Expanding into
Spain
Global expansion is a step to make for any business, regardless of what you wish to achieve. The opportunities that can come with an expansion can be both incredibly exciting as well as intimidating and confusing, especially when you consider all of the registration procedures that needs to be done and documentation required.


Get the Support You Need
Expanding to countries such as Spain – which is characterized by an innovative and highly-skilled workforce, multifaceted employment and tax laws, a strategic infrastructure network linking to the rest of Europe, with leading sectors such as tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, ICT, and energy – can bring both excitement to the possibilities, but also significant stress to ensuring the entity with the country’s rigorous legal structures and laws.
Ensuring compliance without the sufficient knowledge of the country’s laws also adds to the stress of getting your new entity off the ground and ready to test new markets. Going at it without the proper support can increase the costs, time and risks involved.
Each new markets bring new challenges, and these can be worked through more efficiently and cost-effectively with the support of an International Professional Employer Organization (PEO) such as Bradford Jacobs, especially through our Employer of Record (EOR) framework.
This can be best utilized when businesses are just beginning their expansion process and require more information before committing to incorporating an entity and fully establishing themselves in that market.
Hiring Staff
in Spain
The economy of Spain is a highly developed social market economy. It is the world’s fourteenth largest by nominal GDP and the fifth largest in Europe. Spain is the 13th recipient of foreign investments in the world, with more than 14,600 foreign firms having set up their business in the country. 70 out of 100 top companies in Forbes Global 2000 operate in Spain.
The Spanish market comprises 46 million inhabitants and over 82 million visitors in 2019. Any business looking to invest in Spain will be presented with unrestricted access to the European market with its more than 500 million consumers and world’s highest purchasing power.
In 2019, Spain was the fifteenth-largest exporter in the world and the fourteenth-largest importer. Foreign multinationals established in Spain are responsible for approximately 44.5% of Spain’s total worldwide exports.
Spain is listed 25th in the United Nations Human Development Index and 32nd in GDP per capita by the World Bank. According to the Quality-of-Life Index (2016), Spain had the world’s 10th highest quality of life, especially concerning health and well-being. Some of the main areas of economic activity are the automotive industry, medical technology, chemicals, shipbuilding, tourism, and the textile industry.
Spain is a member of the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the Eurozone, the Council of Europe (CoE), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), the Union for the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and many other international organizations.
SMEs play a major role in Spain’s ‘non-financial business economy’. According to the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), 99.7% of all non-financial corporations (NFCs) were SMEs in December 2019, employing 62.6% of the business labor force. Of these, 89.1% were micro-enterprises, 9.0% small enterprises and 1.6% medium-sized enterprises.
Micro firms are particularly important to the Spanish labor market, accounting for 38.7% of total employment. This is significantly higher than the EU average of 29.7%. On average, Spanish SMEs employ 3.1 people, fewer than the EU average of 3.9. Annual SME productivity, calculated as value added per person employed, is €35,900, equivalent to 80.6% of average SME productivity in the EU.
SMEs in Spain have not yet recovered from the 2008 crisis, unlike large firms, which have already surpassed their pre-crisis levels. In 2018, SME value added and employment were still 16%, 14.7% below their 2008 levels. Nonetheless, SMEs in the ‘non-financial business economy’ have made significant progress since 2013, when value added and employment were hit hardest by the crisis.
SMEs in wholesale and retail trade, the biggest SME sector in Spain, have generated consistent value-added growth in recent years.
Identification Number (NIE)
Company ID Number (CIF)
VAT number (Número IVA)
Hiring Staff
in Spain
The economy of Spain is a highly developed social market economy. It is the world’s fourteenth largest by nominal GDP and the fifth largest in Europe. Spain is the 13th recipient of foreign investments in the world, with more than 14,600 foreign firms having set up their business in the country. 70 out of 100 top companies in Forbes Global 2000 operate in Spain.
The Spanish market comprises 46 million inhabitants and over 82 million visitors in 2019. Any business looking to invest in Spain will be presented with unrestricted access to the European market with its more than 500 million consumers and world’s highest purchasing power.
In 2019, Spain was the fifteenth-largest exporter in the world and the fourteenth-largest importer. Foreign multinationals established in Spain are responsible for approximately 44.5% of Spain’s total worldwide exports.
Spain is listed 25th in the United Nations Human Development Index and 32nd in GDP per capita by the World Bank. According to the Quality-of-Life Index (2016), Spain had the world’s 10th highest quality of life, especially concerning health and well-being. Some of the main areas of economic activity are the automotive industry, medical technology, chemicals, shipbuilding, tourism, and the textile industry.
Spain is a member of the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the Eurozone, the Council of Europe (CoE), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), the Union for the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and many other international organizations.
SMEs play a major role in Spain’s ‘non-financial business economy’. According to the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), 99.7% of all non-financial corporations (NFCs) were SMEs in December 2019, employing 62.6% of the business labor force. Of these, 89.1% were micro-enterprises, 9.0% small enterprises and 1.6% medium-sized enterprises.
Micro firms are particularly important to the Spanish labor market, accounting for 38.7% of total employment. This is significantly higher than the EU average of 29.7%. On average, Spanish SMEs employ 3.1 people, fewer than the EU average of 3.9. Annual SME productivity, calculated as value added per person employed, is €35,900, equivalent to 80.6% of average SME productivity in the EU.
SMEs in Spain have not yet recovered from the 2008 crisis, unlike large firms, which have already surpassed their pre-crisis levels. In 2018, SME value added and employment were still 16%, 14.7% below their 2008 levels. Nonetheless, SMEs in the ‘non-financial business economy’ have made significant progress since 2013, when value added and employment were hit hardest by the crisis.
SMEs in wholesale and retail trade, the biggest SME sector in Spain, have generated consistent value-added growth in recent years.
Identification Number (NIE)
Company ID Number (CIF)
VAT number (Número IVA)
The Main Sectors of the Spanish Economy
The country focuses on the following key sectors, which all have a significant impact on the country’s economy:
The Main Sectors of the Spanish Economy
The country focuses on the following key sectors, which all have a significant impact on the country’s economy:

Commercial Laws in
Spain
Commercial Laws in
Spain
