International investors own 50.4% of listed Spanish shares, a historic high. 9,226 institutional funds hold €307.634 billion in the Ibex 35, 48.4% more than in March 2025.
The Spanish Stock Exchange has returned to the radar of major international investors. Foreign investors now own 50.4% of listed Spanish shares, a historic high and 1.7 percentage points more than a year earlier, according to the latest data from BME. In 2000, they represented 34.7%.
As of the end of June 2026, 9,226 private institutional funds held €307.634 billion in companies within the Ibex 35, 48.4% more than in March 2025. The number of large managers with over €500 million invested in the index has increased from 72 to 106, as reported by tiempodeinversion.com.
Part of the increase in assets can be explained by the rise in stock prices themselves. However, the expansion in the number of funds and managers also indicates a broader institutional base.
The size of some positions helps to understand the magnitude of the phenomenon. According to BME, BlackRock has €46.560 billion invested in Ibex 35 companies; Vanguard, €38.295 billion; and Capital Group, €15.227 billion. Together, they exceed €100 billion, 43.4% more than in March 2025.
Additionally, the Norwegian sovereign fund managed by Norges Bank Investment Management has €16.075 billion in companies within the index.
The question now is why. One initial explanation lies in the price. At the beginning of 2026, BME estimated the P/E ratio of the Ibex 35 to be around 13 times earnings, 2.3 points below its average over the last 37 years and also below other major European markets.
However, there is an important nuance. The Ibex 35 advanced approximately 49% in 2025, so part of that discount has already been reduced.
The opportunity has changed: it is no longer simply about buying Spain because it is cheap, but about identifying which companies continue to offer an attractive relationship between valuation, profits, and shareholder remuneration.
The second explanation is a historical characteristic of the Spanish market. BME estimates the dividend yield of the Spanish Stock Exchange to be around 4.1% in 2025, while listed companies distributed approximately €41.500 billion among their shareholders.
For large funds, especially those seeking income, dividends can become a significant part of the total return.
This is a matter we have been analysing at Tiempo de Inversión in our content on dividends from the Spanish Stock Exchange: it is not only about how much a company pays, but whether its profits and cash generation allow for that distribution to be maintained.
There is a third reason: the sectoral composition of the Ibex offers something different from Wall Street.
