“I am a businessman and I am very proud to be one.” The shipowner Vicente Boluda said this yesterday, at the conclave convened by the Valencian Association of Entrepreneurs, AVE, to present a survey on the climate of public opinion regarding entrepreneurial activity. A study, prepared by GAD3, which highlights that 77% of Spaniards have a good opinion of employers, but that there are also elements of a negative perception about their work such as excess benefits, treatment of workers, lack of commitment to social initiatives and the environmental impact of some activities.
Seen in detail the work carried out after interviewing almost 4,000 people throughout Spain, there is data that reflects both the difficulty in perceiving business activity positively and in betting on entrepreneurship. An example is that “83% of Spaniards believe that starting a business in Spain is difficult or very difficult” and that more than half have no plans to start a business in the future, although 21% do consider this option. Another important fact: just over half (54%) of entrepreneurs are very or quite satisfied with having started a business, which is 9 points less than in 2023, and six out of ten regret not having their own business.
During the event, some businessmen showed their own perception of the activity they led. Thus, restaurant businessman Ricard Camarena said that being a businessman implies “freedom to make decisions, but also the responsibility to make them.” Entrepreneur Lara Guerrero, creator of Pepina Pastel, stressed that “if you stop to think about everything you have to go through and overcome, you would think about it before starting.” And Toño Font, Importaco, pointed out that “we have to do our bit and show the pride of being an entrepreneur.”
The map offered by the survey presented yesterday also draws well the typology of companies present in the Spanish market. In the section on the contribution of entrepreneurs to Spanish society, the barometer indicates that of the 3.2 million companies in Spain – 0.5% more in 2023 -, 53.6% are companies without employees, the 41.6% are microenterprises, 4% are small companies, 0.63% are medium-sized and only 0.15% are large companies. Medium and large companies represent 0.8% of the total and only exceed 1% in Madrid, Navarra and the Basque Country.
Only 18.3% of companies have existed for 20 or more years while 19% have not completed two years. By sectors, in industry the percentage of female veterans is higher while in services young women predominate, especially in the hospitality industry (22%). In general, the services sector predominates among companies (82.7%), where commerce contributes 20.2 points, industry accounts for 5.5% and construction accounts for 11.8% of the total number of companies.
Vicente Boluda stressed yesterday that entrepreneurs generate 84.6% of employment – three tenths more than last year – in Spain and contribute to 86% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Therefore, he added that “the important thing is not what we think of ourselves, but that society as a whole knows that it has committed businessmen, that we are capable of generating business references and, with it, more business vocations.”
In this context, he encouraged the associates of the business lobby, of which businessmen like Juan Roig are part, to “tell what we are, our values, our business culture, our commitment to the environment, our innovation plans and, ultimately , everything that businessmen do in our daily lives so that citizens feel proud of their businessmen”.
