"Women in Franchising. Spain 2025"

The Spanish Franchise Association (AEF), in collaboration with Banco Sabadell, has produced the third edition of “Women in Franchising. Spain 2025,” a pioneering report both nationally and globally. This study was conducted to establish the main parameters and the level of participation of the growing female presence in decision-making bodies within the Spanish franchising system.

Among the most relevant findings of this study are:

• Women currently hold 33.31% of executive positions within the franchise sector in Spain.  
• Female franchisees represent 33.70% of the total number of franchisees in the country.  
• 77.97% of franchising companies have at least one woman in their management teams.  
• 42% of the executive positions held by women are in human resources and marketing departments.  
• In the five main sectors (Food, Beauty/Aesthetics, Hospitality, Fashion, and Services), women occupy 37.94% of executive roles at franchise headquarters.
• These five main sectors (Food, Beauty/Aesthetics, Hospitality, Fashion, and Services) account for 63.91% of all female franchisees.  
• 80.89% of female franchisees operate in four autonomous communities: Madrid, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, and Andalusia.  
• Globally, women hold 34% of executive positions across all types of companies; in Spain, this figure rises to 38%, while in the franchise sector it stands at 33%.

The report was based on the participation of 1,312 franchise networks, and the representative sample used yields a 95% confidence level with a maximum margin of error of ±4.5%.

The study reveals that, based on the collected data, the 1,312 companies analyzed have a total of 9,326 members on their executive committees, of which 3,107 are women—representing 33.31%.

Commenting on the results of the report, Luisa Masuet, president of the AEF, said, “This new edition confirms that, two years after the previous study, the presence of women continues to grow in leadership and decision-making positions within franchises operating in our country. In 2023, women held 30% of these roles; today, that figure has increased to 33.31%. It is also worth highlighting that 77.97% of franchising companies have women in their executive bodies.”

For his part, Eduardo Abadía, executive director of the AEF, emphasized that, “It is important to highlight that in the three reports we have conducted regarding the presence of women in franchising, the percentage of women in executive positions has increased each year. Four years ago, the figure stood at 21.82%; today it has reached 33.31%, and it will undoubtedly continue to grow in future editions of this study.”

Banco Sabadell’s (the study’s sponsor) Inmaculada Núñez, director of Sabadell Franquicias, said, "At Banco Sabadell, we reaffirm our commitment to gender equality within the franchise ecosystem, supporting, for the third consecutive year, the report 'Women in Franchising'. We firmly believe that talent has no gender and that equality is not only a goal, but a shared responsibility. Supporting female leadership means supporting a stronger, more inclusive business model that is better prepared to face future challenges. This report shows that we are moving in the right direction, but also that there is still progress to be made. That is why we will continue to promote initiatives that make female talent visible and encourage more diverse, fair, and transformative leadership.”

WOMEN IN FRANCHISE LEADERSHIP

This study also highlights the presence of women in leadership positions within franchising companies, establishing a comparison between the data from the 2021 and 2023 reports and this 2025 edition:

• Women currently hold 33.31% of executive positions in the franchise sector in Spain, compared to 30% in 2023 and 21.82% in 2021.  
• 77.97% of franchising companies have at least one woman on their executive boards, compared to 69.6% in 2023 and 67.5% in 2021.  
• In the 832 companies operating in the five main franchise sectors (Food, Beauty/Esthetics, Hospitality, Fashion, and Services), women occupy 37.94% of executive roles, compared to 38.33% in 2023 (based on 660 companies) and 34.80% in 2021.  
• 22.03% of companies still have no women on their executive boards, compared to 30.4% in 2023 and 32.5% in 2021.

EXECUTIVE POSITIONS HELD BY WOMEN

Regarding the most common executive roles held by women in the national franchise system, the report highlights the following:

1. Marketing Director – held by 661 women (21.3%)  
2. Human Resources Director – 643 women (20.7%)  
3. CEO/General Manager – 329 women (10.6%)  
4. Communications Director – 249 women (8%)  
5. Expansion Director – 243 women (7.8%)

It is worth noting that the top three positions (Marketing, Human Resources, and CEO/General Management) account for 52.6% of women's participation in executive roles.

Similarly, the positions with the lowest female presence are:

1. Administration, held by 12 women (0.4%).  
2. Quality, 19 women (0.6%).  
3. Purchasing, 28 women (0.9%).  
4. Digital Technologies, 31 women (1%).  
5. Compliance, 37 women (1.2%).

WOMEN FRANCHISEES BY SECTOR

According to the latest statistics from the AEF report “Franchising in Spain 2024,” franchisor companies own 26.9% of the establishments, while the remaining 73.1%, totaling 57,180, are managed by their franchisees.

Based on these figures, the study indicates that currently there are 19,270 women franchisees, compared to 18,709 in 2023, representing 33.70% of all franchisees.

By sector, the top five account for 63.9% of the total, compared to 58.1% in 2023, while the next five cover 22.2%, compared to 23.7% in 2023. Finally, those grouped under “other sectors” reach 13.8%, compared to 18.2% in 2023. The presence of women franchisees in the main activity sectors is as follows, in this order:

1. Beauty/Aesthetics, with 3,349 women, 17.38%.  
2. Hospitality, with 2,605 women, 13.52%.  
3. Food, with 2,528 women, 13.12%.  
4. Fashion, with 2,328 women, 12.08%.  
5. Services, with 1,505 women, 7.81%.

WOMEN FRANCHISEES BY AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITIES

Finally, looking at the autonomous communities where the highest number of women franchisees operate, the data is clear.: 80.90% are concentrated in four communities, in this order: Madrid, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, and Andalusia, which together represent 59.18% of the Spanish population.

In the Madrid community, the number of women franchisees rises to 6,525, equivalent to 33.86%. The others include Catalonia with 5,989 (31.08%), the Valencian Community with 1,647 (8.55%), and Andalusia with 1,426 (7.40%).

FRANCHISING COMPARED TO OTHER BUSINESS MODELS

In this third study, the data on female presence in franchise company management has once again been compared with other entities or organizations that conduct research on gender equality in the workplace. The reference study for this comparison is “Women in Business 2025” by the consulting firm Grant Thornton.

As reflected in the “Women in Business 2025” study, women hold 34% of management positions worldwide; 38% in Spain; and 33% within the Spanish franchising system.