In 2025, average employee salaries at Spain's biggest listed companies fell far behind executive pay. At Ibex-35 companies, executives earned 67 times the average employee salary. The figure was 22 times at other listed firms, the highest level recorded since companies began publishing the ratio in 2021.
The figures come from the annual report on directors' remuneration published by the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV). The gap widened in both groups: the multiple rose from 55 to 67 at Ibex-35 companies and from 18 to 22 among the rest of the market. Across all listed companies, the ratio reached 42 times, information from CNMV data.
The basic driver was a sharp rise in executive rewards. Reporting by Servimedia and elDiario.es, based on the regulator's figures, also identifies the rapid increase in executive remuneration as the force behind the wider gap.
Spanish listed companies paid their boards an average of €5.4 million in 2025, 26.4% more than a year earlier. That figure was heavily affected by €78 million in extraordinary remuneration paid by Telefónica. Without that payment, the increase would have been 10.3%.
Average pay per board member reached €477,000. Executive directors received €2.4 million on average after a 26.3% increase, while non-executive directors saw their pay fall by 1.14% to €173,000. The contrast shows where the increase was concentrated: at the top of the corporate hierarchy, not evenly across boards. Ibex-35 executive chairpersons received average remuneration of approximately €8.87 million in 2025, compared with about €853,000 in average remuneration per director in the index. These averages cover different roles and are not equivalent measures.
The gender figures add another distortion. Across all listed companies, female executive directors earned 1.9% less than male counterparts on average. At Ibex-35 firms, women earned 51.6% more than men; at other listed companies, they earned 48.6% less.
The CNMV links that reversal to the very small number of women with executive responsibilities on Ibex-35 boards: there are only three. Ana Botín, president of Banco Santander, received €18.5 million in 2025. Her pay made up 71% of all remuneration paid to female executive directors in the index.
Women's presence on company boards continued to rise. They held 37.4% of board seats across listed companies, up 1.1 percentage points, and 42.1% at Ibex-35 firms. Female executive directors reached 10.3%, an increase of two points, while women held 25.6% of senior management positions.
Those senior roles were not evenly distributed. Forty percent of female executives worked in support functions, including legal affairs and human resources, as well as communications and internal audit. The regulator's data showed the lowest female representation in business functions, particularly strategy and finance.
Corporate oversight also changed. Some 69.7% of Ibex-35 companies had at least half of their board members classified as independent, three points fewer than in 2024. Executive chairmanships edged up to 46.9%. Independent directors chaired 12.4% of boards, compared with 10.3% a year earlier.
The numbers point to two different trends. Listed companies are adding more women to their boards and senior ranks. Executive pay, though, is rising much faster than the earnings of ordinary employees. The 67-to-one ratio is the report's clearest measure of how strongly corporate rewards are concentrating at the top.
