The Lack of generational change threatens the sustainability of self-employment. It is the alert of the Union of Professionals and Self-Employed Workers (UPTA Spain), organization that has been warning for years about the problems that the aging of the population poses for the Spanish productive fabric. The demographic transformation that Spain is experiencing now directly affects the sustainability of self-employment.
According to the latest data, 564,000 self-employed people are over 60 years oldwhich means that 1 in 6 self-employed people will reach retirement age and retire in the next 5 years. Of them, More than 150,000 are already 66 years old. Activities like Construction and Commerceare the most threatened by the lack of generational change.
This reality not only affects the self-employed group, but also the group of salaried workers, where more than 1.5 million workers are over 60 years old. Population aging and the lack of generational change constitute, therefore, a structural problem that threatens the sustainability of the Spanish economy as a whole.
Guarantee generational change
For years, UPTA has been working to guarantee the continuity and sustainability of self-employment, especially in a context marked by population aging and rural depopulation. In this sense, the organization highlights the fundamental role of immigration as a driver of entrepreneurship, innovation and accelerator for the repopulation of rural areas and small towns.
To respond to this challenge, UPTA has developed the Comprehensive Generational Relief Plan, an initiative that proposes concrete measures to ensure the continuity of thousands of small economic activities, that today, are at risk of disappearance due to lack of relief. The plan contemplates the integration of migrants and vocational training students so that they receive training to take over viable economic activities.
First National Congress of Generational Relief of Self-Employment
Within the framework of this commitment, UPTA will celebrate the first National Congress of Generational Relay of Self-Employment in Lebrija (Seville), which will be held on October 21 and 22. A meeting that will bring together public officials, social leaders, experts and self-employed people to build solid and viable proposals with the aim of building a country strategy.
📢 UPTA Spain presents the I National Congress of Generational Relay of Self-Employed Work.
🗓 October 21 and 22, 2025
📍 House of Culture, Lebrija (Seville)💫A unique space for dialogue where innovation, opportunities and proposals will be discussed to guarantee the future… pic.twitter.com/DotCYEEPKX
— UPTA Spain (@upta_es) October 7, 2025
UPTA will continue working on initiatives that put the generational change at the center and therefore proposes the creation of a great state pact that involves the main ministries with powers in this matter: Labor, Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge and Finance, among others.
Eduardo Abad, president of UPTA, “we will not tire of repeating that this is a serious and urgent problem. We are surprised that it is not being treated with the importance it has for the survival of thousands of businesses and, in general, for the sustainability of the productive fabric.”
