What you need to consider when starting a business in Spain?

Spain offers an excellent platform for business.  However, for foreigners, it might be daunting to start an enterprise in a country, which they are not familiar with. Below are pointers that will help entrepreneurs to follow the necessary steps in opening a business in Spain.

There are several types of businesses you can run in this country and opportunities are available in various sectors. Nonetheless, if you want to reap huge benefit from the positive business atmosphere in Spain, it is best if you initiate a company. No matter what kind of business you establish in this country, you will have to go through a bureaucratic registration process, so it is best if you start your venture on a good and steady foot by registering for a company. The first step to starting a company in Spain is registering the organization.

What does the registration process entail?

Get a certification of uniqueness

You get this certificate from the Mercantile Agency Registry. In general terms, it ensures that you do not copy someone else’s company name.  Hence, you forward your proposed business name and the Agency will issue a certification of uniqueness provided the name you proposed is accepted. The name stays reserved for about six months. The certification remains valid for three months from the date of issue, after which, you will need to renew it.

Open the company’s bank account

After you have the certificate of uniqueness, you need to open a bank account for the company. This is where you will deposit the capital for the business. For your company to be fully incorporated, you must have reached a certain amount of capital. It is only after you have a bank account, will you be issued with a deposit certificate. Alternatively, you could give the contributions to the notary public, who is responsible for granting organizations, a deed of incorporation.

File the DUE (Documento Unico Electronico) form and schedule an appointment with the notary

To fill in the electronic form, you will have to visit the offices at Punto de Atencion Empresarial (PAE). There is a desk where the forms are administered.  The PAE forwards the electronic form copies to various departments, who are involved in the registration of a company including the commercial registry, notary, social security agency as well as the tax agency.  The PAE also assists you to plan an appointment with the notary.

Secure the fiscal identification number and deed of incorporation from the public notary

The notary only releases the deed of incorporation, after the DUE is sent. They then request the tax agency, to offer the new company, the fiscal identification number. The notary is also responsible for sending the deed to the commercial registry, for the formal registration. The commercial registry then communicates the information to the tax agency, after which the company is granted the definitive tax number. This process takes about a week. There are costs to incur at this stage, which amount to around 800 euro.

Submit a notification to jumpstart your company

Now your company is ready to start operating, but just before you launch your brand, you will need to submit a notification on the start of your business activities. The receiving agency at this stage is the town council. Alternatively, you can submit the notification to authorized agencies.

Inform the Delegación Provincial de la Consejería de Trabajo e Industria 

With all other documents intact, your next step is to inform the autonomous community that you have started a business and give details about the operations of your company. You should do this within 30 days of opening the company.

If you have plans to start a company in Spain, the information above is utterly important. The process will take you around a fortnight to finalise, however once you have all the documents in order you can transact legally.