SPAIN Trends and Developments Contributed by: Miguel Bolivar Tejedo, Daniel Gurrea Boix, Esther Mont Soria and Antonio Coello Luna, Anaford Abogados
best-known incubators and accelerators in Spain include Lanzadera (in Valencia), driven by the entrepreneur Juan Roig, and Wayra (in Madrid and Barcelona), Telefónica’s corporate investment and innovation hub. • Strong institutional backing: Business activity benefits from strong public support through lead - ing organisations such as the National Innovation Agency ( Empresa Nacional de Innovación , SME , SA – ENISA), the Spanish Foreign Trade Institute ( ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones – ICEX), the Centre for Technological Development and Innovation ( Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación – CDTI) and Red.es, in close co- ordination with the regional economic development agencies. At the start of the year, Spain announced the creation of a government-owned investment fund called España Crece , which would enable the Official Credit Institute ( Instituto de Crédito Oficial – ICO) to inject up to EUR60 billion into the busi - ness sector, shifting its financial profile towards that of public investment. Consequently, all of the aforementioned stakeholders offer tailored and customised financial and direct investment instru - ments (such as traditional equity-linked loans without enforceable collateral, non-repayable grants for technology-intensive projects and new co-investment venture capital schemes), mitigating the impact of economic down cycles. • Sophistication of the transactional ecosystem: The market has a network of first-class profes - sional services, including specialist legal advisers and financial institutions with a solid track record, which lend maturity, security and fluidity to high- volume corporate transactions. The strength of this network is directly reflected in current investment statistics. The Spanish M&A and private equity market consistently records annual transaction volumes that exceed tens of billions of euros. This steady flow of foreign and domestic investment demonstrates the confidence that major global funds have in the country’s service infrastructure and the rigour of local financial intermediaries. Potential regulatory changes Regarding legislative proposals that could impact business creation, the Public Integrity Act stands out on the 2026 political agenda.
The preliminary draft on the Public Integrity Act, approved by the Council of Ministers on 17 February 2026, is currently at an early stage of parliamentary consideration. The initiative aims to strengthen the transparency and traceability of corporate ownership, in line with global trends in regulation and good cor - porate governance. The proposal introduces several registration control mechanisms for limited liability companies that have generated considerable discussion within the legal and business communities, particularly due to the practical implications they could have for investment. The most noteworthy aspects are: • the replacement of the traditional notarial instru - ment with standardised electronic documentation mechanisms for certain transfers of shareholdings; • the attribution of constitutive effect to the registra - tion of such transfers, with legal shareholder status linked to prior registration in the Mercantile Regis - try; and • the granting of access to information regarding the company’s ownership, and to companies’ internal records. If approved as currently proposed, these measures could increase the operational complexity of certain transactions and raise practical challenges in terms of execution times, as well as co-ordination with the Mercantile Registries and overall transaction confi - dentiality. However, it is important to emphasise that the draft Act is at an early stage of the legislative process and will be subject to review and amendments. It is expected that the final text will incorporate the nec - essary adjustments to avoid practical uncertainties, while maintaining an appropriate balance between the transparency objectives pursued and the require - ments of legal certainty, flexibility and efficiency. Final Considerations Based on current economic assessments and expert analyses, Spain is projected to maintain a strong out - look for long-term investment and corporate activity. It has demonstrated a remarkable ability to transform
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