Who Owns Spain’s Listed Shares?

During this period, three notable trends emerged: the presence of foreign investors, though still dominant, declined; households reduced their participation to historic lows; and national savings channeled through investment and pension funds showed limited exposure to Spanish listed companies. By contrast, other strategic players such as the public sector, banks, and non-financial corporations strengthened their positions.

Between 2020 and 2024, share ownership in Spain has shown a clear trend of a gradual reduction in the presence of foreign players in the equity market and a decrease in household participation.

Even so, foreign investors still control approximately half the market, consolidating themselves as the dominant group, while households have seen their weight drop to historic lows, falling below 16% at the end of 2024.

At the same time, other relevant players such as banks and the public sector have slightly increased their stakes. The former benefited from the stabilization and strengthening of the sector after addressing the effects of the financial crisis, which dominated much of the past decade and subjected banks to strict regulation during recapitalization and sectoral restructuring. The latter reflects state involvement in the restructuring of major banks and protection of ownership in large Spanish companies considered strategic amid foreign investment.

Lastly, sectors such as collective investment institutions and insurance reduced their relative presence in the shareholding of Spanish listed companies. Another notable trend points to two other developments: the limited interest of Spanish funds in Spanish listed companies and the modest development of the pension sector, which is pivotal in the main economies of the Eurozone. Non-financial corporations, in turn, have slightly increased their weight, consolidating their participation around 21 to 22%.

Non-Financial Corporations

Non-financial corporations have consolidated their presence in the Spanish stock market above 20%, reaching 21.6% in 2024, the highest level in twelve years. This reflects a significant network of strategic cross-shareholdings among Spanish listed companies. By maintaining substantial equity stakes, these companies retain influence over corporate governance and strategic decisions while leveraging financial markets to grow and scale.

Public Sector

The Public Sector has steadily increased its presence, reaching a 27-year high of 4.1% in 2024. This growth mainly responds to defensive moves to help resolve crisis situations (such as the state’s stake in major Spanish banks dating back to a little over a decade ago) or to protect against the entry of sovereign funds from other countries into the capital of strategic Spanish companies (the case of Telefónica).

Banks

Banks and savings banks increased their participation significantly to 4% between 2020 and 2024, recovering after years of decline. Overcoming the restructuring, recapitalization, and reorganization processes following the recent financial crisis (and the real estate crisis in Spain) allowed Spanish banks to regain positions as shareholders in major listed companies. Regulatory adjustments and portfolio stabilization contributed to this rebound.

In the 1990s, banks owned up to 15% of the Spanish stock market.

Foreign Investors

Foreign investors have dominated the Spanish stock market for 15 years, surpassing 40% ownership. Their participation historically grew, reaching a peak of 50.3% in 2022. However, this process has slowed, and by the end of 2024, their share was 48.7%, almost two points below the peak and below the 50.2% recorded in 2020.

Foreign institutional investors, sovereign funds, and large global asset managers dominate this segment and are key shareholders in the market. Their presence reflects the internationalization of companies listed on the stock exchange and the preference of international investors for listed assets over unlisted ones.

However, the slowdown in the growth trend in recent years seems to indicate a decline in foreign capital’s interest in Spanish listed assets. This development coincides with a lower number of IPOs and regulatory and tax conditions influencing market activity.

Households (Retail Investors)

Household participation in Spanish listed companies has declined over the past five years. Their direct share fell from 26% in 2014 to 15.8% in 2024 (16.1% in 2020), reaching the lowest level in the 32 years for which data is available. Several factors have contributed to this trend, including:

• A limited number of IPOs and restricted access to those that have taken place
• Unfavorable tax treatment vis-à-vis other comparable equity assets
• Overly protectionist regulation
• Low levels of financial literacy

Households hold the largest pool of savings in the country. They are key financing agents for the development of companies and the broader productive sector. Ensuring that a significant portion of these savings flows steadily from conservative, low-yield options, such as bank deposits, into transparent and viable business ventures is important. This has recently been recognized by governing bodies in Europe and numerous experts worldwide, who recommend measures to encourage retail investors (households) in Europe and Spain to increase their investment in listed companies.

The European Commission (EC) has recommended the introduction of a Savings-Investment Account for Europe, based on the Swedish Personal Savings Account (ISK) model. Such a product could provide a practical way to support progress in this area and may help gradually increase the participation of Spanish households in the stock market.

Currently, around 2.4 million households in Spain own listed shares, representing approximately 12.5% of all households.

Unlocking Retail Investor Potential: Insights From the Future of Finance Study

To better understand how to address these challenges and foster greater household participation, recent findings from the Future of Finance 2025/26 report shed light on the measures most likely to be effective across Europe.

Published by SIX for the fourth consecutive year, the Future of Finance study provides unique insights into the expectations and priorities of senior executives in the financial sector. According to the report, increasing retail participation is now viewed as a key lever to boost Europe’s competitiveness and deepen its capital markets.

Senior executives surveyed believe that enhancing liquidity to ensure tighter spreads is the most effective way to encourage more domestic retail trading, alongside promoting trust in regulated markets and improving financial literacy. These measures can help reduce barriers for households and make equity investment more appealing and accessible.

The study also emphasizes that exchanges have a critical role to play by offering diverse and transparent investment opportunities. Facilitating access to exchange-traded funds (ETFs), maintaining reliable trading infrastructure, and upholding high standards of fairness and execution are seen as prerequisites to attract and retain retail investors. By creating a stable and efficient investment environment, European markets can channel a greater share of household savings toward productive capital and long-term growth.

Collective Investment Institutions and Insurers

The participation of Collective Investment Institutions and Insurance companies has decreased, reaching 5.8% in 2024 compared with 7.3% in 2020. This reflects a gradual downward trend that is a cause for concern.

The weight of these national agents in equity ownership remains lower than in other European countries with similar levels of development. This trend reflects both the relatively moderate involvement of national collective savings in financing the growth of Spanish companies and the comparatively small size of the pension sector in Spain, which is significant in the European economy.

Measures and incentives to encourage these national institutional sectors, which manage large volumes of savings, to allocate resources toward companies listed on the Spanish stock market remain an urgent matter and have already been raised with the Spanish Government and the European Commission.

Unlisted companies tend to be predominantly family-owned, so the weight of founding families in many of them is usually very high. Institutions or venture capital firms also tend to be more prominent in unlisted companies.

Foreign investors are much more concentrated in listed companies, where their share is almost double that in unlisted ones (48.7% versus 25%). This underscores the importance of liquidity, transparency, and global recognition in attracting international capital and, simultaneously, promoting growth and scale at a faster pace.

The main difference lies in the participation of collective investment institutions and pension funds, which is very low in Spain and largely replaced by foreign capital.

Spain shares with other European countries the low weight of families in the ownership and financing of listed companies. This is a key factor in explaining much of the wide gap in competitiveness and size of capital markets in Europe compared with the United States.