- 1Spain: An attractive country for investment
- 2Setting up a business in Spain
- 3 Tax System
- 4 Investment aid and incentives in Spain
- 5 Labor and social security regulations
- 6 Intellectual property law
- 7Legal framework and tax implications of e-commerce in Spain
- AI Annex I Company and Commercial Law
- AIIAnnex II The Spanish financial system
- AIIIAnnex IIIAccounting and audit issues

- Introduction
- Different ways of doing business in Spain
- Tax Identification Number (N.I.F.) and Foreigner Identity Number (N.I.E.)
- N.I.E for individuals who are to be shareholders or directors of companies resident in Spain, tax and legal representatives of a branch in Spain, permanent establishments or limited liability entrepreneurs
- N.I.F. for legal entities that are to be shareholders or directors of companies resident in Spain, or owners of branches in Spain or permanent establishments
- Provisional and definitive N.I.F. of the company resident in Spain that is to be set up
- Formation of a company
- Limited liability entrepreneur
- Opening of a branch
- Other alternatives for operating in Spain
- Forms of business cooperation
- Temporary Business Associations (UTEs)
- Economic Interest Groupings (EIGs)
- Silent participation Agreement (C.E.P.)
- Participating loans
- Joint ventures through Spanish corporations or limited liability companies
- Distribution, agency, commission agency and franchising agreements
- Other alternatives for investing in Spain
- Dispute resolution
- Appendix I - Table summarizing the tax treatment given to the various ways of investing in Spain
Establishing a business in Spain
This Chapter describes the basic aspects of the main structures for investing in Spain, as well as the key formalities that a foreign investor must fulfill in order to set up or start up each of them.
Setting up a business in Spain is simple. The type of business entities available are in keeping with those existing in other OECD countries and there is also a wide range of alternatives capable of meeting the needs of the different types of investors who wish to invest in or from Spain.
This Chapter also examines how to open a branch; the pursuit of the activity directly by an individual entrepreneur as a “limited liability entrepreneur”; the formation of a joint venture with one or more enterprises already established in Spain; the acquisition of real estate; the sale and purchase of businesses; investment in venture capital firms; and distribution, agency, commission and franchising agreements.
Further, it should be noted that, ordinarily, there is also almost total liberalization of foreign investment and exchange control in Spain, in line with EU legislation, notwithstanding the extraordinary measure consisting of the suspension of the regime for the liberalization of foreign investment in Spain, introduced by Royal Decree Law 8/2020 of March 17, 2020, on urgent extraordinary measures to deal with the economic and social impact of COVID-19, Royal Decree Law 11/2020 of March 31, 2020, adopting additional urgent measures in the social and economic field to deal with COVID-19, and Royal Decree-Law 34/2020, of November 17, 2020, on urgent measures to support the solvency of businesses and support the energy sector and in the tax field, which were approved by the Spanish Government on the occasion of the global COVID-19 pandemic.