OCDE - Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2026 - España de 2026

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FINANCING SMES AND ENTREPRENEURS 2026: SPAIN © OECD 2026

Key facts on SME financing According to the Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises in the Euro Area (SAFE) , between 2023 and 2025 Spanish SMEs perceived an improvement in the availability of bank credit, in contrast to the situation in the euro area, where companies experienced a slight deterioration during the s ame period. However, the latest available data, corresponding to the fourth quarter of 2025, indicates that this improvement has been taking place at an increasingly slower pace. The SAFE also reports that, in the last two years, there has been a decrease in the loan rejection rate, dropping from 6.8% in 2023 to 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2025. Credit demand, measured by loan applications, remained weak in both 2024 an d 2025. The increase of the ECB’s key interest rates raised the cost of new financing for non-financial corporations (NFCs), including SMEs1, between 2022 and 2023, although these cost increases tapered off in the second half of the latter year. In addition, the normalisation of ECB’s monetary policy that started in June 2024 led to a gradual decline in the interest rates on loans to SMEs. As a result, new lending to SMEs2 increased by 11.6% between 2022 and 2023 and by 16.1% between 2023 and 2024. By contrast, mainly due to large repayments, outstanding SME loans decrease d by 8.8% between 2022 and 2023 and by 1.9% between 2023 and 2024, reaching EUR 204 billion in the latter year. Total outstanding business loans declined by 4.7% between 2022 and 2023 but increased slightly by 0.4% in 2024, amounting to EUR 450 billion in the latter year. As a result, SME loans accounted for 45.3% of total

outstanding business loans declined by 4.7% between 2022 and 2023 but increased slightly by 0.4% in 2024, amounting to EUR 450 billion in the latter year. As a result, SME loans accounted for 45.3% of total loans to NFCs in 2024, 1.1 percentage points (p.p.) less than in 2023 and 3.2 p.p. less than in 2022. The share of non-performing loans (NPLs) for productive activity (which includes l oans to individual entrepreneurs) kept decreasing, and stood at 3.9% at the end of 2024, 0.21 p.p. lower than in December of 2023, and 0.36 p.p. lower than in 2022. This decline , which was maintained throughout 2025, is mainly explained by a fall in NPLs (the numerator). The economic policy measures have been important in maintaining the repayment capacity of comp anies in a context of rising interest rates and global economic uncertainty. The cr edit guarantee programme “Response plan to Russia's war in Ukraine”, endowed with a maximum amount of EUR 10 billion, of which EUR 9 billion are directly managed by ICO 3, has enabled banks to grant credit under advantageous conditions to companies (mainly SMEs) and self-employed, thereby reducing impa irments. The Spanish government also approved the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan to receive the fi nancial aid from the EU’s Mechanism for the Recovery and Resilience 4, with a total financial envelope of EUR 163 billion (EUR 79 billion in direct grants and EUR 84 billion in loans) for the period 2021-2026. The plan, which has a detailed agenda of investment projects and reforms, hinges upon four pillars: green transition, digital transformation, social and territorial cohesion, and gender equality. Fi nally, in response to the tariff measures announced by the US Administration on April 2025, the Spanish Government rolled out the Trade Response and Relaunch Plan. With funds close to 0.9% of GDP, the plan has been designed to

digital transformation, social and territorial cohesion, and gender equality. Fi nally, in response to the tariff measures announced by the US Administration on April 2025, the Spanish Government rolled out the Trade Response and Relaunch Plan. With funds close to 0.9% of GDP, the plan has been designed to provide financing to firms that are more exposed or vulnerable to US tariff hikes. Specifically, it provides a credit guarantee facility through the ICO to boost the activity of firms hit by the tariffs and extends the Spain2 

