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Hire Employees in Spain - Overview

Spain is a prime destination for a Europe-based workforce: It has a strong education system, reliable business infrastructure, and a large, diverse economy. Additionally, flexible labor laws and business investment incentives make it a good European base for international businesses.

However, when hiring in Spain it is important to consider how the Spanish working culture, employee benefits and workplace protections will impact employees, and your business.

Facts & Stats

Spain: Business Environment

Business outlook

According to the European Commission, Spain’s economy shrank by 10.8% in 2020 due to the pandemic, but recovered well in 2021 to grow 5.1%, and modest growth is forecast for 2022 and 2023. This reflects the economic trends seen across other developed countries around the world.

Business regulation

Spain has relatively strong labor laws protecting employees, so it’s important to understand your obligations as an employer before hiring.

The main labor laws relate to things like mandatory parental leave, sick leave, termination notice periods and severance, working hours, and so on. For more information, take a look at our Spain PEO page for more details on Spanish labor laws.

Business culture

Spain’s business culture, along with its culture in general, has undergone significant change in the last few decades. During this time, the country saw a huge influx of foreign tourists. With more than 80 million tourists each year, it is now the second-most visited country in the world, and it is also a hugely popular destination for expats. This has brought in money, the English language, and foreign culture, causing many parts of Spain to adopt various elements of the cultures of its Northern European neighbors.

This being said, Spain still retains a relatively relaxed business culture overall, with a more laid-back culture and fewer formalities than most other European countries. The focus is often more on building personal relationships and rapport than you may be used to, and strict punctuality is usually not viewed as being as important as it would be in many other countries, even in a business context. However, initial business interactions are usually quite formal, and this is even reflected in the Spanish language itself (using usted instead of tú in formal situations).

Recruiting employees in Spain

Recruiting employees in Spain – Overview

In Spain, as in most other countries, people generally search for jobs online. There are a number of popular job websites, including Indeed, Bolsa de Trabajo, and Monster. Social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn are also popular. Posting your jobs on any of these sites is a great way to find candidates.

There are also specialist job boards like We Are Hiring that have international coverage, but a special focus on remote jobs in Spain.

To simplify the process further, you can hire a global PEO such as Horizons to work with you and find the perfect candidate for the job.

Most important recruitment tools in Spain

1. LinkedIn

2. Indeed

3. Iberoempleo

Interviewing employees in Spain

Interviewing employees in Spain – Overview

In-person interviews are standard and expected in Spain. Online interviews are becoming increasingly popular, so either option is acceptable. One-on-one interviews are most common, but panel interviews are not unheard of. Candidates will generally expect a typical interview situation with the usual formalities such as handshakes, business dress code, and so on.

Can I ask the candidate’s previous salary in Spain?

Employers in Spain are permitted to ask about the candidate’s current/previous salary and their salary expectations; however, the candidate is not obliged to respond.

What is the typical salary increase at a new job in Spain?

The typical salary increase in Spain when changing jobs is a 10%-20% increase.

Onboarding employees in Spain

Onboarding employees in Spain – Overview

The onboarding process for new employees in Spain will vary from organization to organization. The most important thing is to be as clear as possible and include all the important legal information in a written contract.

The basics of onboarding apply, and you should set aside a period of time to communicate company policies and working culture, expectations of the role, conduct any necessary training, and offer introductions to the rest of the team. It’s also good practice to give new hires the chance to ask questions and offer feedback at one or more follow-up meetings after a few days on the job.

Best remote working tools to use in Spain

There are a variety of remote working tools available in Spain. Typically, those most often used in Spain are seen as standard across the globe: Microsoft Teams, Slack, Clickup / Monday / Jira, etc.; you should be able to easily integrate your Spain employees into whatever communication systems you are already using for your employees.

Holiday schedule in Spain - 2024

Holiday Schedule in Spain [2024]

There are 8 national holidays in Spain:

Date	Holiday name
6 Jan Saturday	Epiphany
29 Mar Friday	Good Friday
1 May Wednesday	Labor Day / May Day
15 Aug Thursday	Assumption of Mary
12 Oct Saturday	Hispanic Day
1 Nov Friday	All Saints’ Day
6 Dec Friday	Constitution Day
8 Dec Sunday	Immaculate Conception
25 Dec Tuesday	Christmas Day

There are also several holidays for regional or autonomous communities. Depending on where your employee is located, they may be entitled to additional days. This can be reviewed by our team and a detailed local holiday schedule for your employee will be shared as your hiring project begins.

What is the typical salary increase employees in Spain expect?

Employees in Spain expect an annual salary increase of approximately 3%-10%; however, there is no set standard and the increase amount would depend on a variety of factors, including what is set out in collective bargaining agreements or what the employer offers (if above the amount required by the collective bargaining agreement). It is best to discuss this with candidates you have extended an offer to and have the annual raise amount included in the employment contract.

