Work and business
Employment, remote work, self-employment, running a business and your rights at work.
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The essential topics in work and business, one from each section where there is one. Read these first.
Local jobs and salary reality
Spain's job market and routes in
You will know whether local employment can fund your move, which entry jobs exist and what your legal status lets you do.
Remote work
Working for a foreign employer
You will know what to get agreed before you start, what can go wrong if you do not, and which engagement structure and contract terms fit your situation.
Self-employment and freelancing
Registering as self-employed (autónomo)
You will know whether and how to register as self-employed in Spain, in the right order, with the right activity code and no avoidable fines.
Starting and running a company
Choosing your company structure
You can pick the right legal vehicle for your Spanish business, with the real running costs and tipping points in front of you.
Credentials and regulated professions
Choosing your recognition route
You will know whether you need recognition, which Spanish route and authority fit your nationality and qualification, and what the realistic alternatives are.
Work culture and professional integration
Communication and etiquette
You will read Spanish workplace tone correctly and know the small habits that make a good first impression.
Local jobs and salary reality
Helps you find local work and know your rights as an employee.
Judge and handle local employment: the job market, finding work, real pay, contracts, working-time and leave rights, and what happens when a job changes or ends.
Spain's job market and routes in
You will know whether local employment can fund your move, which entry jobs exist and what your legal status lets you do.
What the Spanish job market is really like for newcomers · Which Spanish regions and cities have the jobs you want · Seasonal and hospitality work, including permanent-seasonal contracts (fijo discontinuo)
Searching for and landing a job
You will know where Spanish jobs are filled, how to apply and why employers may be silent.
Where Spanish jobs are actually advertised and filled · Why you are not hearing back from Spanish employers · Writing a Spanish-style CV (currículum) and cover letter
Salary and take-home pay
You will be able to judge an offer and predict what lands in your bank account each month.
Is this Spanish job offer fair? Benchmarking pay by profession · Turning a gross Spanish salary into monthly take-home pay · Reading your payslip (nómina) line by line
Contracts, agreements and employee status
You will know what your contract and agreement commit you to and whether your arrangement is lawful.
Spanish contract types explained, from permanent to training · What to check before signing a Spanish employment contract · Non-compete, confidentiality and exclusivity clauses (pacto de no competencia)
Working hours and leave rights
You will know how long you can be made to work, how much leave you are owed and how to ask for flexibility.
Working hours, overtime and mandatory time recording in Spain · Split shifts, night work and rest breaks (jornada partida) · How many days of annual leave you get in Spain
Family, sickness and injury at work
You will know how your job is protected when family, illness or injury interrupt work.
Birth and parental leave in Spain and your job · Reduced hours and nursing leave after a baby (reducción de jornada, lactancia) · Pregnant and working in Spain, with risk assessment and dismissal protection
When your employer changes your job
You will recognise which restructuring tool your employer is using and what you can accept, refuse or contest.
Five ways a Spanish employer can change your job without ending it · Temporary layoff or reduced hours (ERTE) and your pay · When your employer can change your role, schedule or pay (modificación sustancial)
Dismissal, resignation and severance
You will know how your employment can end, what you should be paid and your first steps.
How a Spanish job can end and what you are owed · Is a disciplinary dismissal (despido disciplinario) fair, unfair or null? · Redundancy and collective layoffs (despido objetivo and ERE)
Disputes, unions and representation
You will know who to go to and in what order when your employer wrongs you.
Challenging a dismissal, from the deadline to labour court · What happens at conciliation and the labour court (juzgado de lo social) · Claiming unpaid wages when your employer pays late or stops
Remote work
Helps you set up remote work from Spain on a compliant footing.
Work remotely from Spain without breaking employment or company rules: the arrangement with a foreign or Spanish employer and a workable daily set-up. Visa, tax and social security rules are linked.
