Spain’s Entrepreneurial Nation Strategy

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Spain's Entrepreneurial Nation Strategy is a comprehensive plan put forth by the Spanish government to transform the nation's economy into a leading innovative entrepreneurial hub by 2030.
What are the main aims and objectives?

Spain’s Entrepreneurial Nation Strategy seeks to transform the country into a leading innovative entrepreneurial nation by 2030. The strategy focuses on four main objectives: 

  1. Investment: The strategy aims to increase the maturity of investments in Spain, closing the gap with similar countries in the region. This includes fostering investment and competitiveness in Spanish technological startups. 

  1. Talent: The plan seeks to attract and develop talent in Spain, leveraging the sectors driving the economy to generate growth. 

  1. Scalability: The strategy includes measures to increase the scalability of companies. 

  1. Entrepreneurial Public Sector: The plan encourages an entrepreneurial public sector through administrative simplification, tax breaks, foreign investment incentives, digital nomad visas, and improvements to current stock option taxation. 

These efforts are intended to make Spain more competitive and attractive for investment, particularly within its technological startup sector. 

How does the program work?

The strategy contains 50 measures to achieve the four objectives outlined above, however, it highlights the following 9 as the most significant: 

  1. Strengthening the 'Spain as an Entrepreneurial Nation' brand: This measure aims to enhance the overall image of Spain as a hub for entrepreneurship. 

  1. Creating the National Office of Entrepreneurship (ONE): This body will oversee and guide support services for entrepreneurship in collaboration with government agencies and public and private actors within the ecosystem.  

  1. Developing a legislative framework for start-ups: This measure will encourage the creation, growth and relocation of emerging companies and to promote business entrepreneurship based on innovation.  

  1. Creating a National Network of Entrepreneurship Centers: Known as RENACE, this measure advocates for the creation of a network of incubators, accelerators and other startup support programs to promote the ecosystem.  

  1. Implementing the Scaleup Spain initiative: this measure will support scalability and seek to increase the size of Spanish companies by consolidating their development in both domestic and international markets.  

  1. Launching the international program to attract female talent: the strategy highlights the Female Entrepreneurship Attraction program which is designed to make Spain a country of reference for professional women.  

  1. Attraction of talent through a Visa Program: the visa program seeks to improve Spain’s competitiveness and retain international talent by improving access to work for foreign professionals.  

  1. Implementing the Bandera Program: this program is oriented towards institutionalizing the creation, development and attraction of international events to be held in Spain. 

  1. Promoting public procurement as a driver of innovation: The strategy aims to boost collaboration between the public sector and innovative SMEs. 

14 of the remaining measures are focused around investment including: 

  • National Plan for Social Entreprenuership 

  • Streamlinging the process for foreign investors to obstain a Tax ID number in Spain 

  • Initiatives to encourage companies to establish their headquarters in Spain 

  • Initiatives to envourage companies to establish their headquarters in Spain 

  • Stock options 

  • Private seed-stage investment 

  • Women in investment 

  • Pension funds 

  • Debt investment 

  • Investment in family offices 

  • Alternative markets 

  • Promotion of knowledge transfer 

  • ENIS and CDTI resources 

  • Promotion of open innovation 

  • Private R&D&i 

13 of the remaining measures are focused around advancing the entrepreneurial public sector: 

  • Sandbox: public testing enviornments 

  • Smart regulation 

  • Open public data 

  • User experience design for citizens and companies 

  • Entrepreneurial civil service 

  • Special scheme for self-employed workers 

  • Visa for digital nomads 

  • Innovative SMEs in public tenders 

  • Social and environmental impact as a valuation criterion for public initiative  

  • Gender parity at events 

  • Gender equality criterion in public hiring 

8 of the remaining measures are focused around scalability: 

  • Strategy based on international partenrships 

  • Knowledge Transfer Offices (KTOs) 

  • Flexibility for teaching and research staff 

  • Recognition of researcher merit 

  • Technology centres and science and technology parks 

  • National defence as a driver of innovative entrepreneurship 

  • Innovative urban economic development 

  • Territorial development of innovative entrepreneurship 

The final 8 measures are focused around talent: 

  • Education and entrepreneurship 

  • University and entrepreneurship 

  • Innovative vocational training 

  • Lifelong learning 

  • Monitoring and gender gap in innovative entrepreneurship through Spain’s National Statistics Institute 

  • Women in STEAM careers 

  • Sponsorship and mentoring for women 

  • Senior talent 

Full the full details of each measure click here.  

What is the overall cost?
There is no information available about either the cost of developing the Entrepreneurial Nation Strategy or the full cost of implementing the strategy.  
How was it implemented?
Spain's Entrepreneurial Nation Strategy was initiated under the leadership of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, aiming to transform Spain into a hub for technological startups and foster investment, competitiveness, and talent attraction. The strategy was developed with a long-term vision to transform the production base of the Spanish economy. The High Commissioner for Spain's Entrepreneurial Nation Strategy, Francisco Polo, was responsible for shaping the 50 measures included in the strategy. The process involved a careful examination of Spain's existing entrepreneurial ecosystem, identifying areas of strength and potential for growth. 
What impact has been measured?

Since the Entrepreneurial Nation Strategy was presented in February 2021, several of the 50 measures have been implemented. Most notably this has included the “New Startup Law” which contained a range of policies such as tax incentives, stock options, regulatory reform, the digital nomad visa, and incentives for R&D spending.  

There are currently no progress updates on the implementation and impact of the Entrepreneurial Nation Strategy ahead of the 2030 marker that has been set within the strategy.  

 

What lessons can be learned?
It is currently not possible to judge the outcome of Spain's Entrepreneurial Strategy, however it does offer several lessons for other countries. Firstly, the importance of having a long-term plan is emphasized. The Spanish Government has a 10-year plan aiming to transform the nation into a hub for startups and entrepreneurs. Secondly, the strategy highlights the significance of legislative changes that favor entrepreneurship. The 'Startup Law' reflects this, offering tax breaks for investors, stock option reforms, and visa options to attract international tech talent. Lastly, it underscores the role of the public sector in fostering entrepreneurship. The strategy aims to turn the public sector into an entrepreneurial sector to support the growth of startups. All these lessons could be beneficial to other countries trying to bolster their own entrepreneurial ecosystems. 

CURATED BY

Tom Hancock

Research Associate
Global Entrepreneurship Network
United Kingdom