of 8,028 km². Madrid is centrally located, easily accessible from any part of the national territory and benefits from good international air communications with both Latin America and Europe. Situtated outside the Ebre-Mediterranean Sea corridor, where most well-developed regions can be found, the Madrid region has a strong insular economic position in the centre of Spain. The region is the second industrial conglomerate in Spain and the first in terms of high-technology production and R&D facilities.

Today, the region is going through a major re-industrialisation process that mainly affects the south and south-east part of the region, which was suffering from industrial decline but had an impressive period of recovery after the application of regional industrialisation plans. Environmental problems and social exclusion are major issues for this region where unemployment has dropped from an initial rate of around 20% at the beginning of the decade to less than 11% nowadays.

Services represent more than 70% of the added value of the region, particularly merchant services (trade, hotels, transport and finance). One of the main industries in the Madrid region is the automotive sector (other industries include telecommunications, electronics, pharmaceutical products, defence and aeronautics). 0.7% of the population are employed in agriculture, 9.4% in construction, 18.9% in industry, and 71% in services (1998).

In terms of higher education and R&D potential, the Madrid region offers all facets of the scientific and human sciences range, seven public universities (Complutensis, Polytechnic, Autonome, Alcala de Henares, Carlos III, King Juan Carlos and UNED) plus five private universities. Furthermore, a large number of the most prestigious Public Organisms for Research (OPIs) are located in Madrid. The region also attracts more than 30% of total Spanish investment in R&D, in which large-scale European projects play an important role. Some 28,285 people are employed in R&D on a full-time basis. The innovation and technology transfer support system involves a wide range of organisations. It links the universities and the 50 research organisations to companies in the region and abroad through an action called "madri+d", and focuses mainly on pharmaceuticals, electronics, the environment and industry.