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Leadership Schools and Programs in Spain

20 schools in Spain teach Leadership.

MBA in Leadership

The MBA in Leadership focuses on learning professional communication, team building and conflict resolution. Students learn how to set clear goals and objectives and how to effectively manage a team. Some courses included are: Business Ethics, Business Policy and Strategy and Coaching & Mentoring. Graduates can pursue work in Corporate management, Consultancy, Motivational speaking and Team building.
Level: Graduate  
Language of instruction: English  
Location: Barcelona and online

Leadership in Volatile Times

Leadership in Volatile Times is a program offered completely online at IE. Over the course of five weeks, students learn strategies to employ during difficult times in business. Students also learn how to identify global factors that affect business and how to turn them into success. Another component of this program is understanding new technologies and how they are integrated in modern business. Students in this program are typically business owners and managers.
Level: Professional Development  
Language of instruction: English  
Location: Madrid

Developing Leadership Competencies

A company’s success and its ability to sustain its competitive advantage depend essentially on the talent of its people. A student’s can learn how to progress their leadership skills – recognising their strengths and weaknesses and inspire individuals and teams in their company to reach their full potential. This program is intended for senior executives and general managers, as well as human resource professionals who look to improve their leadership competencies so they can enhance personal and organisational effectiveness. The program blends a selection of dynamic learning systems such as personal training, role-play, interactive lectures, workshops and case studies. These work together to improve leadership performance.
Level: Professional Development  
Language of instruction: English  
Location: Madrid

Lead your leadership: develop your managerial skills

Each organisation has to outline the competencies that its leaders must cultivate to be able to apply the strategy and fulfil the mission. This will make sure a company’s long-term competitiveness. However, as a manager moves up the organisation, the challenges of time and responsibility expose new shortcomings, so they may need help to assess themselves and develop the abilities they need to lead effectively. A student can improve their self-knowledge and expand their personal improvement strategy with the help of a professional coach. Management skills are persistent and observable actions that permit success in the performance of the management of the organisation. Therefore, these are behaviours that can be appraised and developed for improvement.
Level: Professional Development  
Language of instruction: Spanish  
Location: Madrid

Executive Leadership

Bircham University’s Executive Leadership program unites the major conjectures and practices of global business and leadership. The program provides a broad perspective on enterprises and their changes through various case studies and reports from the managers and executives at top businesses. It encompasses capstone material that focusses on the challenges facing managers of today. Subjects covered on this course include: Organizational Behaviour, Organizational Leadership, Innovation Management, Decision Making & Analysis, Human Resources Management, Business Management, Entrepreneurship Leadership, Coaching & Leadership and Coaching Strategies. Subjects account for 3 academic credits each. This module can be combined or completed with other modules from this faculty. The Executive Leadership course is available at Specialist, Expert, Bachelor's, Master's & Ph.D. (Doctoral) Degree programs.
Level: Undergraduate Bachelors  
Language of instruction: English  
Location: Villanueva de la Cañada

Leadership Studies in Spain

Leadership is taught in Spain less as a stand-alone discipline than as part of management, education, public administration and health-care training. Most programmes are aimed at people who already work or have a degree: master's programmes, executive education and short courses at business schools and universities. A few universities also offer official bachelor's degrees built around leadership and entrepreneurship.

Official degrees and the schools' own qualifications

Spanish higher education distinguishes between official degrees and each institution's own qualifications. Under Royal Decree 822/2021, official bachelor's degrees (grados) have 240 ECTS credits and official master's degrees (máster universitario) 60, 90 or 120 credits. Universities may also award their own qualifications (títulos propios) in lifelong learning: the Máster de Formación Permanente (60, 90 or 120 ECTS), the Diploma de Especialización (30 to 59 credits) and the Diploma de Experto (under 30 credits). The decree states that the name and format of these qualifications must not cause confusion with official degrees. Business schools that are not universities award their own diplomas and certificates. Both kinds can be useful, but only official degrees appear in RUCT, the Ministry's register of universities, centres and degrees.

Bachelor's degrees

A RUCT search for "Liderazgo" returns 4 bachelor's records. Mondragon Unibertsitatea offers the official Grado en Liderazgo Emprendedor e Innovación (LEINN), a four-year, 240-ECTS degree taught at its Bidasoa, Bilbao and Oñati campuses in Spanish, Basque and English. According to the university, students design real products and services and work with real clients. The Universitat Ramon Llull has an official degree registered in RUCT as a Bachelor in Transformational Leadership and Social Impact.

Master's degrees

RUCT lists 34 master's records with "Liderazgo" in the title, many of them in specific sectors rather than general business:

  • Education: the Universidad de Deusto (Dirección de Centros Educativos: Gestión, Innovación y Liderazgo), the Universidad Camilo José Cela (Dirección, Innovación y Liderazgo de Centros Educativos) and the Universitat Ramon Llull (Liderazgo de la Innovación Pedagógica y Dirección de Centros Educativos)
  • Health care: the Universitat de Barcelona (Investigación, Liderazgo Enfermero y Gestión Sanitaria)
  • Public sector: the Universidad de Vigo (Dirección Pública y Liderazgo Institucional) and the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo (Dirección y Liderazgo Públicos)
  • People management: the Universidad Antonio de Nebrija (Liderazgo y Dirección Estratégica de Personas)

An official master's degree requires an official bachelor's degree or equivalent. Graduates from countries outside the European Higher Education Area do not need homologation to enrol, but the university checks that their degree is equivalent to a Spanish grado.

Executive education and short programmes

Barcelona and Madrid have most of the schools in our directory, followed by Pozuelo de Alarcón. Many offer leadership as executive education for managers:

  • IESE Business School (Barcelona and Madrid) lists a Developing Leadership Competencies programme among its executive education programmes
  • IDDI, the executive education unit of the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (Pozuelo de Alarcón), runs a Programa de Despliegue de Liderazgo and coaching programmes such as Habilidades de Coaching para el Liderazgo
  • The Escuela de Negocios of the Universidad de Alicante offers lifelong-learning master's programmes, specialist and expert courses
  • ITAE (Badajoz) is a business school that, according to the school, has trained professionals for more than 30 years

Other schools listed under leadership in our directory include ESADE, ESDEN, Cerem and FUNIBER. Check on each school's site whether a programme leads to an official degree or to the school's own qualification.

Admission and recognition

For an official bachelor's degree, students who finished secondary school outside Spain usually apply first to UNEDasiss, which assesses international students' records for access to Spanish bachelor's degrees. Royal Decree 889/2022 regulates the recognition of foreign degrees in Spain; a declaration of equivalence certifies the academic level of a degree (bachelor's or master's). A Spanish qualification used abroad is recognised under the rules of the country concerned, which may treat official degrees and títulos propios differently.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an official degree in leadership in Spain?

Yes, a few. Mondragon Unibertsitatea offers the official Grado en Liderazgo Emprendedor e Innovación, and RUCT lists official master's degrees with leadership in the title, mostly in education, health care and the public sector.

What is the difference between a máster universitario and a máster propio?

A máster universitario is an official degree listed in RUCT. A Máster de Formación Permanente or other título propio is a university's own qualification, and business schools that are not universities award their own diplomas.

Do I need to homologate my Latin American degree to take a master's in Spain?

No. For an official master's degree, the university checks that your degree is equivalent to a Spanish bachelor's degree; homologation is not required for enrolment.

Can I study leadership in English in Spain?

Yes, at some institutions. Mondragon's LEINN degree uses Spanish, Basque and English. Check the language of each programme.