ICEX-Invest in Spain launches the 37th edition of the Business Guide in Spain, compiled by the law firm Garrigues, which is now available free of charge on the Invest in Spain website in both Spanish and English. The guide can be consulted online or downloaded in PDF format, in full or by chapters.  

This new edition describes the intense legislative activity that has taken place in Spain since the previous publication of the guide, including the main measures designed to respond to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

New developments this year in particular include modifications in the field of commerce in regard to extending the deadlines for preparing and approving annual accounts, and the possibility of holding general meetings online.

In regard to labour, Spanish legislation has followed the path of modernising and strengthening social rights and equality. A ground-breaking regulation on remote working has been drafted to adapt labour rights to the peculiarities of working from home, a practice that has seen a spectacular increase. Legislators have made further progress on the issue of equal treatment and opportunities in the workplace by preparing equality plans and pay records in order to tackle the wage gap. 

The 2021 Guide also describes the changes in the tax system that are contained in the Law on Measures to Prevent and Combat Tax Fraud, and concerning the identification of countries with the characteristics of tax havens, which will henceforth be known as non-cooperative jurisdictions. Another new development is the recent improvement in deductions for investments in film productions and audiovisual series, along with updated and expanded references to the incentives granted by the Canary Islands Tax System (REF). 

In the chapter on aid, the 2021 Business Guide in Spain includes an extensive summary of the 2021-2027 Spanish Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation, which is the reference framework serving as the basis for all aid and incentives in the promotion of scientific research, both technical and innovation-related. It describes in detail the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan for the Spanish Economy, intended to counteract the impact of the pandemic on investment and economic activity in Spain in the medium and long term through European funds. Among other things, it sets forth the main features of the 2030 Sustainable Tourism Strategy for Spain and the range of new privileged credit lines managed by the ICO.

The guide devotes a chapter to industrial and intellectual property, which includes  an analysis of the consequences of Brexit on trademark protection in the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Finally, in the field of intra-community e-commerce, the guide includes the new features introduced by a package of European measures that came into force on 1 July 2021, and which – among other aspects – creates a single window that simplifies the VAT procedure for online trading. From now on, this tax must only be declared in the country where the seller is established, and not – as before the modification – in all the Countries where it conducts its operations and that exceed a certain sales threshold. The seller must also file the corresponding returns and comply with the formal obligations established by each country.

Over 45,000 users from 186 countries
The Business Guide in Spain is a landmark publication thanks to the combination of a high technical standard, legal rigour and an informative approach. Its content is not only intended for foreign investors negotiating the Spanish regulatory environment for the first time, but also for both Spanish and foreign investors who already have some prior knowledge and are interested in learning more about the key aspects of establishing and growing a company in Spain.

The guide is one of the most downloaded documents from the Invest in Spain website, and the last edition attracted 45,869 users from 186 countries, who downloaded 3,224 files on 57,945 visits.