Microsoft is looking to open two new 'centres for innovation' in Spain, one dedicated to 'Cloud Computing' (pay-as-you go virtual services) and another dedicated to health service technology, making a total of seven centres of this kind in Spain.

Microsoft has already opened two other technology centres in Spain in the past year, one in Manresa dedicated to innovation in productivity and the other in Palma de Mallorca, which is the first in the world dedicated to the tourism industry.

María Garaña, Microsoft's president for Spain, stressed the importance of the Palma centre which is a worldwide reference for technological applications in the tourism sector.  She pointed out the importance of Spain as a leader in world tourism and explained how Microsoft is developing specific products for the industry.

Garaña outlined the company's results, saying that they had lost a lot of clients amongst the small companies, so many of which have disppeared over recent months, but said that overall Microsoft had had a good year, with growth lower than expected but still in double figures.