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74% of the population views their image as positive or very positive.
Almost seven out of ten respondents consider the public image of entrepreneurs to be positive. This percentage has increased compared to the previous year, indicating an improvement in the social perception of this group. In the discourse analysis, admiration for small business owners emerges, especially in relation to their efforts and management of their businesses in challenging economic contexts:
“Admiration for small business owners”
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Good practices and corporate culture: more than 40% of the population identifies companies as benchmarks in these areas.
Forty-two per cent of the population says they can identify companies they consider to be benchmarks in corporate culture and good practices. This percentage is higher in regions such as Valencia and Andalusia, where 43% of respondents say they know of companies with this type of business model.
In terms of the attributes that respondents most frequently associate with entrepreneurs, effort and leadership stand out, both mentioned by 35% of the population, followed by honesty (33%). Values such as responsibility and entrepreneurial spirit also feature prominently, with 31% and 30% respectively.
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More than 80% of the population believes that it is not easy to start a business.
In public discourse, this perception is mainly associated with the complexity of administrative procedures, with bureaucracy being highlighted as one of the main obstacles:
‘The facilities provided for entrepreneurship are complex, there is a lot of bureaucracy.’
Despite these difficulties, approximately half of Spaniards believe that Spanish society is entrepreneurial. This perception is higher among people over 65 and among those who have previously started a business.
Likewise, nearly 50% of the population believes that the conditions for creating and growing businesses, in terms of taxation, regulation and bureaucracy, are worse in Spain than in other European countries, identifying these factors as the main elements of unfavourable comparison.
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Reduced working hours: higher costs or greater motivation.
The reduction in working hours is perceived differently depending on the profiles analysed. Among entrepreneurs, this measure is predominantly associated with increased costs, while other sectors of the population link it to possible improvements in worker motivation and commitment.
When comparing private companies and public administrations in terms of their working methods, job stability is mostly associated with the public sector. Conversely, efficiency in the use of resources and the ability to adapt to change are mainly linked to private companies. In areas such as service quality and focus on the general interest, a significant proportion of the population considers that both sectors perform similarly.
With regard to absenteeism, the perceived causes vary according to age. Among younger people, it is mainly attributed to exhaustion, stress or mental health problems, while among those over 45, the perception that abuse by employees is the main reason for absenteeism predominates.
Technical specifications
Universe: Resident population in Spain over the age of 18.
Scope: Spain (national).
Quotas: By gender, age and geography with simple allocation.
Information collection procedure: Computer-assisted web interview (CAWI).
Sample size: 3,503 interviews.
Questionnaire: 46 questions prepared by AVE and GAD3.
Sampling error: ± 1.7% (n= 3,503) for a confidence level of 95.5% (two sigmas) and in the most unfavourable hypothesis of P=Q=0.5 in the case of simple random sampling.
Duration of the interview: approximately 8-9 minutes.
Fieldwork dates: 19 to 26 January 2026.
