The 28th Congress of Spanish Family Businesses, which brings together over 600 executives of family firms in Burgos, has sounded the alarm about the excessive regulation and absenteeism that are stifling their growth.
Fifty-five percent (55%) of those surveyed identified absenteeism -in Spain, more than one million people are absent from work every day- as the main risk to their competitiveness, ahead of “the difficulty of finding qualified professionals” (52%) and even “regulatory changes” (51%), which is usually the main brake on investment in Spain.
Fifty-one percent (51%) of family businesses also believe that the excessive regulation and bureaucracy generated by the State, the EU, and the Autonomous Communities (CCAA) are their biggest problem, surpassing the concern over geopolitical issues or Trump’s tariffs.
National regulation is the major problem affecting these companies (36%), which account for nearly 80% of Spain’s GDP. Regional and European regulations are also seen as problems, though to a lesser and equal extent.
According to the president of the Elcano Royal Institute, José Juan Ruiz, between 2019 and 2024, 19,000 regulations were issued in Europe, four times more than in the United States. “Sixty-five percent (65%) of European companies see excessive regulation as one of their worst costs,” he stated.
The attending business owners rated Spain’s economic situation at 5.66 out of nine, which is the best result in this congress since the pandemic, but they remain cautious about the future. The vast majority predict that “there will be fragile or moderate growth, so job creation in the coming years will be non-existent or limited.”
