Foreign autónomo in Spain: permits and registration

You can be an autónomo (self-employed) in Spain without being Spanish. What changes is the step before: you must be allowed to live and work on your own account in Spain and you need an NIE, your foreigner identity number. How you get there depends above all on one question: are you an EU citizen or not? After that, registering with Hacienda (the tax agency) and Social Security is the same as for a Spaniard.

Everything that affects foreigners in Spain, from residence to taxes, is in foreigners in Spain: residence, NIE, Social Security and taxes. The rules are Real Decreto 240/2007 for EU citizens and, for everyone else, Ley Orgánica 4/2000, the immigration law, with its regulation, Real Decreto 1155/2024. That regulation has been in force since 20/05/2025 and replaced Real Decreto 557/2011: if a guide cites the old regulation, it is out of date.

If you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen

You have the right to work on your own account in Spain on the same terms as a Spaniard (article 3.2 of Real Decreto 240/2007). You need no work permit. The rule covers citizens of the EU and the other European Economic Area countries and, under the free movement agreement, Swiss citizens too (third additional provision).

What you do have to do, if you are staying more than three months, is register in the Central Register of Foreigners, Registro Central de Extranjeros (article 7.5):

• Where: in person, at the foreigners' office (oficina de extranjería) of the province where you will live or, if there is none, at the police station.
• When: within three months of entering Spain.
• What you get: a registration certificate, issued on the spot, with your name, nationality, address and NIE.
• What you bring as an autónomo: your valid passport or identity card and proof that you work on your own account. Your entry in the Census of Economic Activities (Censo de Actividades Económicas), in the Commercial Register or your registration with Social Security is accepted (article 3.2.b of Orden PRE/1490/2012).

Since registering with Hacienda and Social Security already requires an identification number, the usual order is to request the NIE first on the grounds of your professional or economic interests in Spain (article 205 of Real Decreto 1155/2024), then register as an autónomo and finally enrol in the register using that registration as proof. How to request the NIE is in the NIE in Spain.

If you are not an EU citizen

You need an authorisation that lets you live and work on your own account. There are two very different situations.

You already live in Spain with an authorisation that lets you work

• Long-term residence. It lets you live and work in Spain indefinitely on the same terms as Spaniards (article 32.1 of Ley Orgánica 4/2000).
• A residence and work authorisation that has been renewed. The renewed one lets you work as an employee or on your own account anywhere in Spain and in any sector (article 87.1 of Real Decreto 1155/2024).
• A stay for higher education studies. It automatically lets you work on your own account or as an employee, as long as it is compatible with your studies and does not exceed 30 hours a week (article 57 of Real Decreto 1155/2024).

If that is your case, go straight to registration. If your authorisation is of another kind, check in the decision what it allows before you register.

You are coming from abroad: the residence and self-employment authorisation

This is the authorisation for people who come to Spain to set up their own activity (articles 82 to 87 of Real Decreto 1155/2024 and article 37 of Ley Orgánica 4/2000). The requirements are these (article 84):

1. Meet the requirements Spaniards must meet to open and run the activity, such as licences or permits.
2. Have the professional qualification or experience the activity requires and, where needed, be a member of the professional association (colegio).
3. Show that the planned investment is sufficient and its effect on job creation, counting your own job.
4. Not be within a period in which you committed not to return to Spain after a voluntary return to your country.
5. Not be a threat to public order, security or health. They check that you have no criminal record in Spain and request a police report.
6. Pay the procedure fee.

The procedure (article 85):

1. You apply for the residence and self-employment visa at the relevant Spanish consulate (articles 38 and 39).
2. The authorities decide within three months of receiving the consulate's communication. If they do not reply in that time, the application is deemed refused.
3. With the visa you enter Spain and have three months to register with Social Security. That registration is what makes the authorisation effective. If three months pass without it, you must leave Spain.
4. Within the month after registering you apply in person for your foreigner identity card (TIE).

The first authorisation lasts one year and is limited to one region (comunidad autónoma) and one sector of activity (article 83). You apply for renewal in the two months before it expires. Renewal requires you to have kept up the activity and to be up to date with Hacienda and Social Security (article 86). The renewed authorisation lasts four years and covers any sector and the whole country, including employment (article 87).

Other routes

Ley 14/2013, the entrepreneurs support law, has authorisations with their own rules. One is for innovative business activities or those of special economic interest, with a favourable report from ENISA (article 70). Another is the international remote work authorisation: if you work as a professional, you may work for companies based in Spain as long as they do not exceed 20% of your activity (article 74 bis).

Then the same registration as a Spaniard

With your NIE and your right to work on your own account, the steps are those of any autónomo:

1. Your NIE is your tax number. For people without Spanish nationality, the tax ID (NIF) is the NIE (article 20.1 of Real Decreto 1065/2007).
2. Social Security number. If you do not have one, you request it before registering. We explain it in the Social Security number.
3. Registration with Hacienda using modelo 036 before you start the activity. We explain it in modelo 036 to register as an autónomo.
4. Registration in the RETA, the self-employed Social Security scheme, before you start and never more than 60 calendar days before (article 32.3.1 of Real Decreto 84/1996). With the initial self-employment authorisation, also keep in mind the three-month limit from your entry.
5. Tarifa plana (reduced flat rate for new autónomos), if it is your first registration or you have not been registered for two years. The law sets no nationality condition (article 38 ter of Ley 20/2007). Details in what the tarifa plana is and how to apply.

The full route, with your contribution according to your income and your first invoice, is in how to register as an autónomo in Spain.

Legal residence is not tax residence

Being allowed to live in Spain does not decide where you pay tax. You are tax resident if you spend more than 183 days of the calendar year in Spain or if the main centre of your business or economic interests is here (article 9.1 of the IRPF Law). As a tax resident you pay IRPF (personal income tax) on your worldwide income. If not, your Spanish income goes through Non-Resident Income Tax. We cover it in tax residence in Spain and in tax residence versus legal residence.

If you want us to prepare your registration

Once your NIE and your right to work are sorted, our team at Facturaz prepares your registration with Hacienda and Social Security, with your activity codes chosen with you, for €49 + IVA as a one-off payment. It is all in autónomo registration with Facturaz. We do not handle immigration procedures.