Working for a foreign employer
You will know what to get agreed before you start, what can go wrong if you do not, and which engagement structure and contract terms fit your situation.
Can your foreign employer let you work from Spain? · How to ask your employer to let you work from Spain · What your foreign employer risks when you work from Spain
Teleworking for a Spanish employer
You will know what Spanish law requires of your employer and what you can insist on or challenge.
Your rights as a remote or hybrid employee in Spain · What your teleworking agreement (acuerdo de trabajo a distancia) must say · Working from home with no written agreement: what protects you
Home office and coworking
You will be able to choose and equip a workplace that is comfortable, affordable and secure.
Setting up a home office in a Spanish flat · Working from home through Spanish summers and winters · Making your internet reliable enough for remote work
Time zones and daily rhythm
You will be able to design a working day that suits your team abroad and life in Spain.
Working US hours from Spain: the time-zone reality · Working with Europe, Latin America and Asia from Spain · Fitting remote work into the Spanish day
Self-employment and freelancing
Helps you register and operate as a self-employed autonomo.
Start and run as an autonomo: registration, Social Security quotas, income tax and VAT, invoicing, pricing, clients and advisers.
Registering as self-employed (autónomo)
You will know whether and how to register as self-employed in Spain, in the right order, with the right activity code and no avoidable fines.
Do you need to register as self-employed (autónomo)? · How to register as self-employed (autónomo), step by step · What you need in place before you can register
Self-employed contributions (cuota de autónomos)
You will understand what you pay each month, why, how to keep it right, and what you get for it.
How self-employed contributions work by income bracket (tramos) · Estimating your income and choosing your contribution bracket · Annual regularisation: why you may owe or get back contributions
Income tax (IRPF) for freelancers
You will know what income tax you owe as self-employed, when, and how to reduce it legitimately.
How your freelance income is taxed (IRPF) · Simplified, normal or flat-rate (módulos) regime: which fits you? · Quarterly income tax instalments: who files and who is exempt
VAT (IVA) for freelancers
You will charge and declare VAT correctly for Spanish, EU and non-EU clients.
How VAT (IVA) works when you invoice: rates, charging and reclaiming · Filing your quarterly VAT return: what goes in and when · Are your services exempt from VAT? Teaching, health and similar
Invoicing and bookkeeping
You will issue compliant invoices with the right tools and keep the records Spain requires.
What a valid Spanish invoice (factura) must contain · Numbering invoices and correcting mistakes (facturas rectificativas) · Do you need invoicing software that meets the anti-fraud rules (Verifactu)?
Pricing and freelance income
You will price work to keep what you need after Spanish costs and plan for slow months.
Setting your freelance rate so you keep what you need · What freelancers really earn in Spain, and how long to break even · What being self-employed (autónomo) costs in your first year
Clients, contracts and late payment
You will win clients, agree safe terms, and know what to do when payment is late.
Finding your first clients in Spain as a newcomer · How Spanish clients actually pay: terms, approvals and August · What to put in a Spanish freelance contract
Advisers (asesoría) and admin help
You will decide between an adviser and doing it yourself, and work with either safely.
Do you need an adviser (asesoría) or can you do it yourself? · What an adviser (gestoría) does and what it should cost · Choosing an adviser you can trust, including English-speaking ones
Rules for specific freelance sectors
You will know which extra rules apply to your type of freelance work.
Freelancing in IT, design, writing or consulting: codes, tax and IP · Working in the trades or construction: registers, training and safety · Teaching, translating and guiding as a freelancer: VAT, licences and limits
Regional rules and local support
You will find the regional and local rules and help that apply where you live.
Self-employed in the Basque Country or Navarre: which rules differ · How to find the self-employment rules and help for your area · Regional grants and reduced-quota schemes for new freelancers
Changing, pausing and closing self-employment
You will keep registrations accurate and exit or pause cleanly without lingering quotas.
