This paper aims to identify the institutional and economic factors that influence the perception of business opportunities, and the latter’s influence on entrepreneurial intention. We use an institutional approach for the Spanish Autonomous Regions for the period 2004-2010, based on the data available in the regional GEM reports, supplemented by data from the INE (Instituto Nacional de Estadística - Spanish National Institute of Statistics). By applying a structural equation model, we observed that the perception of abilities (self-efficacy) positively and significantly affects both the perception of opportunities and entrepreneurial intention, and that the perception of opportunities affects entrepreneurial intention.