10Representative Office
In addition to commercial entities and branches, foreign investors may operate in Spain via a representative office. Noteworthy key features include:
| Legal personality | It does not have its own legal personality independent from the parent company. |
| Formalities for opening | No commercial formalities are required to open a representative office, although for tax, a labor and social security reasons it might be necessary to execute a public deed (or document executed before a foreign public notary, duly certified by apostille or any other applicable legalization system), which must indicate the opening of the representative office, the funds allocated to the office, the identity of its tax representative, which must be a legal entity or individual resident in Spain, and its powers. The opening of a representative office need not be registered at the Commercial Registry. |
| Managing body | There are no formal managing bodies, but rather the representative of the office acts under the powers granted to him/her. |
| Activities | In principle, the activities of a representative office are limited, essentially comprising coordination, collaboration, etc. |
The non-resident company is liable for all debts incurred by the representative office.