FINANCING SMES AND ENTREPRENEURS 2026: SPAIN © OECD 2026

coverage offered by the Spanish official export credit company ( Compañía Española de Seguros de Crédito a la Exportación, CESCE) for export risks. The plan also redirects some pre-existing i nstruments (mainly loans associated with the Recovery and Resilience Facility) to provide financial support to those firms. Regarding non-bank funding, the volume of venture capital investment in Spanish SMEs amounted to EUR 6.1 billion in 2024, which represented a 7.6% decline relative to the level reported in 2023 (EUR 6.6 billion), but was still well above the 2022 figure (EUR 5 billion). 3

FINANCING SMES AND ENTREPRENEURS 2026: SPAIN © OECD 2026

Table 1. Scoreboard for Spain Indicator Unit 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Debt Outstanding business loans, SMEs EUR billion 394 357 263 210 174 146 134 147 165 170 184 175 174 173 151 173 193 224 Outstanding business loans, total EUR billion 893 952 915 896 840 708 609 545 518 493 477 446 435 471 473 470 448 450

Outstanding business loans, total EUR billion 893 952 915 896 840 708 609 545 518 493 477 446 435 471 473 470 448 450 Share of SME outstanding loans % of total outstanding business loans 44.12 37.50 28.74 23.44 20.70 20.62 22.01 26.99 31.88 34.48 38.57 39.24 50.34 51.17 31.92 36.81 46.43 45.33 New business lending, total EUR billion 991 929 868 665 527 485 393 357 393 323 339 347 348 357 299 359 347 402 New business lending, SMEs EUR billion

293 258 247 246 229 219 241 237 228 208 204 Share of new SME lending % of total new lending

82.07 65.65 76.47 72.57 65.99 50.00 48.46 79.26 63.51 55.62 55.72 Outstanding short-term loans, SMEs EUR billion 379 346 246 196 166 139 126 135 154 153 163 157 156 129 132 161 211 185 Outstanding long-term loans, SMEs EUR billion 15 11 17 14 8 7 9 11 12 17 21 18 17 44 20 11 8 12 Share of short-term SME lending % of total SME lending 96.19 96.92 93.54 93.33 95.40 95.21 93.33 92.47 92.77 90.00 88.59 89.71 90.17 74.57 86.84 93.60 96.35 93.91

Government loan guarantees, SMEs EUR billion 5.6 7.70 11.00 10.10 12.00 11.00 13.00 9.10 7.60 6.50 3.11

Government guaranteed loans, SMEs EUR billion 5.2 7.05 5.91 7.24 7.50 4.97 2.06 0.94 0.27 0.11 0.04 0.03 Direct government loans, SMEs EUR billion 10.6 13.13 20.83 24.93 27.67 53.52 63.11 56.16 51.40 46.07 41.27 37.48 32.72 30.79 27.91 24.36 22.12 20.80 Non-performing loans, total % of all business loans 1 3.66 6.19 7.87 11.32 15.48 20.31 18.49 14.62 13.10 10.26 6.87 5.41 4.98 4.76 4.21 4.06 3.85 Interest rate, SMEs % 5.96 5.51 3.63 3.78 4.95 4.91 4.79 3.86 3.01 2.44 2.15 1.89 1.71 1.71 1.56 3.44 5.27 4.07 Interest rate, large firms % 5.33 4.30 2.16 2.57 3.36 2.61 2.69 1.99 1.97 1.56 1.56 1.69 1.15 1.39 1.04 3.23 5.04 4.03

Interest rate spread Percentage points 0.63 1.21 1.47 1.21 1.59 2.30 2.10 1.87 1.04 0.88 0.59 0.20 0.56 0.32 0.52 0.20 0.23 0.04 Collateral, SMEs % of SMEs needing collateral to obtain bank lending

35.19 34.36 31.45 30.00 31.22 28.24 25.89 26.04 24.05 23.39 20.79 19.16 18.85 18.94 19.03 Percentage of SME loan applications SME loan applications/ total number of SMEs

38.07 36.25 34.67 31.89 31.49 34.36 33.81 32.80 28.14 28.60 33.87 38.26 22.07 21.16 18.34 20.19 Rejection rate 1-(SME loans authorised/ requested)

