2025 POLICY ROADMAP

Spain is heading towards greater internationalization and better access:

•     The Ministry of Economy reports that the number of Spanish exporting companies has grown by 27% since 2010.

•     The tech ecosystem shows strong growth of foreign investment in Spanish Startups (over €2 billion from international investors in 2024, and with foreign capital growing faster than domestic).

•     Public initiatives like Desafía and ICEX Next provide structured immersion and soft-landing programs in the US, Nordics, UK, Germany, etc., explicitly aimed at Startup internationalization.

However, constraints such as geopolitical uncertainty, logistics issues and regulatory complexity endure, and only a minority of startups internationalize early.

Important entrepreneurship policy changes include:

•    New financing via Enisa (2025): providing loans ranging from EUR 25,000 to 1.5 million, to help new and growing SMEs expand their activities, complementing the financing provided by other investors

•    Continued push for digitalization and support via Kit Digital - aimed at medium-size companies (50–249 employees), offering digitalization “bonos” of €25,000–€29,000. Support covers a broad range of digital solutions, easing digital transformation for Startups and SMEs.

•    Focus on “social economy” and cooperatives, with proposed new laws to strengthen social-economy enterprises.

2025 Framework Conditions Review

Spain’s National Entrepreneurial Context Index (NECI) score for 2025 is 4.4, a slight increase from 4.3 in 2024. The NECI reflects the overall quality of an entrepreneurial environment, as assessed by its own national experts. This improvement lifts Spain to 31st out of 53 GEM economies globally, up from 38th the previous year. The rise in NECI is because of modest progress in several framework conditions, particularly in government programmes and infrastructure.

Of thirteen Framework Conditions, national experts rated four of Spain’s as sufficient or better (i.e. score ≥ 5.0), up from three in 2024. These are Physical Infrastructure (6.7), Commercial and Professional Infrastructure (6.0), Government Entrepreneurial Programmes (5.1) and Entrepreneurial Education Post-school (5.1). The remaining nine conditions are rated as insufficient, with particularly low scores for Entrepreneurial Education at School (2.3) and Government Policy: Support and Relevance  (3.3). Compared to 2024, seven condition scores improved, including Ease of Entry: Market Dynamics (from 3.9 to 4.6), the largest gain across all conditions, and Research and Development Transfers (from 3.7 to 4.2). However, six other condition scores declined, most notably Entrepreneurial Education at School (2.6 to 2.3), reinforcing its position as Spain’s lowest-rated condition. Spain ranks in the top twenty globally for Commercial and Professional Infrastructure (15th), but in the bottom ten for Ease of Entry: Market Dynamics (47th)  and Entrepreneurial Education at School (44th).

New entrepreneurs’ awareness of the need to develop and implement AI solutions is scored highly by national experts at 6.6, up from 5.9 in 2024. New and growing businesses’ prioritisation of sustainability is rated as sufficient at 5.6, up from 5.3 in 2024.

Spain’s entrepreneurial environment in 2025 shows modest but encouraging progress, with a higher NECI score and more framework conditions reaching sufficiency. Infrastructure and government programmes are clear strengths, while education and cultural support remain areas for development. Sustainability has increased, and AI awareness is growing steadily, positioning Spain for future innovation.

2025 Entrepreneurial Activity Review

Just over one in four adults in Spain report that their household income has fallen in 2025, down from one in three  in 2024.  Fewer than one in ten adults intend to start a business in the next three years, the same as in 2024.

Entrepreneurial awareness, confidence and opportunity recognition are all quite modest. Fewer than half of adults in Spain know someone who has started a business recently. A similar proportion see themselves as having the skills and experience to start their own business, but fewer than one in three see good opportunities to start a business locally. Of those, a little less than half would not start a business for fear it might fail.

Only 7.2% of adults are starting or running a new business in Spain in2025, up a little from 6.8% in 2024. Slightly fewer own an established business but the ratio of new to established businesses is relatively balanced, suggesting a stable entrepreneurial base. Men are slightly more likely than women to be starting a new business.

The most agreed motivation among new entrepreneurs is “to earn a living because jobs are scarce”, cited by just over half of new entrepreneurs, with “to make a difference in the world” not too far behind. Just over half of new entrepreneurs expect to use more digital technology to sell their product in the next six months.  As in 2024, one in three new entrepreneurs have customers beyond Spain. Employment prospects remain modest, with one in ten of new entrepreneurs anticipate employing more than another five people in five years’ time. Just over half have taken steps to minimise environmental impacts in the past twelve months, with slightly fewer have taken steps to maximise social impacts. A similar proportion report prioritising such impacts above profitability or growth.