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WORKING IN SPAIN

How to set up an online shop in Spain

E-commerce in Spain is growing with more online shoppers than ever. If you want to get in on the action, here's everything you need to know, from how to set one up, to the online rules you need to follow and your tax implications.

How to set up an online shop in Spain
Many online shoppers in Spain continue to buy products from abroad even though they would prefer to purchase them from Spanish online businesses. (Photo by JOSEP LAGO / AFP)

If you know of a product that’s in high demand in Spain but in short supply, you have some capital available, plenty of business savviness, and experience dealing with Spanish customs, selling goods online can be a good way to make money.

Many people in Spain still purchase goods from foreign websites and sometimes have to pay extra shipping or customs costs as a result, even though recent studies have shown that Spain-based online shoppers would rather buy products from Spanish websites.

So there could be a gap in the market that you can fill. 

In a survey by Spanish logistics company Packlink in November 2021, eight out of 10 Spaniards said that they bought something online in the past month.

Spain is an attractive e-commerce destination because of this, and the fact that the market is still developing. According to Packlink, Spaniards spend the least on e-commerce out of countries in the EU – only 20 percent spend more than €100 per month online. In Fance it’s 27 percent, in Germany it’s 26 and in Italy it’s 25 percent.

Online fashion shops are the biggest e-commerce sector in Spain, but toys, hobby products and accessories are also popular. 

According to the Packlink study, the typical buyer is a man between 40 and 50 years old, who spends more than €50 a month on his online purchases and usually uses them to buy gifts, clothing or tech products.

How do you set up an e-commerce business in Spain?

There are various ways that you can get create your online shop in Spain. These include registering as self-employed or autónomo, as a limited company or by joining a cooperative. This will more than likely depend on what you intend to sell and how big your online shop will be. 

READ ALSO – Self-employed in Spain: What you should know about being ‘autónomo’

Inform the Agencia Tributaria 

Let the Tax Agency know that you setting yourself up as autónomo or creating a limited company by filling out forms 036 or 037 online. This will get you a número de identificación fiscal (NIF) or a provisional NIF (if creating a company). If setting up a limited company, you will need to do this at least 30 days before you incorporate your company.

If you plan to sell abroad and not just in Spain, you must also register with the Agencia Tributaria in order to be able to carry out intra-community operations and so that your VAT number will be recognised in other EU countries.

Sign the deed of incorporation
If you are setting up a limited company, you must sign the deed of incorporation in front of a notary. After this, you can apply for a definitive NIF (NIF definitivo) from the Treasury (Hacienda) within six months. 

Registration in the Mercantile Registry
If you have set up a limited company or have joined a cooperative, you will have to register your business in the Mercantile Registry or Provincial Commercial Registry in your local area. You will have 30 days to do this from the date you incorporated your company.

If you have logos or trademarks, you will also need to register these at the OEPM (Spanish Patent and Trademark Office) to protect your intellectual property rights. 

Register for social security 
Whether you are a sole trader or a limited company, you must make sure to register for social security and for Tax on Economic Activities. To register for social security number, you will need to fill out the TA1 online and submit your identification and NIE numbers, using a digital certificate. You can also apply in person at your local Tesoreria General de la Seguridad Social.

Remember that these processes can be quite complicated, particularly if you don’t speak Spanish well. Even if you do, it’s advisable to hire a gestor to help with these processes and ensure that they go smoothly and you have registered everything correctly.  

READ ALSO – Access all areas: how to get a digital certificate in Spain to aid online processes

Comply with regulations

Because your store is online, you will not have procedures related to opening licenses, instead you will have to make sure that you comply with specific regulations regarding the processing of personal data of potential customers, your cookie policy and consumer protection.

Comply with the LSSI

The LSSI is the name given to the law in Spain associated with electronic commerce and regulating it. This law sets out obligations that companies must respect based on the service or product they sell, and a series of rights for consumers. This includes things such as online advertising. The LSSI establishes the obligation for service providers to be able to clearly provide information about themselves and their company, should consumers wish to find out.

Things that you must provide in order to comply with this law are: 

  • Your name or company name
  • Your address or email address, so that customers are able to communicate with you.
  • Certificate of registration in the Mercantile Registry. 
  • In the event that your activity is subject to administration from a particular authority, you must provide information on your professional association and academic title.
  • Your tax identification number
  • Prices must be clear, indicating whether or not they include applicable taxes and, where appropriate, shipping costs too.

