Spain sees gender revolution despite the red tape

A RECORD 800,000 businesses have been set up by women in the past five years.

Women now account for 40% of all new business owners in Spain, double the proportion seen before the onset of the economic crisis.

In what has been described as a silver lining to the years of economic turmoil, female-led start ups have sprung up across the country, and more and more venture capitalists have been backing fledgling businesses.

The new businesses have been set up despite the notoriously bureaucratic start up process in Spain.

The country is in the bottom half of the World Bank ranking on the ease of starting a business, coming 142nd out of 189 countries.

Typically, it takes 10 procedures, 23 working days and costs about €1,100 to start a business in Spain.