Look up the word “gestor” in the dictionary and you’re likely to get several meanings: consultant, administrator, adviser, accountant.
They are in effect all of these, a first port of call in Spain for the endless bureaucratic processes that come with anything official here; intermediaries between you and the often-complicated government departments.
Gestores work in gestorías, which are licensed administrative offices dealing with all this state-related paperwork.
“Spain is a very bureaucratic country but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it makes some processes a lot more secure,” Isa Febrero, Managing Director of English-speaking Gestoría Estepona told The Local.
“If you sell a car in the UK for example, all you need is a log book which in some circumstances can leave sellers or buyers without protection, whereas in Spain you need to have a number of documents processed before the transaction is considered legally complete.”
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Some will argue against and others in favour of the convolutedness of Spanish bureaucracy, but the truth is that foreigners living in Spain – especially those who don’t have a firm grasp of Spanish and who don’t know ‘the system’ – will need the services of a gestor at some point.
“Right now we have more work than ever because many of Spain’s public administrations remain closed to the public due to Covid restrictions and we have a more direct line of contact with these institutions,” Febrero explains about the situation in September 2020.
Gestores seem to be able to get appointments for processes like driving licences, NIE and TIE etc when there are none made available to the general public.
“In fact, we’re taking on a lot of the work from these public administrations as they’re not fully operational”.
What can gestores do?
Residency
This is perhaps the most important matter a gestor/a can help foreigners in Spain with.
They are familiar with the required documents for residency applications for EU and non-EU citizens, they often know foreign office staff in person and can sometimes go with or for you to present the application.
“At the moment most of the foreigners contacting us about residency matters are UK citizens applying for the new TIE residency card,” Febrero says.
“For Brits applying for the TIE now, we collect all the documents required by extranjería (foreigners’ office) and present them ourselves, so our clients only have to go in person for the “toma de huellas” (fingerprint taking).
“Overall, the process is a lot more hassle-free for them and we check all their documents before their presentation to ensure that everything is in order.”
Fiscal matters
If you’ve got a contract as a salaried employee your company will handle most if not all your paperwork but self-employed workers (autónomos), whether novice or seasoned, often struggle to keep up with every single element of their fiscal obligations.
“We handle nóminas (payroll), contracts, dismissals, quarterly tax declarations for self-employed people, setting up as limited company or as a sole trader or investor, and many other fiscal matters that foreigners don’t necessarily fully comprehend because they don’t have them in their countries,” Febrero says.
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“With our British clients we’ve found that the vast majority are unaware of the requirement to declare international assets if they become Spanish residents.
“We generally recommend that you get a gestor who is based in your area as there are many fiscal matters where they might have to argue their client’s case in person.
“Gestores will have had previous contact with local tax authorities and know how to handle recurring issues.”
A branch of Spain’s Tax Agency, the “Agencia Tributaria”. Photo: Wikipedia
Health
New arrivals to Spain might find it hard to understand what the requirements are for free public healthcare and how to get the health card for their region. Gestores can help you with the entire process.
“We handle the process of validating UK pensioners’ S1 scheme at Spain’s social security so they don’t have to.”
Other taxes and processes
Whether it’s inheritance or gift tax, capital gains, transfer tax or stamp duty, property taxes such as IBI (land value tax), vehicle tax, ownership transfer or vehicle imports, gestores can handle the processing of pretty much any tax there is to pay in Spain, and there are plenty.
“We also help process divorce and marriage documents, exchanging driving licenses from UK to Spanish ones, we help our clients draft wills, there aren’t many administrative state processes we don’t do,” Febrero adds.
If you are planning on using the services of a gestor on a monthly basis, find out from them if this will only include handling fiscal matters or if the fee can include some other procedures.
What can’t gestores do?
Gestores certainly fulfil a lot of roles which in other countries would be the responsibility of civil servants or workers themselves, but they can’t do everything.
“We cannot give certifications or attestations – known in Spain as “fé pública”,” Febrero explains.
In this case the responsibility of legally approving official documents such as power of attorney or title deeds falls to a notary (notario) in Spain.
“A gestor cannot legally represent someone in court either”.
An abogado (lawyer) would handle the legal representation of clients for everything from property law, disputes and litigation, divorce and custody and other legal affairs.
In Spain there’s also the “procurador”, a court agent or representative ad litem, a legal expert who works with the lawyer on the preparation of documents to be presented in court.
For tax matters, Spain also has “asesores fiscales” whose services largely overlap with those of gestores when it comes to fiscal affairs, but the former are mainly professional accountants who specifically deal with Spain’s Tax Office (Hacienda).
Will you need a gestor in Spain?
At some point it’s highly likely that’ll you’ll need a gestor to help you out with an official process in Spain.
It’s their job to know all the intricacies of the state system, so if you want to make sure you haven’t filled in something wrong or that there isn’t any misunderstanding that holds back processing, paying a gestor to do it will give you peace of mind and you may well save time.
The fact that gestores seem to be able to get appointments and contact governments departments when they’re unresponsive or their online systems are not working properly is also a huge perk.
Febrero, who has many British clients at her gestoría in Estepona, a town on Spain’s Costa del Sol near Málaga, has a concluding message for Britons who are thinking of becoming residents in Spain: “I’d recommend that they check their rights and obligations in Spain before deciding whether to become residents”.
Monthly gestor rates vary, but are generally in the €100 per quarter range, depending on the location and service.
There are English-speaking gestores in most provinces with a large foreign population. As with most matters in Spain, it’s always good to get a recommendation or reference from someone before choosing a gestor.
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