22.74 15.87 12.83 18.47 12.85 9.77 7.87 6.95 4.75 5.95 4.38 4.05 5.87 6.39 9.50 9.91 Non-bank finance Venture and growth capital EUR Million 3 336 3 596 3 600 2 675 2 145 1 473 2 247 1 902 1 886 2 446 2 984 4 196 4 165 5 193 5 024 6 595 Venture and growth capital (growth rate) %, Year-on-year growth rate

7.79 0.11 -25.69 -19.81 -31.33 52.55 -15.35 -0.84 29.69 22.00 40.62 -0.74 24.68 -3.26 31.26 Other indicators

7.79 0.11 -25.69 -19.81 -31.33 52.55 -15.35 -0.84 29.69 22.00 40.62 -0.74 24.68 -3.26 31.26 Other indicators Payment delays, B2B Number of days 5 14 12 6 9 16 11 9 7 5 2 0 3 2 -4 -4 Bankruptcies, SMEs Number 1 002 2 761 4 890 4 728 5 666 7 780 8 903 6 378 4 915 4 068 3 981 3 941 4 318 3 993 4 897 6 080 4 963 5 589 Bankruptcies, SMEs (growth rate) %, Year-on-year growth rate 175.55 77.11 -3.31 19.84 37.31 14.43 -28.36 -22.94 -17.23 -2.14 -1.00 9.57 -7.53 22.64 24.16 -18.37 12.61

Source: See Table 2.4 

FINANCING SMES AND ENTREPRENEURS 2026: SPAIN © OECD 2026

Macroeconomic and financing conditions In 2023, against the backdrop of a strong and fast monetary policy tightening, weak euro area growth and high uncertainty, the Spanish economy stood out as it recorded GDP growth of 2.5%, significantly above the euro area average of 0.4%. In 2024, GDP growth reached 3.2%, underpinned by the easing of monetary policy, strong private and government consumption, the positive contribut ion of net external demand, in particular, services exports, and the significant increase in employm ent and the labour force, largely driven by net migration flows. According to provisional estimates, in 2025 Spain’s GDP grew at a

monetary policy, strong private and government consumption, the positive contribut ion of net external demand, in particular, services exports, and the significant increase in employm ent and the labour force, largely driven by net migration flows. According to provisional estimates, in 2025 Spain’s GDP grew at a 2.8% in annual terms as a consequence of strong internal demand -especially pri vate consumption and corporate investmentand despite the negative contribution of net external demand. The rise in inflation, which had started in 2021, was intense and persistent both in the Euro Area and Spain. After reaching its maximum of 10.8% in July 2022, headline inflation in Spain st arted to decline progressively until reaching 2% in May 2025, its target rate, although rebounding during the second half of the year to stay at 2.9% in December 2025. Underlying inflation followed a similar tren d, although slowed more gradually. Regarding monetary policy, in July 2022 the ECB raised the interest rate on the deposit facility to 0% (from -0.50%, which was set in September 2019) and kept increasing it progressively until reaching 4% in September 2023. Hence, over this relatively short period, the deposit facility rate increased by 450 bp. The restrictive monetary policy stance led to a strong tightening of the financial c onditions for Spanish companies during 2022 and the most part of 2023. The process started to reverse in June 2024, when the ECB began to progressively reduce the interest rate on the deposit facility until r eaching its current level of 2% in June 2025. The other key interest rates on the Eurosystem’s main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility followed a similar evolution. SMEs in the national economy According to the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), 99.9% of all firms, both NFCs and sole proprietorships, were SMEs 1 on January 1 st, 2025. Of these, 55% were firms with no employees, 40.4 %

