A process for the production of C3-C6 light olefins from ethanol is described, and said process comprises at least the passage of a feedstock that contains ethanol into at least one reaction unit that is provided with at least one catalyst that comes in the form of spherical balls with a diameter of between 1 and 3 mm, each of said spherical balls comprising at least one zeolite and at least one alumina-based substrate and having a pore distribution such that the macropore volume that is measured by mercury porosimetry is between 0.10 and 0.20 ml/g and the mesopore volume that is measured by mercury porosimetry is between 0.25 and 0.35 ml/g.