Changing your activity, address or regime after registering · Moving region or leaving Spain: what happens to your self-employment · Registering a family member who helps in your business (colaborador familiar)
Starting and running a company
Helps you decide on, form and run a Spanish company.
Decide whether to run a Spanish company and operate one: structure choice, formation, founders from abroad, corporate tax, owner pay, governance, hiring, funding, licences and closing.
Choosing your company structure
You can pick the right legal vehicle for your Spanish business, with the real running costs and tipping points in front of you.
Choosing between self-employed (autónomo) and limited company (sociedad limitada) · Which company type to form, a limited company (sociedad limitada) or another · At what profit does a limited company start to beat self-employment?
Forming a limited company
You know the steps, costs and traps of forming an SL and what to register right after.
Setting up a limited company (sociedad limitada) in Spain step by step · Reserving your company name (certificación negativa de denominación) · Share capital: how much you need and how to pay it in
Founders from abroad and non-residents
You know whether you can own and run a Spanish company from abroad and which extra rules apply.
Can a non-resident or non-EU foreigner own and run a Spanish company? · Forming a Spanish company from abroad with a power of attorney · Does the company administrator have to live in Spain?
Company tax and filings
You understand what your company owes, when, and how to avoid missed filings.
How corporate tax (Impuesto sobre Sociedades) works for a small company · The lower tax rate for a new company's first profitable years · Instalments and the annual return: how company tax filing works
Paying yourself from your company
You can choose a legal, tax-aware way to pay yourself and avoid owner-company traps.
Should you pay yourself a salary, dividends or both? · Paying yourself as administrator: why the statutes decide · Which Social Security regime applies when you work in your own company?
Company governance, accounts and records
You can govern your SL correctly and keep up with accounts and records.
What it takes to keep a Spanish company running year to year · Administrators and shareholder meetings in a limited company · What makes a company administrator personally liable
Hiring and employer duties
You know what hiring costs and requires of your company.
Hiring your first employee in Spain: what to register first · What an employee really costs beyond the salary · Running payroll: payslips, withholding and monthly Social Security
Business funding and startup law
You can compare funding routes and know the Spanish programmes and traps.
Ways to fund a new company in Spain · Public loans from ENISA, CDTI and the ICO · Bank credit for a new limited company and personal guarantees
Licences, premises and compliance
You can identify which licences and premises steps apply and where to find local rules.
Which licences and permits does your business need? · Getting the opening licence for physical premises · Leasing business premises: commercial lease and key-money transfer (traspaso)
Insolvency, closing and selling
You know the legal triggers, options and steps for winding down or selling.
When a struggling company must dissolve or file for insolvency · How insolvency (concurso de acreedores) works for a small company · Closing a company voluntarily: dissolution and liquidation
Credentials and regulated professions
Helps you get qualifications recognised and the right to practise.
Find out whether your profession is regulated in Spain and get qualifications recognised so you can practise: route choice, filing, refusals, professional bodies and sector-specific paths.
Choosing your recognition route
You will know whether you need recognition, which Spanish route and authority fit your nationality and qualification, and what the realistic alternatives are.
Is your profession regulated in Spain? · Do you need recognition for an unregulated job? · Which recognition route fits your degree (homologación or equivalencia)?
Filing your recognition application
You will know what to gather, what it costs, when to start and how to submit a complete file the first time.
How to file a recognition application in Spain · Documents a recognition file needs, including language proof · Proving what you studied: syllabus, hours and transcripts
Delays, refusals and waiting
You will know what the clock and silence mean, how to respond to requests and refusals, and what you can legally do in the meantime.
How long recognition takes and what silence means (silencio administrativo) · Answering a recognition office's request for more documents (requerimiento) · Recognition with conditions: tests, practice periods and courses
Professional bodies (colegios) and right to practise
You will know if your profession needs colegio membership, how to join and what it costs, and which regional rules apply.
