Spain’s small and medium-sized enterprises are still operating. They produce, sell, maintain jobs, and support a large portion of the country’s economic activity. The flow of more than €100 billion that comes from tourism and a current account surplus above €60 billion a year help grease the wheels of the companies’ bottom lines, especially the large and mid-sized ones. But they do this in a context that, far from backing that effort, is introducing increasing pressure, more complexity, and greater structural risk.
The Spring 2026 Barometer from the General Council of the Colleges of Administrative Managers sketches a reality that is not one of an immediate crisis (the same general picture as the overall economic cycle), but rather a gradual wearing down: an economy that resists short-term shocks, but with shrinking margins.
“The problem isn’t the business. The Spanish SME is responding. The problem is the environment in which it must operate,” says Fernando Jesús Santiago Ollero, president of the General Council. “We’re always debating where we are (ostensibly better, for example, than our European partners in macro figures) and where we could be if the rules, the regulatory framework, and economic policy decisions were the right and appropriate ones.”
A snapshot that demands looking beyond the headline
At first glance, the data could invite a certain optimism. 57.6% of small and medium-sized enterprises closed 2025 with profits, which would indicate that the business fabric remains standing and generating activity.
But that reading alone is incomplete. Because alongside that figure sits another that would completely change the interpretation: 20.1% of companies closed the year in losses, and a further 22.3% did so in a break-even situation, i.e., not generating profit. In other words, more than four out of ten companies are not generating profitability, as long as we understand profitability as the amount of profits relative to the volume of assets or to net worth.
And there’s an even more relevant element: of that 20.1% of companies in losses, 26.6% entered losses during the year 2025 itself. This does not speak of an inherited problem, but of a recent deterioration. “What’s worrying isn’t just how many companies are in the red, but how many have just moved into it now. That’s what indicates where we are headed,” notes Santiago.
Sales are up… but profits are down
The analysis of economic activity introduces a paradox that runs through the entire report. 41.3% of companies increased their sales in 2025, showing that the economy is not at a standstill.
However, that revenue increase does not translate into a commensurate improvement in results. The consequence is clear: a generalized compression of margins, where the extra effort does not become profit, but mere survival.
“Companies are doing more to get less. They are selling more, working more, taking on more risk… but with lower returns. And that is not sustainable over time,” warns the president of the General Council. “This behavior among SMEs is consistent with the macroeconomic scenario we are entering where the word “stagflation” aptly defines very low growth (stagnant value added) combined with rising costs (inflation).”
A tightening environment from all sides
The report identifies a set of factors that, cumulatively, are shaping an increasingly demanding environment. The 69.1% of administrative managers perceive higher tax pressure. The 81.85% point to labor costs as one of the main problems. And the 84.56% point to economic uncertainty as a determining element.
It isn’t a single factor, but the sum of them. And their effects are starting to show: 56.15% of professionals consider business risk is increasing, while close to 19.2% of firms already show serious liquidity problems. Precisely, a similar percentage of the companies that report losses is the same share that increases their financing needs, so where there is negative net income there is also negative free cash flow.
“When pressure comes from all fronts — costs, taxes, uncertainty — what gets reduced is not only the margin but also the ability to withstand over time,” explains Santiago.
The growing sense that the system isn’t keeping up
Beyond the economic data, the barometer introduces a particularly relevant element: the perception of how well the environment in which firms operate is functioning.
86.1% of administrative managers believe that the relationship with the Administration has not improved in the last year, and a 39.9% say that managing today is more difficult than twelve months ago.
The problems are known, but not any less relevant: excessive regulation (83.5%), delays (69.8%), lack of attention (62.8%) and difficulties arising from digitalization (53.3%). “We’ve advanced in technology, but not always in efficiency. And that is generating an increasingly widespread sense that the system isn’t keeping pace with those it has to accompany,” says the president of the General Council.
The report also points to a fundamental shift: administrative digitization is not reducing the burden, but in many cases is shifting it onto the entrepreneur, adding new layers of complexity. No one to date has assessed the cost of the bureaucracy implicitly borne by the entrepreneurs that should fall exclusively on the Administration. A task still to be calculated.
A fundamental question: who is really accompanying the SME?
In this context, the barometer poses a question that goes beyond the data: in an increasingly complex, demanding, and uncertain environment, who is really accompanying the small and medium-sized enterprise in its day-to-day life?
Because, despite everything, firms continue to respond. 64.7% maintained their workforce in 2025, avoiding adjustments even in a harsh environment. But they do so with less margin, more pressure and greater risk. “Today the value is not only in analyzing or representing, but in truly accompanying businesses when they have to make decisions, meet obligations and keep operating in an increasingly complex system,” says Santiago.
A warning that should not be ignored
The Spring 2026 Barometer does not描く a scenario of imminent crisis, but it does issue a clear warning: wear and tear is cumulative. The problem is not the lack of activity. The problem lies in the conditions under which that activity takes place.
Taxation, costs, bureaucracy, and administrative functioning shape an environment that limits growth, reduces profitability, and increases the vulnerability of the business fabric.
“Firms are responding. The question is how long they can keep doing so under these conditions. And that is a question we as a country should ask,” concludes the president of the General Council.
