Florida Gov. Rick Scott said he’s heard “significant” interest in the Sunshine State from companies from Spain. But he acknowledged that long-term success from the ongoing business development mission in Madrid may be hard to fully quantify.

Officials from at least one tourism company in Madrid plan to do more business in Miami, while a Spanish woman may bring her children’s books and magazines to Florida, he said.

“It’s never easy; sometimes you’ll have a success because you’ll be able to announce something that happens right away,” Scott said during a telephone interview Wednesday morning on WFLA 100.7 AM in Tallahassee.

“Typically what happens is, you’re building relationships that people start thinking about [and] why they should invest in Florida, and that happens over time. And sometimes you’ll never know the impact you’ll have because I’ve met so many people; so many will end up coming to do business in Florida but that you’ll never see again. ”

Scott is heading a group of nearly 60 political and business leaders on the Enterprise Florida visit to Madrid. (Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, did not make the trip due to a scheduling conflict.) With full daily agendas that include meetings with ambassadors, economic development sessions and planned social events, Scott said there has been little time for sightseeing on his fifth business development mission – the others being Canada, Panama, Brazil and Israel -- since taking office in January 2011.

Scott is scheduled to head to the United Kingdom, to attend a trade exhibition as part of the Farnborough International Air Show, in Hampshire, England, in July.  Potential trips to Columbia and Asia are also in the works.

Shortly after the Brazil trip in October, which included appearances at a business expo, Scott announced $61 million in deals were closer to being completed.

In Madrid, the Enterprise Florida travelers have been promoting the growth of international trade from Spanish-speaking nations into Florida, noting the number of flights from Miami International Airport to Central and South America and banks from Hispanic nations that do business in South Florida.

“People feel very comfortable with Florida; they know we’re welcoming. In the case of Spain, they know we speak their language and they probably, like a lot of people, have taken trips to Florida,”  Scott said.

There are already an estimated 300 Spain-based companies working in Florida, which has one of the largest number of Spanish expatriates in the United States.

Among the companies and outfits who sent people on the mission are: Florida Power & Light, Enterprise Florida, the Economic Development Commission of Florida Space Coast, Holland & Knight, Florida Realtors, Dosal Tobacco Corp., Jax USA Partnership, Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, Florida Humanities Council, Florida Crystals Corp., and Greenberg Traurig.

While official data confirmed Spain was back in recession and a newspaper reported a big outflow of deposits from the part-nationalized Bankia, Scott said individual businesses remain strong and ambitious in Spain.

“The reason I’m doing this is 100 percent to get more jobs,” Scott said.

He pointed to the potential of construction companies from Spain coming to Florida as a means to reduce the cost of building roads.

“They’ve some of the biggest construction companies -- companies that will build roads and build a lot of infrastructure, and they’ll take the risks. We want them to come in and see if they can come in and help us,” Scott said.

“We want to build more roads, but as your governor my job is to build those roads at a price that you can afford. So if a Spanish company can come in and do that well, I want them to come and do that well.”

Scott also met King Juan Carlos on Tuesday, inviting the king and queen to visit Florida in 2013 for the state’s 500 anniversary, Viva 500, marking Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon’s first landing on Florida soil.  

“It would be great for us and hopefully it would be great for Spain,” Scott said.

No commitment has been made for a Florida visit from the king.



Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.