Spain's online retail market passed €72 billion in 2024. For a foreign founder, getting the structure right from the first transaction matters more here than in almost any other business type — because the marketplaces, the payment processors and the tax authority all check the same things.
Foreign founders setting up e-commerce in Spain almost always incorporate a Sociedad Limitada (SL). The autonomo (self-employed) route works for very small volumes and individual operators, but it carries three disadvantages that matter at e-commerce scale.
The SL is incorporated before a Spanish notary through a public deed (escritura publica), registered in the Registro Mercantil, and assigned a permanent NIF by the Agencia Tributaria. The administrador can be a non-resident, and the entire process can be completed remotely by apostilled power of attorney.
Spanish e-commerce companies declare their activity under two parallel systems, and each has direct consequences for tax, banking and compliance. Getting them consistent is not paperwork — a mismatch between them is one of the primary reasons Spanish banks flag e-commerce applications during compliance review.
| System | Code | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| CNAE — pure online retail | 4791 | Comercio al por menor por correspondencia o por Internet — selling through your own website |
| CNAE — other non-store retail | 4799 | Marketplaces and mixed-channel retailers may register here in addition |
| IAE epigrafe — general | 659 | Comercio al por menor de otros articulos — the most common group for internet retail |
Both codes must be consistent across the escritura, the Modelo 036 census declaration and the banking application. For companies with multiple product categories, the right move is to declare a primary CNAE and IAE that accurately reflects the main activity — not a catch-all that merely approximates it, which is what generates downstream friction.
Spanish VAT — IVA — applies at three rates relevant to e-commerce. Registration and filing of Modelo 303 (quarterly) and Modelo 390 (annual summary) is mandatory from the first taxable transaction.
| Rate | Type | Typical goods |
|---|---|---|
| 21% | Standard | Electronics, clothing, accessories, software, most physical goods |
| 10% | Reduced | Food products, certain medical devices, cultural goods |
| 4% | Super-reduced | Books, newspapers, basic food staples |
For sales to consumers in other EU member states, the OSS (One Stop Shop) scheme removes the need to register for VAT in each country. Under OSS, the SL collects the customer's local VAT rate and reports it through a single quarterly declaration via the AEAT portal. The EU-wide threshold above which OSS is mandatory is €10,000 per year in cross-border B2C turnover — a line most functioning stores cross quickly.
For B2B sales to VAT-registered EU businesses, the reverse charge applies: the SL issues a zero-VAT invoice and the buyer accounts for VAT in their own country. This requires registration in the ROI and a valid NIF-IVA (the ES-prefixed intra-community number in the VIES database), completed through box 582 of the Modelo 036 at initial tax registration.
The intra-community VAT number is the single item most often missed at setup and most disruptive to add later. For a store that will sell across the EU from day one, box 582 should be ticked on the initial Modelo 036 — retrofitting it stalls the first cross-border sales.
Each major Spanish marketplace carries specific documentation requirements for third-party sellers — and all of them route back to the same NIF and IVA registration.
Under the DAC7 Directive, marketplaces report seller transaction data to the tax authority annually — sellers above roughly €2,000 or 30 transactions a year are included. In practice this means one thing: your IVA returns and your marketplace sales figures have to match. Consistency is a compliance requirement, not an optional alignment.
Since January 2023, Spain applies a mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR) framework for packaging under the Ley 7/2022. E-commerce companies placing packaged goods on the Spanish market are classified as productores and must register with an authorised scheme — principally ECOEMBES for lightweight and cardboard packaging, or ECOVIDRIO for glass — and pay contributions based on packaging volumes placed on the market.
Non-compliance is a reportable deficiency under Spanish environmental law and can affect marketplace selling licences and wholesale supplier relationships. For a foreign operator entering Spain, EPR registration should be confirmed before the first shipment, not discovered after it.
Spain's logistics run on a central-hub model. Understanding which city does what shortens the decision about where to hold stock.
The main domestic carriers are Correos Express (broad rural coverage), SEUR (largest private carrier, integrated with DPD), MRW (strong SME pricing), GLS Spain, Nacex and DHL Express for international. For fulfilment-as-a-service, both Amazon FBA Spain and third-party operators in Zaragoza and Madrid offer complete pick-pack-ship models — which means a functioning Spanish e-commerce operation does not require you to hold a physical warehouse in Spain.
An e-commerce SL's corporate account must accept card payments and process SEPA transfers to suppliers. The common processors for foreign-founded stores:
The corporate account application needs the escritura, Modelo 036 confirmation, NIF and the administrador's documentation. For a clearly structured SL with a coherent product category and a legible business model, account opening at Spanish banks typically completes within two to four weeks.