🇪🇸 Business register in Spain

General Overview

Spain provides structured but partially fragmented access to corporate data and documentation. Although a national framework exists, much of the register access is controlled by the Registradores de España, a semi-public network of notaries and registrars. This centralized but commercialized structure means that most corporate information is available—but at a cost.

The Spanish Registro Mercantil (Commercial Register) is the authoritative source for company identity, shareholder structure, legal representative data, and financial filings. It offers both standard extracts (nota informativa mercantil) and more formal certifications.

Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) data can be accessed indirectly, although not systematically nor openly. Some UBO certificates can be purchased online under a legitimate interest basis, but availability is inconsistent.

Official Registers

Registro Mercantil (Registradores)

The main legal register in Spain is the Registro Mercantil, managed by the College of Registrars (Registradores de España). This registry consolidates corporate records across all Spanish provinces and offers a standardized process for retrieving company data, although the experience varies depending on the legal form of the entity and the type of information requested.

Users can access corporate data in two ways. First, through the Open Data Portal, which provides quarterly extracts covering basic fields such as entity name, NIF, and registration location. However, this portal lacks depth making it unsuitable for critical compliance tasks.

For more detailed and up-to-date information, users must purchase official documents like the Nota Informativa Mercantil, the Spanish equivalent of an uncertified register extract. This document contains vital information such as legal form, capital, directors, shareholders (in some cases), and company status. It’s the most commonly requested document for KYB and onboarding workflows.

In addition to these standard extracts, the Registro Mercantil also issues various certifications. For example:

• The Certificación de Estatutos Sociales provides the literal transcription of the company’s statutes.
• Financial data is available via Depósito de Cuentas, the official annual account filing.

Registro de Titularidades Reales (RETIR)

This register is managed by the Registradores and provides access to the Certificación de Titularidad Real (UBO certificate), which confirms the beneficial owners holding more than 25% of the capital. It is very difficult to access: one must either be a Spanish resident or have a subsidiary in Spain and be subject to anti-money laundering regulations.

Registration Requirements

For sole proprietors (Empresario Individual / Autónomo)

Most sole proprietors in Spain register under the autónomos status, which does not require registration with the commercial register — and consequently, entails no obligations to file financial statements or similar disclosures.

However, some sole proprietors may choose the status of “emprendedor de responsabilidad limitada” (sole proprietor with limited liability) to protect their personal assets. In this case, the entrepreneur must register with the commercial register and file annual accounts, just like a single-member company. However, the declaration of beneficial ownership does not apply, as the individual is by definition the sole owner.

For associations

Associations are recognized under separate legal frameworks and are not consistently listed in the Registro Mercantil. However, they must register with the Registro Nacional de Asociaciones (RNA), notify the registry of major changes (such as directors, administrators, address, etc.), and file their statutes.

On the other hand, they are not required to file financial statements (except for associations recognized as being of public utility), nor are they subject to UBO declaration requirements.

For companies

The majority of Spanish companies fall under the following structures:

• Sociedad Limitada (S.L.) — equivalent to a Private Limited Company (35–40%)
• Sociedad Anónima (S.A.) — equivalent to a Public Limited Company (3–5%)
• Sociedad Colectiva / Comanditaria — general or limited partnerships

Rules are simple. These entities must:

• Register with the Registro Mercantil and warn the register in case of any changes
• File annual financial statements (Depósito de cuentas)
• File articles of association (Certificación de Estatutos Sociales)
• Disclose UBOs above 25%, when applicable (Certificación de Titularidad Real)

With Semaphore

Semaphore provides seamless integration with the Spanish registry through automated workflows, offering enhanced access to corporate data and documents via API. While Spain’s registry system can be opaque, Semaphore bridges this complexity with a robust infrastructure that ensures transparency and compliance.

Available Data

Company Profile

• Legal name
• Status: if the company is valid or not
• NIF (Número de Identificación Fiscal):
  • Unique and commonly used to identify each company since 2008
  • Format: one letter (representing legal form) + eight digits (including control)
  • Example: A12345678
• IRUS (Identificador Registral Único de la Sociedad):
  • We recommend using the NIF code, which is the most widely used (even when searching for a company in the register, which is not possible with the IRUS number)
  • Format: 13 digits
• VAT number:
  • Inferred from the NIF
  • Format: ES+NIF code
  • Example: ESA12345678
• EUID (European Unique Identifier): for now, it is recommended not to use it, as formatting errors have been repeatedly observed.
• Legal form and registration authority: Semaphore does an automatic mapping ont the ISO code table 20275
• Registered address
• Economic activity code - CNAE (Clasificación Nacional de Actividades Económicas):
  • This activity codification is unique to Spain
  • Semaphore automatically does a mapping on the NACE and ISIC codification
• Only available through the register extract:
  • Social capital
  • Incorporation date

Legal Representatives

• Full name, Type and Title (with an automatic mapping on the ISO code table 20275)
• To get additional information on legal representatives, it's necessary to retrieve the Register extract document (appointment date, adress etc.)

Ultimate Beneficial Owners

• UBO identities via the Certificación de Titularidad Real
• Semaphore supports legitimacy justification and request automation

Available documents

These documents are available only for registered companies and entrepreneurs. As of today, it is not possible to access them for associations or unregistered sole proprietors.

Cost

This is the major issue in Spain: while some company data is made available for free by the commercial register, this is not the case at all for documents. Their pricing is variable — which is quite unique in Europe — and depends in particular on the number of current and past directors. As a result, the cost of accessing a single document can exceed ten euros, and in some cases, be even higher.

For more information, feel free to contact our team.