Establishment in Spain - What is important to think about

To establish a business in Spain can be successful. However, there are often many questions that should be answered before you decide to take the step. Many people often know little about the Spanish culture and what the business culture is like.

This could be a reason for some companies to never take the final step. The main reason is often that there are too many questions about an establishment, such as laws and regulations. Moreover, it can be difficult to understand how the demand is in the new market.

There are effective ways to work around these obstacles. There are great opportunities with to first of all learn Spanish. There are also lawyers, chambers of commerce and accountants who can help if you want to establish your business in Spain. Since Sweden is part of the EU, the conditions for Swedish citizens to run business in Spain have improved. Are you self-employed in Sweden, you can open up the same activities in Spain, usually without problems.

When your business decides to hire staff, there are some things to keep in mind. It may be wise to obtain consulting that can guide your company to the right decisions. Laws and regulations differ from Swedish but the most important legislations covers three main areas.

The areas are

Individual rights,
Labor laws
Collective agreements.

These three areas are important to be careful with.

Just as in Sweden, employment agencies have been established that hire out staff for longer or shorter periods, and if you just established your company, it may be a good idea to hire staff from such company instead of doing it yourself. Initially, many companies may not have enough knowledge about the Spanish market.

Many Swedish companies have already chosen to establish themselves on the Spanish market and Swedish companies in Spain have over 20,000 employees. Large industrial companies such as Ericsson, Electrolux, Pharmacia, Volvo, Scania and others have already been in place for a long time. In recent years, Swedish IT companies have increased substantially.

This shows that there are opportunities in several business areas. Spain is one of the countries that have experienced strong growth and has a strong domestic market and therefore is attractive to many companies.

Banks in Spain offer essentially the same services that Swedish banks do. Some services that are free in Sweden may be subject to tax in Spain or vice versa. It is therefore important to look at banks to see what fits your business best. Banks operate in almost the same way as in Sweden, and an advice before a Spanish establishment is to start with your own bank here in Sweden.
Tony Harkén

To think about

Many people speak English, but it may be useful to have materials printed in Spanish as well.

When you submit business cards, have the information in both English and Spanish.

Spaniards are very outgoing and it can often be hectic to do business when it happens that everyone talk at the same time

In Spain 4 different languages are spoken. Spanish is of course the most common

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