General Data Protection Regulation

You must also make sure that your website complies with the latest data protection regulations. 

Tax requirements

Companies that sell goods in Spain via an e-Commerce website are liable to pay VAT and income tax on their profits.

Autónomos are required to present their accounts quarterly, as well as the yearly Declaración de Renta or annual tax return. 

Remember that if you set up a company, rather than being autónomo, you will also have to present an annual Spanish corporation tax return and statutory accounts as well.

The tax rates in Spain are charged according to the income earned, varying between 19 and 47 percent. The general corporate tax rate is 25 percent. In certain cases, lower tax rates are applied for newly established companies. 

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TERRORISM

Spain sees heightened terror risk amid global conflicts

Amid rising tensions and conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere around the world, a meeting by Spain's National Security Council has identified several threats to national security, some pre-existing and some new.

Spain sees heightened terror risk amid global conflicts

Global conflict and instability has raised the terror and security risk in Spain. This is what Spain’s National Security Council (CSN) has concluded following a meeting with government ministers on Tuesday to approve security reports and outline new anti-terror strategies. A 61-page document was compiled to replace the previous one approved in 2019 and will be valid for five years.

Among the topics discussed, which are outlined here on the National Security Council website, were the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine and the heightened security threats they pose to Spain.

The war in Gaza, the Council states, presents “a real and direct risk” of an increase in “the terrorist threat, violent extremism and the emergence of new movements that promote a radical and violent ideology.”

READ ALSO: Spain could enforce conscription of ordinary citizens if there is war

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the document stresses, is also “a potential catalyst for terrorism”, as it “has led to an increase in the circulation of arms and explosives [in Europe], as well as the participation in the war of volunteer fighters of other nationalities”.

These uncertain global conditions could be exploited by groups or individuals “to undermine public security”, the document adds, and suggests that “state actors could carry out terrorist actions,” in what appears to be an allusion to the assassination of a Russian soldier in Alicante earlier in the year.

READ ALSO: Mystery surrounds death of Russian helicopter deserter in Spain

The meeting and report also outlined broader “risks and threats to national security” grouped into 16 categories, some older and long-established, some much more modern. They range from terrorism and violent radicalisation to the effects of climate change, space vulnerability, cyberspace, organised crime, migratory flows, foreign espionage and interference from abroad.

The CSN detects growing dangers to Spanish airspace, namely “events of commercial satellite launches from aerial platforms crossing controlled airspace, events of re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere of satellite launcher debris, uncontrolled hot air balloon overflights and an increase in drone overflights over military bases,” things that have all been noted in Spain in recent years.

In terms of terrorism, despite the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine Islamic terrorism remains the greatest threat to Spanish security. “The repeated dismantling of the leaderships of Daesh and Al Qaeda has not succeeded in eliminating these groups, which act in a more decentralised manner than in previous years,” the report states.

During the period covered by the previous security strategy (2019-2023) “more than 110 [security] operations related to terrorism activities have been carried out,” more than 90 of which were linked to jihadist terrorism, the document details. Just 5 percent were linked to domestic terrorism.

Foreign spies operating in Spain were also highlighted as a threat. The CSN report stated that the decision to expel 27 Russian diplomats from Spain at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was useful in this regard. “These expulsions significantly reduced their ability to operate on European territory, which led to a notable decrease in the rate of activity of foreign intelligence services in Spain,” the report states.

READ ALSO: Judge in Spain extends probe into Catalan separatist’s ‘Russia ties’

However, the potential threat from the Kremlin is again mentioned as the driving force behind the barrage of hoaxes and disinformation campaigns. In the case of Spain, Moscow reportedly “focuses on trying to spread a distorted image of migration in the Mediterranean and the situation in Ceuta and Melilla”.

But it’s not just the Russians attempting to misinform the public in Spain. The report also points to “official Chinese media and their propagandists on social networks in Spanish have amplified many pro-Russian narratives”, with messages “based on expressing a rejection of the US and the current international order”.

The report lists 83 Russian disinformation incidents and 12 Chinese in the last year alone. Among these, several were aimed at “creating mistrust” in Spain’s electoral processes.

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