SMEs in the national economy According to the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), 99.9% of all firms, both NFCs and sole proprietorships, were SMEs 1 on January 1 st, 2025. Of these, 55% were firms with no employees, 40.4 % were micro firms with at least one employee, 3.9% small enterprises and 0.6% medium-sized enterprises. According to the breakdown by legal form, NFCs accounted for 41.2% of all firms and sole proprietorships for the remaining 58.8%.2 SME lending The increase of the ECB ’s key interest rates raised the cost of new financing for firms in 2023, although these cost increases tapered off in the second half of the year and had a limited imp act on firms’ vulnerability and the credit quality of banks’ balance sheets. In additi on, the normalisation of ECB’s monetary policy that started in June 2024 led to a gradual improvement in financing c onditions and a steady recovery in the demand for credit. During the first half of 2025, as the ECB continued lowering its key interest rates, the cost of bank financing for firms kept declining, their acces s to bank credit improved slightly, and their demand for loans continued rising, although it remained weak. As a result, bank financing to firms grew. However, lower funding costs and the improvement in the macroeconomic environment led to lower leverage ratios (aggregate debtto-asset ratio of 42.1% in 2024, from 44.6% in 2023) and debt service burden, implying that firms’ vulnerability stayed at low levels from a historical perspective and stage 2 and stage 3 bank loans kept decreasing. 5

FINANCING SMES AND ENTREPRENEURS 2026: SPAIN © OECD 2026

Thanks to the easing in financial conditions since the beginning of 202 4, the volume of new loans to all NFCs grew by 15.9% between 2023 and 2024, after experiencing a small decline between 2022 and 2023

Thanks to the easing in financial conditions since the beginning of 202 4, the volume of new loans to all NFCs grew by 15.9% between 2023 and 2024, after experiencing a small decline between 2022 and 2023 (3.3%). As a result, the volume reached EUR 402 billion in 2024, a figure also greater than the one recorded in 2022, EUR 359 billion. New lending to SMEs (proxied by loans up to EUR 1 million to NFCs) followed a similar trend, increasing by 16.1% between 2023 and 2024, after growing by 11.6% betwee n 2022 and 2023, reaching EUR 224 billion in 2024. These developments led to an increase in the share of new lending to SMEs up to 55.7% in 2024 (0.1 p.p. and 7.5 p.p. more than in 2023 and 2022, respectively). Regarding outstanding balances, total loans to NFCs increased slightly (by 0.4%) between 2023 and 2024, after a substantial decline (by 4.3%) between 2022 and 2023, standing at EUR 450 billion in 2024, a figure still lower than the one registered in 2022 (EUR 470 billion). This evolution i s consistent with that of the ECB’s monetary policy stance, as the period between July 2022 and September 2023 corresponded to the strongest and fastest monetary policy tightening ever seen in the euro area; by contrast, between June 2024 and June 2025 the ECB has progressively eased its monetary policy. In the case of SMEs, outstanding loans followed a downward trend between 2022 and 2024. They decreased modestly by 1.9% between 2023 and 2024, after a significant decline of 8.8% between 2022 and 2023, standing at EUR 204 billion in 2024. These developments led to a smaller share of SMEs loans in total outstanding loans to

between 2023 and 2024, after a significant decline of 8.8% between 2022 and 2023, standing at EUR 204 billion in 2024. These developments led to a smaller share of SMEs loans in total outstanding loans to NFCs in 2024 (45.3%) than the values registered in 2023 and 2022 (46.4% and 48.5%, respectively). Regarding the maturity of bank credit, short-term outstanding loans to SMEs declin ed substantially, by 12.3%, between 2023 and 2024, after a large increase of 31.1% between 2022 and 2023. This tra nslated into a slight rise of the share of short-term loans in all loans to SMEs (93 .9% in 2024, as compared to 93.6% in 2022). While a higher ratio of short-term loans always makes SMEs more v ulnerable to refinancing risks, these are quite limited in the current context because of the downw ard trend of new lending costs and a less restrictive credit supply. The process of reduction of NPLs that began in 2013 has continued in the last years. The share of NPLs, proxied by the ratio of doubtful loans to finance the productive activity of the NFCs and individual entrepreneurs, decreased by 0.15 p.p. between 2022 and 2023 despite the strong mone tary policy tightening during most of that period and by 0.21 p.p. between 2023 and 2024 (fostered by the easing of monetary policy since the second half of 2024). As a result, it stood at 3.9% at the end of 2024, which was the lowest value since the start of the global financial crisis in 2008 (3.7%).This decline, which was maintained throughout 2025, is mainly explained by a fall in NPLs (numerator ). This evolution is caused by the decrease in the interest rates of loans and the robust growth of the Spanish economy (3.5% in 2024

