SPAIN. The model that Spain has adopted for promoting cooperatives is one in which the state leads. Under the Spanish Constitution, the government is obliged to promote cooperatives. The lead department for cooperative development in the Spanish government is the Department of Labour. The Department works with other entities, under the auspices of a Cooperatives Advisory Council. This comprises the Presidency, representatives of the autonomous regions, cooperative associations, and the Departments of Economics, Finance, Education, Agriculture, Housing and Transport. The Cooperative Apex Organisation represents the entire cooperatives movement in Spain, comprising 23 organisations, and representing 47 000 cooperatives and other associations. The Organisation represents two million workers and a further 10 million, who are involved in the social economy movement. The primary role of the Apex Organisation is to lobby government on policy issues, while it also receives subsidies from government on a cost‐sharing basis. Cooperatives have emerged in the consumer, credit, transport, education, production (worker) and agriculture sectors. The most successful cooperative sector is that of the worker cooperatives, due to the fact that the Spanish government has deliberately focused on growing worker cooperatives as a means of creating employment. Partial grants have been introduced to help the unemployed form cooperatives. The youth, women, disabled persons, immigrants and select minority groups receive larger grants. If a person is retrenched, and elects to join a cooperative, the government pays his/her unemployment insurance in one lump sum, which can then be invested in the cooperative. This encourages people to form cooperatives rather than rely on state grants. State assistance to cooperatives also aims to ensure that these entities are properly managed, so as to improve their prospects for success in the long‐term. The tax regime in Spain encourages people to form cooperatives rather than private companies. All forms and types of cooperatives enjoy a complete tax holiday from corporate tax for the first 10 years, after which they are taxed at 10%, provided they invest 10% of their surplus in education, 20% in research or investment, and that worker‐owners of these cooperatives constitute 80% of all employees. The University of Valencia manages a research centre and interdisciplinary division, which is a national school of excellence that studies and teaches courses ...
