Spain

Employment Legislation

Employment legislation in Spain is becoming more deregulated, although it is still restrictive and geared towards the protection of employees; labour laws still favour the employee over the employer. Union membership is not very high but it controls some of the crucial services of the economy such as transportation.

Temporary contracts provide non-justifiable job termination protection of 8 days worked per annum compensation.

Long term contracts provide non-justifiable job termination protection of 30 days worked per annum compensation. (Older contracts provide for 45 days)

Availability of Trained Staff.

Spain has been suffering a shortage of skilled labour in IT. The skill and training level of staff is best described as average for the European sector. There has been a growth of movement towards further education and an ever increasing percentage of school leavers are taking IT degrees and training in IT skills.

Costs of Employment


Salaries in Spain are comparatively lower than that of their European counterparts but employers face additional costs to such as sick pay, social, and medical. Taxes paid by employees are quite high compared to those paid in other countries and can amount up to 48% of income.

Commercial Property costs are quite competitive for Europe and there is reasonable availability of good standard office space in the larger cities.

Language and Cultural Factors

Spain is an attractive base for Southern Europe sales with the younger population eager to work for US based organisations. Spain is also noteworthy for being very homogeneous, although it has 4 different cultures and languages, with Castillian being what is known internationally as Spanish.

Most workers in IT speak reasonable English and are happy to conduct business in it as required.

Business here is still done by contacts and 'old school' relationships, so a solid Rolodex is always a good idea. Many meetings are conducted over long lunch or dinner appointments and people are usually happy to work long hours into the evenings.

Travel and Communication

Madrid is the main location for corporate offices with Barcelona to the Northeast in close second place. Air travel is widely available and there are more than 40 airports covering the major cities. Rail is an internal option, with new high-speed lines (+250km/h) being built, but of little use to travel outside of Spain due largely to the distances involved.