maintained throughout 2025, is mainly explained by a fall in NPLs (numerator ). This evolution is caused by the decrease in the interest rates of loans and the robust growth of the Spanish economy (3.5% in 2024 and 2.8% in 2025 in annual terms, as measured by the GDP). Credit conditions Also consistent with the evolution of the ECB’s monetary policy stance, the average interest rate on loans to SMEs (proxied by loans up to EUR 1 million to NFCs) increased substanti ally, from 3.4% to 5.3%, between 2022 and 2023. However, it dropped from 5.3% to 4.1% between 2023 and 2024. Similarly, the average interest rate on loans to large firms (proxied by loans greater than EUR1 mill ion to NFCs) rose significantly between 2022 and 2023 (from 3.2% to 5%), but declined between 2023 and 2024 (from 5% to 4%). Accordingly, the average interest rate spread between loans to SMEs and large corporations widened slightly between 2022 and 2023 (from 20 bp. to 23 bp.), while it narrowe d substantially between 2023 and 2024 (from 23 bp. to 4 bp.).

In this context, the percentage of SMEs that applied for bank credit declined substan tially between 2022 and 2023 (from 21.9% to 18.3%), but bounced back in 2024, standing at 20.2%. Alt hough this is 1.9 p.p. lower than the value observed in 2021, before the ECB tightened its monetary polic y. The loan rejection6 

FINANCING SMES AND ENTREPRENEURS 2026: SPAIN © OECD 2026

rate dropped (by 2.7 p.p., down to 9.5%) between 2022 and 2023, arguably because t he higher interest

FINANCING SMES AND ENTREPRENEURS 2026: SPAIN © OECD 2026

rate dropped (by 2.7 p.p., down to 9.5%) between 2022 and 2023, arguably because t he higher interest rates deterred firms with low creditworthiness from applying for credit, while b etween 2023 and 2024 it increased slightly (by 0.4 pp., up to 9.9%), in parallel to lower credit costs. According to the ECB’s Bank Lending Survey (BLS), credit standards in Spain remained stable in both 2024 and 2025. During the same period, the euro area as a whole continued to exhibit a moderate tightening of credit standards, although much milder than that recorded during 2022 and 2023. In Spain, banks’ overall conditions for new loans eased from the second half of 2024 onward s, in a context of progressively declining interest rates and narrowing margins, following the period of rate increases experienced during the previous two years. The BLS also shows that demand for bank credit by SMEs began to grow in 2024. In 2025, demand continued to rise slightly, although the latest available information, corresponding to the fourth quarter of 2025, reveals a moderate drop in loan applications, i n a context of macroeconomic uncertainty that appears to have negatively affected companies’ investment decisions. Regarding government assistance to companies, most of the policy support, which surged dur ing the pandemic, continued to be phased out in 2023 and 2024. Direct government loans to SMEs decreased by 9.2% between 2022 and 2023 and by 6% between 2023 and 2024, amounting to EUR 20.8 billion in the latter year. This amount is significantly lower than the level of direct go vernment loans observed before the Covid-19 crisis (EUR 32.7 billion in 2019). Alternative sources of SME financing The volume of venture capital investment in Spanish SMEs (defined as firms with less than 250 employees)

