Market entry into Spain. An entry your board can defend.
You have decided to enter Spain, or you are about to. We help you turn that decision into a credible sequence (what comes first, who to talk to, what can wait) with a senior lead who leads execution within the mandate.
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The decision is made. The sequence is missing.
Entries into Spain rarely fail for lack of market research. They fail on sequence: the entity is set up before there are customers who need it, people are hired before the role is understood, or Spain is treated as a copy of another European market.
Our work starts where the market study ends. We frame the real decision (what has to be true in the first months and what is out of scope) and turn it into a plan your board can defend and your team can execute.
By sector: manufacturing, agriculture and energy · financial services, retail and travel · government, education and healthcare.
02 / What it covers
What a market entry mandate covers.
Every entry is different. Order and depth depend on your business.
Book a 30-minute diagnostic callPhase 1
Define the Spain entry decision
What headquarters expects from Spain, which success criteria the board will accept and which risks are out of scope.
Phase 2
Design the entry route and first 90 days
The sequence of structure, first customers, partners and hires, so that legal and tax follow the commercial plan.
Phase 3
Prepare the conversations with Spanish counterparts
Which customers, partners and sector players to speak to first, and how.
Phase 4
Lead the launch through an interim mandate
Coordinating your specialists and the first commercial activity until your team takes over.
Soft landing
Soft landing in Spain, led by someone who executes.
A soft landing in Spain starts once the company is registered. The paperwork is the easy part, and your lawyers and accountants handle it well. What decides whether your Spanish entity becomes a business is what happens in the first six to twelve months: who you hire first, which customers and partners you open, how you read the regulator, and who is accountable for the plan on the ground.
That is where we work. Year One Partners advises international companies and scale-ups expanding into Spain and helps them execute that expansion. When a board needs more than advice, we take on a defined interim mandate: Year One Partners leads or supervises the Spanish launch within the mandate, led by our Founder & CEO, until the permanent team is in place.
What a soft landing mandate typically covers
- 01Entry decision and sequencing: what must be true in Spain in 90 days, and what stays out of scope.
- 02Market and regulatory reading: sector rules, licensing questions and the institutions that matter, coordinated with your legal advisers.
- 03First hires and local set-up: profile, timing and governance for the first country team.
- 04Counterparts and first customers: preparing first conversations with clients, partners and corporates where trust drives momentum.
- 05Interim leadership: one accountable senior lead on the ground, under a Y1P mandate and keeping your board informed, until the handover.
We help you get right the decisions that weigh most for a newcomer to Spain, and we stay through early execution.
If your company is weighing Spain as its entry point to Europe, the first step is a confidential conversation with our Founder & CEO. Read more about our interim management in Spain.
If your entry needs senior leadership with an agreed time commitment over several months, a Fractional Country Manager leads your market entry within an agreed mandate; your board makes the decisions.
03 / When it fits
When it fits.
Instead of another market studyYou already know you want to enter; what is missing is the order and someone to execute it.
Instead of leaving entry to the lawyer or gestorThey are essential for formalities; leadership decides the commercial sequence.
Instead of copying another country's playbookSpain has its own decision pace, counterparts and calendar.
04 / What goes wrong
The expensive mistake is in the sequence. The paperwork is the easy part.
Typical costly mistakes
- 01Setting up the structure before the commercial plan is clear
- 02Setting revenue targets before speaking to the first customers
- 03Treating a Spanish entity as automatic access to the rest of Europe
- 04Running the entry only from headquarters, far from the market
- 05Letting advisers work in parallel, each on their own track
Common objections
“We already have a market study.”
Good. We start from it. Our job is to turn it into decisions and an executable sequence.
“We will run it from headquarters.”
That can work once the operation exists. Getting it started usually needs someone senior in the market.
05 / Questions
Frequently asked questions.
How is this different from a strategy consultancy?
We take on a mandate with scope and deliverables, and support the first execution.
Do you replace our lawyers or advisers?
We work with them. We coordinate your lawyers, auditors and specialists; we do not replace them.
Do you work only in Spain?
We focus on international companies entering Spain, with international reach in coordinating with your headquarters.
How quickly do you reply?
We aim to reply within two business days.
What does "soft landing in Spain" mean for an international company?
It is the phase between deciding to enter Spain and operating there with a local team, customers and governance. We focus on the commercial, organisational and stakeholder side of that phase; formation and tax filings stay with your legal and tax advisers.
Do you offer interim market entry leadership in Spain?
Yes, as a Year One Partners mandate. When a board needs a senior lead on the ground, we lead the Spanish launch, led by our Founder & CEO, until your permanent country manager, selected by you, is in place.
Is this right for startups and scale-ups, or only for large companies?
Both, as long as there is a board or executive sponsor with a real decision to make. We work best with funded scale-ups and established companies that need senior execution.
How long does a soft landing mandate last?
It depends on how fast the permanent team is built. It usually starts with a 90-day entry plan and, where interim leadership is needed, runs for six to twelve months. Each mandate is scoped case by case.
Do you replace our lawyers or accountants in Spain?
We work with them. Legal, tax and labour advice stays with your licensed professionals. We coordinate their work with the entry plan.
“You have already made the decision. What matters now is execution.”
Year One Partners · Senior Strategic Advisors
06 / Next step
Book a free 30-minute diagnostic call.
A direct conversation with our Founder & CEO about your entry into Spain: where you are, what is blocking you and what a sensible sequence would be. We aim to reply within two business days. We are a small senior firm. Each mandate is a Year One Partners engagement. Personally led by our Founder & CEO, Xavier Cima, who brings in senior advisors for each client when the mandate requires it or, if the client prefers, recommends senior advisors for the client to engage directly; the decision always rests with the client. Y1P is responsible for the scope, the deliverables and the organisation of its own mandate; advisors the client engages directly are responsible for their own engagement.
What to include
Help us prepare the call.
- 01Company name and website
- 02Home country
- 03Sector
- 04Stage (for example Series A, B or C)
- 05Target date for starting in Spain
Send these details by email to office@yearonepartners.com.
Scope
What we do, and what you get.
We advise boards and CEOs of companies from any market entering Spain and Europe, and we support execution. We work in phases: the entry decision, the route and the first 90 days, the conversations with Spanish counterparts and, where needed, a launch through an interim mandate. You get a 90-day entry plan, the sequence of structure, first customers, partners and hires, and coordination of your legal, tax and employment specialists. Time commitment and reporting to your board at the frequency agreed in the mandate. Your board decides, and your company signs its contracts.