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Hire Employees in Spain - Overview

Spain: Business Environment

Recruiting employees in Spain

Interviewing employees in Spain

Onboarding employees in Spain

Hiring in Spain, Made Easy

FAQs

Client Testimonials

Hire borderless talent with Horizons

Hiring in Spain, Made Easy

Your business can easily hire employees in Spain without opening a local entity. We handle local employment law, complex tax regulations, and international payroll in 180+ countries worldwide. All you need to do is focus on your business.

FAQs

Should I hire freelancers or employees in Spain?

This question is extremely personal and based on your exact situation, risk tolerance, and the type of work you need to have done.

Hiring freelancers in Spain does come with certain risks, including risk of employee misclassification if the freelancer is determined to be, in fact, and employee.

In general, we would recommend to have international and Spanish tax professionals assess your situation and advise you on whether you should hire a Spanish freelancer or a Spanish employee. In most cases, hiring an employee will come with the least risk, but it would also require specialized knowledge of Spanish employment law. Hiring your employee with Horizons would fulfil that requirement and allow you to hire employees in Spain with ease.

Can I hire foreigners in Spain?

Yes, it is fully possible to hire foreign employees in Spain. You should note that the foreign employee in Spain would not be able to begin work until the Spanish immigration employees have approved the employee’s work permit.

How do I open a Spain subsidiary?

Opening a subsidiary in Spain is a lengthy and laborious process. It can take more than two months to complete and is considered an overall difficult process.

If you want to open a subsidiary in Spain, it would require:

Registration with the Spanish Commercial Registry
A tax identification number
A corporate bank account in Spain containing the required capital to fund the start-up of the business
A “Certificate of Denomination” issued by the Spanish Commercial Registry
A “deed of incorporation” notarized in cooperation with the Spanish Public Notary
A completed copy of form D1-A (declaration of foreign investments) submitted to the Registry of Directorate General for Trade and Investments

Opening a branch office is less complicated, but still requires a significant amount of paperwork and local knowledge of Spain. The documents required to open a branch office in Spain include:

A certificate proving incorporation of the parent company
A certificate proving that the parent company is in good standing
The parent company’s articles of association and memorandum
A power of attorney that has been legally notarized
A Spanish tax identification number
A proper residency certificate obtained by the branch office representative
A Digital Certificate
Inscription on the corresponding Commercial Registry

In most cases, the fastest and safest way (from a compliance perspective) to get operations started in Spain is to hire your first several employees with a global EOR like Horizons.

How do I hire employees in Spain?

The process of hiring employees in Spain can be straightforward. If you have already identified a candidate, you can contact us for a free consultation and detailed description of how we can hire your Spanish team in the next 48 hours.

Success stories from businesses we’ve helped enter and grow in new markets.

Client Testimonials

"As a seed-stage, London-based startup, we were initially hesitant to expand internationally due to the administrative workload involved. Horizons took the headache out of the process, allowing us to hire a team of software engineers in Germany."

Gabor SzedlakCo-founder & COO at MindLabs (UK)

"I truly appreciated the thoroughness and the professionalism of Horizons personnel while we hired internationally with them. They were knowledgable on all subject matters pertaining to international employment."

Gary PaskyVP Software Development, PICS ITech (USA)

"On deciding to begin commercial activities in Asia Pacific, we needed a provider to handle the employment and remuneration of our workforce. With Horizons the result was fast, efficient, and fit-for-purpose. We recommend Horizons as an EOR provider.”

Chris MorrellManaging Director, Schaeffler Group (Germany)

"The collaboration with the Horizons team is excellent. Both our local employee as well as our HQ in Germany are more than pleased with the support provided and the simplicity of the service. We can highly recommend the Horizons solution to anyone."

Christoph EngelbertCo-Founder & CTO, Clevabit (Germany)

"We needed an EOR that could provide expert support for payroll in APAC. We are pleased with Horizons’ expertise and the fact that they are flexible, responsive, and easily accessible from Belgium. They were able to provide services within the short timeline we required."

Katia FlamandHuman Resources, Devian Chemicals (Belgium)

Spain,made easy

Start hiring in Spain

Simple, compliant hiring with Horizons PEO

Hire Employees in Spain - Overview

Facts & Stats

Population

Capital City

Languages Spoken

Currency

GDP per capita

Ease of Doing Business

Minimum Wage

Average Wage

Paid Leave

Spain: Business Environment

Business outlook

Business regulation

Business culture

Recruiting employees in Spain

Recruiting employees in Spain – Overview

Most important recruitment tools in Spain

Interviewing employees in Spain

Interviewing employees in Spain – Overview

Can I ask the candidate’s previous salary in Spain?

What is the typical salary increase at a new job in Spain?

Onboarding employees in Spain

Onboarding employees in Spain – Overview

Best remote working tools to use in Spain

Holiday schedule in Spain - 2024

What is the typical salary increase employees in Spain expect?

Hiring in Spain, Made Easy

FAQs

Success stories from businesses we’ve helped enter and grow in new markets.

Client Testimonials

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Spain,
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