latter year. This amount is significantly lower than the level of direct go vernment loans observed before the Covid-19 crisis (EUR 32.7 billion in 2019). Alternative sources of SME financing The volume of venture capital investment in Spanish SMEs (defined as firms with less than 250 employees) amounted to EUR 6.1 billion in 2024, which implied a 7.6% drop relative to the level reported in 2023 (EUR 6.6 billion), but was still well above the 2022 figure (EUR 5 billion). Other indicators The number of bankruptcy filings by NFCs stood at 4,963 in 2023 and increased to 5,589 in 2024 and to 5,871 in 2025, still below the 2022 figure (6,080 insolvency proceedings), when the number of bankruptcy filings rose substantially because of the end of the insolvency moratorium on J une 30 and the entry into force of the reform of the Spanish Insolvency Law on September 26. The insolvency mor atorium was implemented to avoid the liquidation of viable businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic 3, while the reform of the Insolvency Law made the fresh start regime more appealing to sole proprietors and owners of small, incorporated firms that had pledged personal guarantees or their own assets as collateral to obtain bank funding for their businesses. The growth of insolvency proceedings during the last two years is mainly explained by the new insolvency procedure for micro firms, faster and less costly than the ordinary one, which has been increasingly used since its entry into force on January 1, 2023, a nd it currently accounts for nearly 22% of the total bankruptcy filings by NFCs. Government policy response Ukraine guarantee line In 2022 the Spanish Government established the credit guarantee programme “Response plan to Russia’s war in Ukraine”, endowed with a maximum amount of EUR 10 billion, of which EUR 9 billion are directly managed by ICO. The aim of this credit line is to guarantee the principal of new loans and other fi nancing instruments granted by credit institutions to firms and self-employed from all productive sectors (except for

war in Ukraine”, endowed with a maximum amount of EUR 10 billion, of which EUR 9 billion are directly managed by ICO. The aim of this credit line is to guarantee the principal of new loans and other fi nancing instruments granted by credit institutions to firms and self-employed from all productive sectors (except for financial and insurance services) that were adversely affected by the economic effects of the war in 7

FINANCING SMES AND ENTREPRENEURS 2026: SPAIN © OECD 2026

Ukraine, such as rising energy prices, raw materials, or electricity. The guaranteed financing must be used to address the liquidity needs of companies and self-employed (current expenses, work ing capital, and investments). Three tranches of the credit line were activated, two in 2022 and one in 2023. The first one, endowed with EUR 5 billion, aimed to guarantee credit granted to SMEs and self-emp loyed (EUR 3.5 billion) and to larger firms (EUR 1.5 billion), while the recipients of the second one, endowed with EUR 0.5 billion, were gas-intensive companies. The third one, which amounted to EUR 3.5 billion, guaranteed loans provided to SMEs and self-employed (EUR 3 billion) and to larger firms (EUR 0.5 billion). The programme remained active between June 1st and December 31st, 2024, exclusively for firms from the primary sector, and it was completely finalised at the end of that year. Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan The Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP) is the second largest (in absolute figures) financed by the Next Generation EU (NGEU) programme and its main spending tool, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The plan, which has a detailed agenda of investment projects and structural reforms to promote growth and business and job creation, hinges upon four pillars: green transition, digital transformation, social and territorial cohesion, and gender equality. The first phase of the RTRP envisioned

and Resilience Facility (RRF). The plan, which has a detailed agenda of investment projects and structural reforms to promote growth and business and job creation, hinges upon four pillars: green transition, digital transformation, social and territorial cohesion, and gender equality. The first phase of the RTRP envisioned a total investment of up to EUR140 billion, expanded to EUR163 billion (EUR 79.8 billion in direct grants and EUR 83.2 billion in loans) in the 2021-2026 perio d following the October 2023 amendment, which represents more than 12% of Spain ’s GDP. A specific part of the plan, called Component 13: Supporting SMEs, and endowed with EUR 87.6 billion, focuses on the transformation and resilience of Spanish SMEs. The grant part includes the June 2022 upward revision of Spain ’s grant allocation of EUR 7.7 billion and the country’s REPowerEU grant allocation of EUR 2.6 billion. In addition, Spain has requested a trans fer of its share from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve of EUR 58 million to its RTRP. So far, EUR 48.3 b illion of the RRF resources (29.6 % of the amended RTRP) have been received. These have been disbursed by the European Commission in the form of pre-financing and four grant instalments. The amended plan focuses on the green transition, devoting almost 40 % of the resources to it, and fosters the digital transformation by committing 25.9 % of the funds (excluding REPowerEU) to digital projects. Disbursement by the European Commission of the remaining funds is contingent on fulfill ing various milestones and targets, associated with investment projects and structural reforms, by 31 August 2026. Thes e funds, combined with the EUR 36.7 billion of the Structural Funds of the multiannual financ ial framework 20212027, present a unique opportunity to boost Spain’s potential growth capacity. Trade Response and Relaunch Plan in response to the US tariff hike In the current context of trade uncertainty due to the tariffs that the US Administration ma y impose on

