The National Statistics Institute (INE) reports that in May 2025, there were 13,229 companies created in Spain, representing a 36.9% increase from the 9,663 formed in May 2024.

Although the INE data is from the Spain Commercial Registry, which collects all information on the registration of companies and entrepreneurs, local registries are present in all of the country’s provinces. For example, Madrid’s Commercial Registry recorded 2,759 of these companies, while the four Catalonia Commercial Registries (Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona) logged 2,800.

If you plan to incorporate a company in Spain, be aware that registering it in the Commercial Registry is a legal requirement that you must comply with. To make the process easier for applicants, we have created a guide with all the steps to follow.

What’s in this article?

• What is the Commercial Registry?
  
• Who must register in the Commercial Registry?
  
• Why register in the Commercial Registry?
  
• How to register in the Commercial Registry
  
• How Stripe Payments can help
  
• FAQs on registration in the Commercial Registry
  

What is the Commercial Registry?

The Commercial Registry is an administrative body that performs several functions:

• Formalizing businesses: This involves providing companies with official validity through registration.

• Publishing relevant information: This means adding transparency to events involving companies and individual entrepreneurs to make transactions more secure—for instance, publishing capital increases and insolvency proceedings affecting entities.

• Validation of corporate books: This refers to receiving company records, such as accounting and minutes, to guarantee transparency and then legalizing these records.

Who must register in the Commercial Registry?

According to Spanish legislation, such as the Commercial Code, the Corporate Enterprises Act, and the Professional Companies Act, most individual entrepreneurs don’t need to appear in the Commercial Registry. Only persons in the following categories are required to do so:

• Shippers: These are sole traders operating merchant ships. The obligation to enter the Commercial Registry is outlined in Article 19 of the Commercial Code.

• Limited liability entrepreneurs (ERL): Law 14/2013 created this uncommon legal concept, which has some distinctive features. Entrepreneurs who opt for ERL status are subject to unlimited financial exposure to third parties. However, by complying with specific requirements, they might be able to avoid paying off debts incurred on their primary residence or on items important to their economic activity.

All companies must appear in the Commercial Registry. Here are some of the most common types in Spain:

• Limited liability companies (SLs): Small or medium-sized firms in which shareholders do not put their personal assets at risk. To incorporate an SL, registration in the Commercial Registry is key.

• Public companies (SAs): Medium or large companies that also have limited liability and in which the equity is divided into shares held by their shareholders.

• Professional partnerships: Groups of practitioners who join together to perform a professional activity collectively.

• Investment companies: These entities issue financial assets to raise funds from investors publicly and are governed by Law 35/2003. For example, they contain real estate investment funds (FII) and open-end investment companies (SICAV). Similarly, another purpose of the Commercial Registry is to record pension funds.

• Mutual guarantee companies: Nonprofit entities that fund Spanish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and are governed by Law 1/1994, such as Avalmadrid, Avalis de Catalunya, and ISBA.

• Foreign companies: If a company formed abroad decides to transfer to Spain, it will also have to register in the Commercial Registry.

Why register in the Commercial Registry?

Aside from the legal requirement to appear in the Commercial Registry, formalizing a business also brings additional advantages.

Benefits of registering in the Commercial Registry

• Legal separation: Commonly referred to as the “corporate veil,” this protection is not available to unincorporated businesses and separates the company assets from personal ones of shareholders.

• Increased reliability: It grants greater reliability by making corporate filings public so these can be accessed transparently by customers, suppliers, and banks.

• Improved access to financing: In addition to increasing the reliability perceived by banks, entry in the Commercial Registry makes it easier to obtain funding, such as bank loans; the Bank of Spain notes these are a significant source of financing for 55% of Spanish SMEs.

How to register in the Commercial Registry

Registering a company in the Commercial Registry is a straightforward process that consists of four main steps. Let’s take a look:

• Reserve the company name
  To form an entity, you must prove there are no other companies with the same name, which you can check in advance by using the Spain Commercial Registry’s company name search tool. When availability is confirmed, reserve the title by applying for a negative name certificate.

• Incorporate the company
  Provide the minimum share capital of €1 required by the Create and Grow Law in Spain. Use the online Entrepreneurship Service Point (PAE) to continue setting up the company. Next, submit the Unique Electronic Document (DUE) and visit the notary’s office to formalize the incorporation using a notarial instrument.

• Register the company in the Commercial Registry
  Once the notarial instrument is signed, one month is allowed to file the incorporation in the Commercial Registry corresponding to the registered address. To do this, submit the notarial instrument together with other filing data, such as a temporary Tax Identification Number (NIF) obtained through Form 036 and payment of the ITPAJD (Transfer Tax and Stamp Duty) processed using Form 600.

• Request the registration certificate
  If desired, the entity’s existence can be proven by requesting an entry certificate from the Commercial Registry in your province. To do this, submit a request for an extract of the company’s entry in the Commercial Registry, also known as a “nota simple” (noncertified register extract) or a “certificación literal” (certified full copy). These will prove the company’s registration.

How Stripe Payments can help

After registering your company in the Commercial Registry, you can now legally start your business and start to accept payments.

Stripe Payments provides a unified, global payments solution that helps any business—from scaling startups to global enterprises—accept payments online, in person, and around the world.

Stripe Payments can help you:

• Optimize your checkout experience: Create a frictionless customer experience and save thousands of engineering hours with prebuilt payment UIs, access to 125+ payment methods, and Link, a wallet built by Stripe.
  
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• Unify payments in person and online: Build a unified commerce experience across online and in-person channels to personalize interactions, reward loyalty, and grow revenue.
  
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• Move faster with a flexible, reliable platform for growth: Build on a platform designed to scale with you, with 99.999% uptime and industry-leading reliability.
  

Learn more about how Stripe Payments can power your online and in-person payments, or get started today.

FAQs on registration in the Commercial Registry

What happens if you fail to meet the Commercial Registry requirement?

The Ministry of Justice states that if an individual entrepreneur or company fails to appear in the Commercial Registry, the penalty system under Royal Legislative Decree 1/2010 applies, with fines starting at €1,200.

How much does registration in the Commercial Registry cost?

The cost of entry depends on the business act or event to be registered. If an SME is formalized (with an initial share capital of at least €3,005.06), you will have to make a payment of €18.19 to reserve the company name and €6.01 for each document submitted. Decree 757/1973 sets out the fees charged by commercial registrars.