Spain (ES)
Overview of Spanish company data coverage, registers, and legal forms
Overview
Spain's commercial registration system involves Provincial Mercantile Registers (Registros Mercantiles Provinciales), where companies are registered based on their domicile, and a Central Mercantile Register (Registro Mercantil Central - RMC) that maintains a centralized index.
Register
Registro Mercantil — Spain's commercial registration system: provincial mercantile registers where companies are registered by domicile, plus the Central Mercantile Register (RMC) maintaining a nationwide index.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Registro Mercantil |
| Managing authority | Registrars (Registradores) / Ministry of Justice |
Identifiers
Spanish companies are identified by their registration details:
| Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
nif | Tax identification number (NIF/CIF) | B12345678 |
registro | Provincial register name | Madrid |
hoja | Sheet number | M-123456 |
tomo | Volume number | 12345 |
folio | Page number | 123 |
Legal Forms
Corporations
| Legal Form | Full Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| S.A. | Sociedad Anónima | Public limited company |
| S.L. | Sociedad Limitada | Private limited company (most common) |
| S.L.U. | Sociedad Limitada Unipersonal | Single-member private limited company |
| S.L.N.E. | Sociedad Limitada Nueva Empresa | New enterprise limited company |
| S.Com.p.A. | Sociedad Comanditaria por Acciones | Partnership limited by shares |
Partnerships
| Legal Form | Full Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| S.C. | Sociedad Colectiva | General partnership |
| S.Com. | Sociedad Comanditaria Simple | Limited partnership |
| S.Coop. | Sociedad Cooperativa | Cooperative |
Other
| Legal Form | Full Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| S.A.L. | Sociedad Anónima Laboral | Worker-owned public company |
| S.L.L. | Sociedad Limitada Laboral | Worker-owned private company |
| A.I.E. | Agrupación de Interés Económico | Economic interest grouping |
| Fundación | - | Foundation |
Other data sources
These further sources also feed Kausate responses for this jurisdiction:
| Source | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Boletín Oficial del Registro Mercantil (BORME) | Official commercial register gazette |
| Registro Público Concursal | Public insolvency register |
Company data in every jurisdiction is also spread across sources outside the commercial register — the central bank, the official gazette, the financial supervisor's authorisation registers, the statistical office and the tax authority among them. Kausate draws only on the sources described on this page; when you need something the API does not carry, those are where to look.
Coverage
- All 50 provinces covered via provincial registers
- Central register index for nationwide searches
- All company types registered with Registro Mercantil
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