Start your business

Entrepreneurship Service Points (PAEs) are electronic or in-person one-stop shops where procedures for the initiation, exercise, and cessation of business activities can be carried out. PAEs are responsible for facilitating the creation of new businesses, the effective start of their activities, and their development by providing services such as information, document processing, advice, training, and support for business financing.
 

The PAE electronic website, paeelectronico.es, offers all users a search engine for the entire network of Entrepreneurship Service Points (Entrepreneurship Service Points Locator).

The Directorate-General for Industry and SMEs provides updated information on aid and incentives programs for business creation called by public administrations and related bodies through its website plataformapyme.es.

The capitalization of unemployment benefits or lump-sum payment is another well-known measure among aids and subsidies for entrepreneurs. Capitalizing unemployment benefits involves receiving the unemployment benefits to which you are entitled in a single payment, with the aim of starting a business. The requirements to be met are as follows:

• Be a beneficiary of contributory unemployment benefits.
• Not have received the lump-sum payment in the previous four years.
• Initiate the activity within a maximum period of one month from the concession.
• If the dismissal giving rise to the unemployment benefits has been contested before the Labor Jurisdiction, the capitalization application must be after the resolution of the procedure.
• If it involves joining a cooperative, and the bylaws of the cooperative stipulate that members must undergo a trial period, this trial period must have been completed.

Not at the moment. Currently, the procedure must be initiated either at a PAE or from the VIRTUAL PAE, from where the DUE will be sent to the notary. Check the Entrepreneurship Service Points (PAE) Locator on the paeelectronico.es website.
 

The DUE (Electronic Single Document) is an electronic document that gathers all the necessary information for the constitution and start-up of a company, as well as for its cessation. This document replaces multiple forms required by Organizations and Administrations involved in the process of creating and ceasing companies.

Through this document and using the CIRCE system, the following types of companies can be created:

• Sole trader (Autonomous)
• Community of Property
• Civil Society
• Limited Liability Company (SRL)

They must obtain the Foreign Citizen Identification Number (NIE) and register with the Foreigners Registry. More information.

Once the NIE is obtained, they can carry out the registration of the activity with the Tax Agency and in the Autonomous Regime of Social Security. They can also use electronic processing to create their company through CIRCE via the Internet.
 

There is no legal impediment, unless they have signed an exclusivity clause with the company they work for or are subject to incompatibilities required for personnel in the service of Public Administrations.

Regarding Social Security, they must contribute to RETA for their self-employed work and to the general regime for work as an employee. This is a case of multiple activities.

In the case of SRLs, the share capital must be fully paid from its origin, that is, at the time of going to the notary; both in terms of the contribution in the constitution and any subsequent increases in share capital.

In the case of Anonymous Societies, the share capital must be fully subscribed, but not necessarily fully paid; it is sufficient to initially pay 25% of it and the remainder as agreed in the Articles of Association (maximum 5 years for non-monetary contributions). 

It's a mandatory municipal license for a store, warehouse, or office to engage in commercial, industrial, or service activities. It's a document that verifies compliance with the conditions of habitability and use for that particular activity.

The business license or operating permit is granted to the owner of a business for the conduct of a specific activity. It must be renewed whenever there is a change in the activity conducted in the premises, modifications to the premises, or a change in business ownership, such as in the case of a transfer.

The only exempt activities are those of a professional, artisanal, or artistic nature carried out at home, provided there is no sale or direct public interaction and there is no disturbance to neighbors.
 

A legal representative is an individual who acts on behalf of another, whether it's a natural person or a legal entity. 

Legal representation is usually granted by a public deed. It allows the legal representative to take over the business, obligations, and rights of the represented party; they can manage and dispose of them as agreed upon when the representation was established.
 

The administration and representation of a company are carried out by the Administrative Body of the company, according to the structure defined in its bylaws.

