Market Research Companies in Spain

Key figures for researchers

Population

49.8 million (1 July 2026)¹

Largest autonomous communities

Andalusia 8.67m, Catalonia 8.15m, Madrid 7.14m, Valencian Community 5.42m (1 January 2025)³

Born abroad

10.3 million people (1 July 2026)¹

Aged 65 and over

21.1% of the population (2026)⁴

Households

19.9 million (1 July 2026)¹

Catalan in Catalonia

80.4% of people aged 15+ can speak it; 32.6% use it as their usual language (2023)¹⁰

Basque speakers (Basque Country)

36.2% of people aged 16+ (2021)¹¹

Internet users

96.3% of people aged 16–74 used the internet in the last 3 months (2025)⁵

Mobile-only households

50.3% have a mobile phone but no fixed line (2025)⁵

GDP per capita

about US$38,600 (2025)⁸

Research guide

Research landscape

Spain has a well-developed research industry, concentrated mainly in Madrid and Barcelona, from where most national and many Latin American studies are coordinated. Full-service agencies work alongside specialist qualitative, B2B, healthcare and media research firms, as well as field, telephone and online panel suppliers.

The international reference is the ICC/ESOMAR International Code (2025 edition), which requires researchers to keep a clear distinction between research and non-research activities, and not to pass a participant’s personal data to a client without consent to that specific use. Spanish law also requires a data protection officer for organisations doing market research when they process data based on people’s preferences or build profiles.

Languages and fieldwork

Spanish (Castilian) is the official language of the State, and the Constitution makes the other languages of Spain official in their autonomous communities as well. In Catalonia, 80.4% of people aged 15 and over can speak Catalan and 32.6% use it as their usual language, against 46.5% for Spanish. In the Basque Country, 36.2% of people aged 16 and over speak Basque. Galician is co-official in Galicia, and Catalan (Valencian) in the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands. Spanish works for most national studies, but public sector and some consumer studies in these regions offer a questionnaire in the regional language, and respondents should be able to choose.

A national sample covers 17 autonomous communities and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. The four largest are Andalusia (8.67 million people), Catalonia (8.15 million), Madrid (7.14 million) and the Valencian Community (5.42 million), so quotas by region are standard. Spain passed 10 million people born abroad for the first time in January 2026 and reached 10.3 million in July 2026; Colombia, Venezuela and Morocco are the main origins of recent arrivals. Many migrants speak Spanish, but studies of some communities may need translated questionnaires or bilingual interviewers.

Which methods work

Connectivity is high: 96.3% of people aged 16 to 74 used the internet in the last three months, 92.5% use it at least five days a week, and there are 130 mobile subscriptions per 100 people. Online surveys using access panels are widely used for consumer research, and video interviews and online communities for qualitative work.

Older people are less well covered online: in 2025, only 46.7% of people aged 75 and over had ever used the internet, and 21.1% of the population is 65 or over. Telephone (CATI) and face-to-face interviews remain used for older and offline audiences, B2B decision makers and public sector studies. As 50.3% of households have a mobile phone but no fixed line, telephone samples need mobile numbers. In-person focus groups are usually held in viewing facilities in Madrid, Barcelona and other large cities.

Timing

Daily schedules are late: in a 2012 survey, most people had lunch between 14:00 and 15:00 and 85% had dinner after 21:00. Consumer interviews by phone or in person often work best in the evening, and business respondents are hard to reach around lunchtime.

August is the main holiday month, when many companies slow down: avoid it for B2B work. Christmas runs until 6 January (Epiphany, a national holiday): in Catalonia, for example, school holidays run from 22 December 2026 to 7 January 2027. Easter week also slows fieldwork: in 2027, Good Friday (26 March) is a national holiday, and Easter Monday (29 March) is a holiday in Catalonia, the Basque Country, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands, Navarre and La Rioja. Each year has up to 14 public holidays, two of them local, and they differ between regions and towns: check the calendar of each area in your sample.

Data protection

Personal data is governed by the GDPR and Spain’s Organic Law 3/2018 on data protection and digital rights (LOPDGDD), in force since 7 December 2018, supervised by the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD). Minors over 14 can consent to the processing of their data themselves; under 14, a parent or guardian must consent.

People can opt out of advertising through exclusion systems such as the Lista Robinson, managed by the Spanish Digital Economy Association (Adigital), which companies must check before direct marketing. These rules cover advertising and commercial prospecting: a genuine research interview must not be used to sell. Ask your agency how respondents are informed, where the data is hosted and how recordings or video from qualitative work will be shared with you.

Working with a local agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, autonomous communities, method, languages and deadline.
• Say whether you need questionnaires in Catalan, Basque or Galician, and who will check the translations.
• Ask which panels or telephone centres will be used, how quotas by region, age and gender are set, and how mobile numbers are sampled.
• Ask whether the agency follows the ICC/ESOMAR Code and has a data protection officer.
• Agree in writing who is controller and who is processor of the personal data, and the retention period.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 companies from this page.