This article assesses how the regional entrepreneurship ecosystem can explain the performance of business incubators and accelerators in Spain. It additionally considers the importance of a systemic approach where the interrelations between business incubators and accelerators with the entrepreneurship ecosystem are cen­tral and innovative. This kind of relationship is assed quantitatively, for the first time in Spain, by using the regional entrepreneurship and development index (REDI) of the European Commission related to the per­formance of a wide public database of business incubators and accelerators. Results show a positive association between a higher REDI and a better performance of the business incubators and accelerators in those regions. This allows for making suggestions both for regional and entrepreneurship policy.