The Law of Capital Companies allows for the administration and representation of companies to be entrusted to any of the following bodies:

• A Sole Administrator, who will exercise the power of representation for the company.
• Several Joint Administrators, who can act interchangeably on behalf of the company for both management tasks and representation in or out of court.
• Several Joint and Several Administrators, who must act jointly by mutual agreement, although to represent the company, the action of at least two of them will be sufficient, in accordance with what has been established in the bylaws.
• A Board of Directors, which will collectively exercise the representation of the company, unless the bylaws assign the power of representation to one or more directors specifically, either individually or jointly.
   

• Responsibility of promoters: It can be limited to the contributed capital (e.g., anonymous societies, limited liability companies, etc.) or unlimited, affecting both business and personal assets (e.g., individual entrepreneur).
• Number of partners: The choice of legal form may vary depending on whether there is one or more promoters.
• Contributed social capital: Some types of companies require a minimum capital.
• Tax Aspects: Depending on the chosen type, taxation will be either by personal income tax or corporate tax.
• Type of activity: This needs to be considered for cases where there is special applicable regulation.
• The Directorate General of Industry and SMEs provides a guided environment for choosing the legal form and offers all the necessary information for company creation.
   

Both processes are independent and mutually exclusive. Acts or steps from one cannot be integrated into the other.

The prohibitions for being an Administrator in a capital company are listed in Article 213 of the Capital Companies Law:

"Cannot be administrators: minors not emancipated, those judicially incapacitated, persons disqualified in accordance with the Insolvency Law until the period of disqualification set in the qualification judgment of the competition has concluded, and those convicted of crimes against freedom, against property or against the socio-economic order, against collective security, against the Administration of Justice, or for any kind of falsehood, as well as those who, by reason of their position, cannot engage in trade."

The request is made to the Central Mercantile Registry (application for the business name via telematics). The current cost of the negative certification of the company name is 18.19 euros. 

Some criteria to consider when requesting a business name include:

• Anonymous and Limited Companies: They can have a subjective name or business name, or an objective name.
• Collective or Simple Limited Partnerships: Must have a subjective name or business name, where the names and surnames, or only one of the surnames, of all collective partners, some of them, or just one must necessarily be included. In the latter two cases, the expression "y compañía" or its abbreviation "y cía" must be added. The subjective name may include an expression related to an activity included in the social object.
• Objective name: It can refer to one or several economic activities or be a fantasy name.
• It is not allowed to adopt an objective name that refers to an activity not included in the social object.
• The business name cannot include, in whole or in part, the name or pseudonym of a natural or legal person without their authorization or consent.
• The business name must be followed by the legal form or terms that, by legal imperative, according to the special legislation of inscribable companies or entities, must appear following it. For example, "FIM" for "Fondo de Inversión Mobiliaria" (Investment Furniture Fund). These terms lack differentiating virtuality.
• It is not allowed to add the abbreviation or anagram of the business name to the denominative expression.
• When a name is already in another language, it is understood that there is identity between them.
• Societies or entities with a name identical to an existing one cannot be registered in the Mercantile Registry. Identity is understood not only in the case of total and absolute coincidence between names but also when one of the following circumstances occurs:
  • The use of the same words in a different order, gender, or number.
  • The use of different words that have the same expression or noticeable phonetic similarity.
  • The use of the same words with the addition or suppression of generic or accessory terms or expressions.
• Alternatively, in the case of Limited Companies, a business name can be obtained from the Stock Exchange of Social Names of the Mercantile Registry.
   

The municipal government of the city where the business activity will take place is responsible for issuing the license.

Notably, the Sustainable Economy Law of March 4, 2011, removed the mandatory requirement for the opening license for the majority of service and commercial activities. Instead, a responsible declaration can be submitted, eliminating the need for a license. A "responsible declaration" is a document signed by the business owner or representative, declaring, under their responsibility, that an urban action complies with the urban requirements set by the current regulations for its establishment, modification, or development. It confirms the possession of the necessary documentation and the commitment to compliance throughout the duration of the activity.
 

Both processes are independent and mutually exclusive. Acts or steps from one cannot be integrated into the other.