World Women’s Entrepreneurship Day is celebrated on 19 November, a day recognised since 2014 by the United Nations (UN) to raise awareness of the challenges and opportunities of women in the business world and promote their visibility in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. This anniversary, promoted by the Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Organization (WEDO), was born with the purpose of creating a more inclusive and accessible environment, in which women can undertake and contribute to economic development on equal terms. In recent years, female entrepreneurship has shown remarkable growth in Spain. According to the Self-Employed Women’s Report 2023, prepared by the National Federation of Associations of Self-Employed Workers, 90% of the new registrations in the self-employed regime during 2023 were women. This represents an increase of 15.4% in women entrepreneurs compared to the previous year, with a special contribution in sectors such as commerce, services and agriculture. However, women continue to face different challenges. One of these obstacles is access to finance, since, according to a study by European Women in VC, less than 2% of total investment in startups in Europe is directed to companies founded exclusively by women. This financial imbalance also limits their ability to undertake in high-investment sectors, which translates into a preference for projects that require less initial capital.

Female entrepreneurship as a driver of social transformation

In rural areas, female entrepreneurship is a key element in facing challenges such as depopulation, ageing and masculinisation of these territories. Today, 85% of the Spanish territory is rural, although only 20% of the population resides there, and a very small proportion of women and young people. The report “Women’s Green Entrepreneurship and Women’s Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas“, published in 2023 by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), analyses women’s participation in entrepreneurship with a gender perspective and in sustainable rural activities. According to this report, only one in 10 entrepreneurs in green activities in Spain is a woman, and rural entrepreneurs represent only a third of the total business community in rural areas. Even so, Spain is among the countries with the highest number of female rural entrepreneurship in the European Union, standing out along with Lithuania, Austria, France, Greece and Poland. The report also estimates that in 2022 there were 56,692 women entrepreneurs in green activities and 534,595 men in Spain, reflecting that women make up only 9.6% of the total in this field. For its part, the Entrepreneurship Observatory indicates that 79% of rural women perceive entrepreneurship as a way to stay in their localities and confirms that most of them launch projects in sectors related to commerce, services and agriculture. In fact, the presence of women leaders in the agricultural sector has grown by 22% in the last decade, which has strengthened the rural productive fabric and brought hope to many communities at risk of depopulation. Along these lines, the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) promotes green entrepreneurship through the Emprendeverde Network, the largest community in Spain of entrepreneurs committed to sustainability and the green economy. With more than 11,000 members, the Emprendeverde Network works to strengthen business models that generate a positive impact on the environment and society, promoting female participation through training and mentoring programs adapted to the specific needs of women. On the other hand, the Foundation also supports specific projects led by rural women that contribute to preserving biodiversity and generating sustainable income through the Empleaverde+ Programme, financed by the European Social Fund Plus.

Examples of these projects are Tu Ternera en Casa, a sustainable livestock company in León, led by Aída Rodrigo, which offers local meat at home while respecting the environment and traditional livestock practices; Algas La Patrona, a seaweed production enterprise in Pontevedra, directed by Cristina García, which is committed to female employment and sustainable harvesting; and D2Naturaleza, an ecotourism project in the Sierra del Guadarrama, founded by Henar Roldán, which educates and raises awareness about the importance of nature conservation. In addition, through the various calls of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP), financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, we value the role of women in guaranteeing a more sustainable, egalitarian and inclusive model.

Support for women’s entrepreneurship in the different sectors of the green economy throughout the country combines two of the fundamental pillars of the PRTR, which is committed to a greener country without gender gaps.

In short, promoting women’s entrepreneurship is not only a matter of equality, but an essential way to build a green and inclusive economy. Betting on female talent and their leadership in the ecological transition is key to facing the current climate, social and economic challenges, ensuring that no one is left behind in the