Incorporated in Spain: the filing is done, the operation has not started
Incorporating a company in Spain is a legal milestone: notary, Commercial Registry, tax registration and the bank account. It is necessary, and it has a clear end. What comes next does not.
The day after, the subsidiary exists on paper. The group's managing director oversees it from headquarters, several time zones away. The tax adviser files the returns. The law firm answers questions. The first sales hire, if already on board, waits for direction. Everyone does their part well. Nobody owns the whole.
Why a Spanish subsidiary without a senior lead is expensive
The cost does not show up on an invoice. It shows up in the calendar.
- Decisions wait for a signature in another country.
- First hires are made before there is a commercial plan to justify them.
- Conversations with first customers and partners are opened and never followed up.
- Advisers work in parallel, with nobody coordinating them.
- The board hears about problems when they are already costly.
This is not the advisers' failure. Notaries, gestores and law firms are essential for the formalities, but they do not decide the commercial sequence or answer for it. That responsibility sits with leadership, and in the first months it needs to sit in the market.
Three decisions you cannot delegate
Before talking about people, close three leadership decisions. They are the ones a newcomer to Spain cannot afford to get wrong.
1. What must be true in 90 days. Not a five-year plan, but the specifics: which customers, which partners, what minimum team, and what stays out of scope. Without it, everything looks urgent.
2. Who answers in the market, and with what mandate. One person, not a committee. With authority to decide within clear limits, and the obligation to report.
3. How the board is kept informed. A simple reporting line on a fixed cadence, so headquarters decides on evidence from the market rather than impressions.
Order matters. Hiring before settling the first decision often means rebuilding the team months later.
Three routes: run it from headquarters, hire a country manager or appoint an interim
Run it from headquarters. This can work once the operation exists and has its own team. To start it, distance and the calendar tend to work against you.
Hire a permanent country manager now. That is the natural destination. The risk is hiring in a hurry, before you know what profile the subsidiary needs. Finding the right person takes time, and the subsidiary cannot stand still while you search.
An interim senior leader with a defined mandate. One senior person in the market, accountable for the launch and reporting to your board, until the permanent lead you select is in place. Part of the job is preparing the handover: documented decisions, a first team in place and relationships already open.
None of the three is right in the abstract. The useful question is what your subsidiary needs in the next 90 days, and who will answer for it.
What to do
- Write on one page what must be true in Spain in 90 days, and what stays out of scope.
- Name one person accountable for the launch in the market, with the mandate in writing.
- Agree a reporting line and a cadence with the board before the first hire.
- Ask your legal and tax advisers for the calendar of what is still pending, and have someone in the market follow it.
- If the permanent lead is not yet in place, consider an interim mandate with a defined handover date.
Written by Xavier Cima, Founder & CEO