2027, present a unique opportunity to boost Spain’s potential growth capacity. Trade Response and Relaunch Plan in response to the US tariff hike In the current context of trade uncertainty due to the tariffs that the US Administration ma y impose on imports from the EU, on 8 April 2025 the Spanish government approved a package of measures to mitigate the negative impact of those policies on Spanish companies. 4 The package includes a line of credit guarantees worth EUR 5 billion through the ICO to ensure the financing of both exporter and i mporter companies affected by the change in US tariff policy and to support possib le industrial restructuring processes. It also reinforces the Corporate Internationalisation Fund (FIEM), increasing its budget to EUR 700 million, to enable companies to boost their international presence and diversify their exports to reduce risk. In addition, the coverage offered by the Compañía Española de Seguros de Crédito a la Exportación (CESCE), the Spanish export credit agency, to companies has been extended, with an increase in the maximum coverage limit from EUR 9 billion to EUR 15 billion, which will allow for the immediate mobilisation of EUR 2 billion in coverage for international projects affected by new tariffs. ICO’s direct financing facilities In September 2025, the ICO launched ICO Crecimiento, a new 100% digital direct financing tool aimed at viable SMEs with high growth potential and job creation capacity which, due to their specific characteristics8 

FINANCING SMES AND ENTREPRENEURS 2026: SPAIN © OECD 2026

(innovative sectors, strong investment in intangible assets, high but sustainable leverage ratios), face particularly severe barriers to external financing and have not been served by traditional financial channels. Endowed with EUR 1 billion, this instrument seeks to complement the private sector and address market failures through an agile, automated process with personalised support, providing loans at very favourable conditions (maturity between 5 and 10 years, grace periods, low interest rates5) to finance both investment projects and liquidity needs associated with the company’s activities. Other schemes to provide public support for the funding of SMEs

failures through an agile, automated process with personalised support, providing loans at very favourable conditions (maturity between 5 and 10 years, grace periods, low interest rates5) to finance both investment projects and liquidity needs associated with the company’s activities. Other schemes to provide public support for the funding of SMEs Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI, by its Spanish acronym) is a public enterprise that depends on the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and promotes the development and technological innovation of Spanish firms, mainly SMEs. For that purpose, it provides advice and financial support to foster the implementation of their R&D&I projects. The main financial ins trument used by the CDTI is partly refundable aid (long-term soft loans in which up to 33% of the amou nt is not required to be paid back), followed by grants, venture capital, and pre-commercial public procurement. In 2023, CDTI evaluated a total of 3,096 R&D&I project proposals, supporting 1,183 R&D&I projects with a total commitment of EUR 839.7 million, mobilising a total R&D budget of EUR 1,151.9 mill ion. Compañía Española de Financiación del Desarrollo (COFIDES, by its Spanish acronym) is a state-owned enterprise specialised in the management of State funds (Secretariat of State for Trad e, attached to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise) that provides medium and long-term financing for private investments linked to different public policy purposes such as supporting the internationalisation of Spanish companies and, since 2021, strengthening the solvency of Spanish companies s everely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023 the total portfolio committed to investments reached EUR 2 billion. Empresa Nacional de Innovación, SA (ENISA, by its Spanish acronym), an enterprise that is majorityowned by the Spanish State, primarily offers financing for SME projects where innovation is crucial, mainly through participating loans. In 2023, it received 1,740 loan applications, of which 643 were approved