An important feature of industrial markets is the intense turnover due to the high number of entrants and exits, particularly with regard to small firms. Many new entrants are victims of selection processes that create barriers to survival. This study provides an overview of two important aspects of industrial dynamics in Spanish manufacturing and service firms between 1994 and 2008: the market turnover and the determinants of survival during the first years from a cohort of firms created in 1994. The semiparametric results show that the likelihood of a firm to fail increases in R&D intensive sectors and it decreases when the price-cost margins are high. Related with firm characteristics, firm size and growth of the surviving firms increase the likelihood of survival of the firms belonging to the cohort during their infancy.