Spain generally seems to have the right take on intellectual property. They also do not allow software patents.
I wonder if Spain could become the new hub for startups.
I wonder if Spain could become the new hub for startups.
In my opinion, Spain doesn't have (in general) the culture of the entrepreneur even though some cities (like Barcelona) are trying to change it (22@, for example: http://www.22barcelona.com/index.php?lang=en).
On the other hand, this does open opportunities; Spain has one of the highest unemployment % of the world because of this; people want stable jobs and they want them provided on a silver platter, but there really is not too little work. If you open a company, on your own or with other people (foreigners included), there is tons of work for people who want to work. And then this unwillingness to take (even very small) risks, is a competitive advantage.
To cite a few: http://www.startupbootcamp.org/european-cities/#madrid http://www.seedrocket.com/ http://betabeers.com/ http://blog.tetuanvalley.com/ http://madridemprende.esmadrid.com/ http://wayra.org
And I'm missing a lot of them. The entrepreneurial scene and the agile people over here are making an enormous effort to bring this city as a true startup hub in Europe, and they've accomplished this in 1 year. Like they say in reddit, IAMA guy sort of involved in this scene, ask me anything. Lol