Do you have to join a colegio to practise? · Colegio membership for employees, freelancers and civil servants · How to register with a colegio as a foreign-qualified professional
Health professions recognition
You will know the exact path for your health profession from foreign title to legal practice in Spain.
How healthcare qualifications are recognised in Spain · From foreign medical degree to practising as a doctor in Spain · Recognising a medical specialty or taking the MIR
Law, engineering and architecture
You will know what a foreign-qualified lawyer, engineer or architect must add to practise in Spain.
Registering as an EU-qualified lawyer (abogado comunitario) · The path for a foreign lawyer to practise (abogacía) in Spain · The abogacía access master and national exam
Regulated teaching qualifications
You will know which teaching qualification Spain requires for each school type and how to get there.
Getting a foreign teaching degree recognised in Spain · Public school posts: the oposición and interino lists · The secondary teaching master (máster de formación del profesorado)
Trade and vocational licences
You will know how to formalise a trade or vocational skill in Spain and which licences your work needs.
Recognising a foreign vocational qualification in Spain · Spanish vocational levels (FP) and your equivalent · Turning experience into a certificate (acreditación de competencias)
Finance, property and other regulated careers
You will know whether your career outside the main families is regulated and which registry or regulator decides.
Auditors, accountants and tax advisers in Spain · Becoming a financial adviser or insurance intermediary · What estate agents and administrative gestores (gestores administrativos) need
Public posts and special situations
You will know how nationality and recognition interact for public posts and what to do when your situation is unusual.
Public-sector jobs in Spain with a foreign qualification · Civil servant or contracted public employee (personal laboral), and what each needs · Recognition when you cannot get your diploma or transcripts
Work culture and professional integration
Helps you work effectively and build a career in Spanish workplaces.
Work well with Spanish colleagues, clients and teams: communication, hierarchy, networking, managing people, career progression and how culture varies by sector and region.
Communication and etiquette
You will read Spanish workplace tone correctly and know the small habits that make a good first impression.
What Spanish workplace culture is like compared with home · Reading directness and tone in Spanish workplaces · Giving and receiving feedback with Spanish colleagues
Bosses, hierarchy and decisions
You will understand who really decides, how to deal with senior people and what changes between employer types.
Dealing with your boss and senior people in Spain · How decisions get made in Spanish organisations · Working with last-minute changes and improvised plans
Networking and business relationships
You will know where and how to build contacts and how business relationships are conducted.
How professional networking works in Spain · Using LinkedIn to build a Spanish network · Chambers, associations and events worth joining
Managing Spanish teams
You will start leading a Spanish team with trust and without avoidable mistakes.
Starting as a manager of a Spanish team · Delegating, motivating and setting expectations · Handling underperformance and difficult conversations
The Spanish working day and year
You will know what a normal Spanish day and year look like and how to plan work, time off and family life around them.
A typical Spanish working day hour by hour · Split day or continuous day: what decides your schedule · Staying late and leaving on time: what colleagues expect
Career progression in Spain
You will plan a realistic route to advancement and know when culture or ceilings mean it is time to adapt or move on.
How career progression works in Spanish companies · Asking for a raise or promotion in Spain · Performance reviews and getting noticed
Work culture by sector and region
You will know what to expect in your own sector and city rather than relying on a single national picture.
Work culture in Spanish tech and startups · Work culture in hospitality and tourism · Work culture in the Spanish public sector
Related subjects
Questions in work and business usually lead into these.
Money and taxes
Budgeting the first year, banking, tax residency, income and social security.
Immigration and residency
Visas, residence permits, the route that fits you, and keeping your status.
Language and integration
Learning Spanish, understanding local life and building a social circle.
Need certainty before you act?
For important relocation decisions, speak with a qualified human specialist.
Always verify important information with the relevant official authority or a qualified adviser before acting. This website uses large language models together with various public data sources, official government documents and other established sources. Due to the amount of data on this website, some information might be wrong. Information may also be incomplete or outdated.