Spanish administrations awarded contracts worth €180.6 billion in 2025, but SMEs only obtained 43.6% of the value, despite representing 67.5% of formalised contracts.
The public procurement market in Spain mobilised around €180.6 billion in 2025 through approximately 169,700 tenders, which represents an increase of 32.3% compared to 2024, according to data from DoubleTrade collected by OK Diario. Despite the volume, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) only captured 43.6% of the awarded value, although they secured 67.5% of the formalised contracts.
The paradox is evident: there is a lot of public money on the table, but not so many companies competing for it. In the second quarter of 2025, the average number of bidders per contract was 2.93, according to OIReScon. The number of tenders grew by 4.3%, but the economic value of the market grew much more, indicating that contracts are increasingly of higher value.
The trend continues into 2026. In the first half, around 81,200 tenders were published for €89.5 billion. By August, public tendering had increased by 26.2%, reaching €26.237 billion, according to statistics from Seopan.
The problem is not just competition. The CNMC, in its 2026 study on barriers to SME participation in public procurement, identifies difficulties in obtaining tailored information, regulatory complexity, risks of formal errors, disproportionate requirements, and contracts poorly suited to small businesses. It also points out financial risks during execution.
“For years, it has been thought that the main problem for companies was finding tenders. Today, something different is happening: there are tens of thousands of opportunities published, and the real challenge is knowing which fit each company and which should be discarded,” say representatives from DoubleTrade.
The CNMC warns that these barriers can discourage participation even from companies that would be potentially competitive. That is, a company may be technically qualified to provide a service and yet not be in a position to dedicate the necessary resources to compete for it.
The problem does not start when a company enters a tender. It starts earlier, when it tries to grow. Luis Miguel, from iBanFirst, points to administrative and regulatory fragmentation as one of the structural difficulties for small companies.
“In Spain, an SME has to coordinate more administrative layers than in most European countries,” he adds.
In his opinion, the problem is not limited to the number of regulations, but to how obligations accumulate as a company grows. “Managing an SME is like driving: it’s not just about the maximum speed, but how many traffic lights there are, whether they are coordinated, and if you know when they are going to change,” he points out.
The expert gives a concrete example: the theoretical timeframe to establish a company in Spain is from 1 to 10 days, but according to real data from the College of Registrars, the average time for creation is between 41 and 54 days.
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