The World Bank presented in Madrid its sub-national Doing Business in Spain 2015 report, which compares business regulations in 17 regions, 2 autonomous cities and 5 ports.

The event, hosted at Spain’s Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness in Madrid, was opened by the Secretaries of State for the Economy, Mr. Inigo Fernandez de Mesa, and for Trade, Mr. Jaime García-Legaz. The World Bank was represented by Stefan Emblad, Director and Special Representative for Europe and Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director of the Global Indicators group.

Whereas the global Doing Business report is published annually and covers over 180 economies around the world, the publication presented in Madrid compares for the first time Spanish regions and cities. It examines business regulations affecting domestic firms across five indicators: starting a business, obtaining construction permits, getting electricity, registering property and trading across borders.

Doing Business in Spain was carried out by the World Bank at the request of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain and financed by ICEX Spain Trade and Investment with support from the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union.