Overview

• King Felipe VI inaugurated the Instituto de la Empresa Familiar’s XXVIII National Congress in Burgos, with roughly 600 delegates attending over October 20–21.
• An interactive poll of participants rated Spain’s economic outlook at 5.66 out of 9, slightly higher than last year’s 5.55.
• Delegates identified worker absenteeism as the leading operational risk for the first time, ahead of skills shortages and regulatory changes.
• Industry minister Jordi Hereu and opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo praised family firms but did not engage with IEF president Ignacio Rivera’s prior warning about political paralysis.
• Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez did not attend; the program features Turkey as guest country, a session with IEA chief Fatih Birol, and a planned intervention by EIB president Nadia Calviño before the closing by Rivera.