Selling into Spain through distributors

How the market buys

Spain buys at three levels: the State and its agencies, the autonomous communities, and local government, with hospitals, universities and public companies buying within each. A supplier therefore deals with buyers at national, regional and local level, each running its own procedures.

The Public Sector Contracts Act (Ley 9/2017, article 347) ties this together. The Plataforma de Contratación del Sector Público, run by the Directorate-General for State Assets, hosts the buyer profiles (perfiles de contratante) of every state-sector contracting body, which must be managed and published exclusively there. Autonomous communities may run their own platforms instead, but they must still publish every call for tenders and its result on the national platform, directly or through automatic aggregation. For a supplier that means one national place to search, with regional platforms behind it for the detail.

Spanish buyers expect a supplier who invoices in Spain, delivers to the region and works in Spanish. In our analysis of TED award notices for supplies (September 2026), 98% of the winners in the 9,089 notices from buyers in Spain were companies registered in the country (96% across the 30 EU and EEA countries); those local winners include distributors and dealers as well as manufacturers' own local subsidiaries — see our methodology. A foreign manufacturer enters by being listed with one.

Lawful first contact

Spain requires consent. Article 21(1) of the Information Society Services Act (Ley 34/2002, LSSI) prohibits sending advertising or promotional communications by e-mail or an equivalent electronic means that the recipients have not previously requested or expressly authorised. The rule protects businesses as well as consumers: the Act's annex defines a recipient (destinatario) as any natural or legal person using an information society service, "sea o no por motivos profesionales" — whether or not for professional purposes.

The only exception, article 21(2), covers an existing contractual relationship: you may write to a customer whose contact details you obtained lawfully, about your own products similar to those they bought, provided you offered a simple, free opt-out when collecting the details and in every message. The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) sanctions breaches of article 21 under articles 38 and 43 of the same Act, and its guidance on unwanted advertising describes the same exception.

What works: a letter by post to the managing director or commercial director, in Spanish, with a one-page sheet on your range and a clear reason why it fits what the distributor already sells; a stand or a visit at the sector's trade fair; an introduction through a sector association, a chamber of commerce or an existing Spanish partner; and a fast, complete reply to any enquiry that reaches you. Once a distributor has written to you, e-mail is fine; the prohibition is on the unsolicited first message.

What local distributors expect

• Spanish-language documentation: technical sheets, instructions, safety information and price lists. Tender documents are in Spanish, and the distributor will expect your file to be ready to use.
• Conformity evidence for the category — CE marking and declarations where the product is regulated, and test reports against the standards buyers specify.
• A clear view of territory. Agree who covers which autonomous communities and accounts, and state your position on exclusivity early.
• A commercial structure that works under framework agreements: margin, project pricing, and prices you can hold for the life of the agreement.
• Logistics to match: reliable lead times to the mainland and, if relevant, the islands, plus spare parts and after-sales support.
• References and samples.

How to enter, step by step

1. Find who already wins your category. In TED's advanced search, set the buyer country to Spain, the notice type to results and add your CPV codes; the companies named in the award notices are your shortlist. Cresques runs this search for the CPV categories you choose. For contracts below the thresholds, search calls and results on the Plataforma de Contratación, then the regional platform behind it for the detail.
2. Check State centralised procurement. The Directorate-General for the Rationalisation and Centralisation of Procurement (DGRCC) runs the State centralised procurement system. Companies get in by winning its contracts or framework agreements, or by applying to join a dynamic purchasing system, which admits companies that meet the selection criteria throughout its validity; its tenders and awards are on its buyer profile on the Plataforma.
3. Prepare Spanish documentation. Technical sheets, instructions, safety information and price lists in Spanish, ready for a distributor to use in a tender.
4. Assemble conformity evidence. CE marking and declarations where the product is regulated, and test reports against the standards Spanish buyers specify.
5. Make the first contact by letter, at a fair or through an introduction. Write by post, in Spanish, to the managing director or commercial director with a one-page sheet on your range and a clear reason why it fits; or meet at the sector's trade fair, or ask a sector association, a chamber of commerce or an existing Spanish partner to introduce you. No first e-mail.
6. Map territory before you meet. Decide who should cover which autonomous communities and accounts, and state your position on exclusivity early.
7. Prepare the first meeting. Bring margin, project pricing and prices you can hold for the life of a framework agreement, reliable lead times to the mainland and, if relevant, the islands, a plan for spare parts and after-sales support, and references and samples.
8. Follow up. Reply fast and completely to any enquiry. Once a distributor has written to you, e-mail is fine.

Where the evidence comes from

Above the EU thresholds — EUR 140,000 for supplies and services bought by central government bodies and EUR 216,000 for other public authorities from 1 January 2026 — Spanish buyers must publish contract award notices on TED, the online supplement to the Official Journal of the EU. Each notice names the winning company and carries CPV codes, so the distributors that repeatedly win, for example, laboratory supplies or school furniture contracts in a community can be identified from the public record. Nationally, calls for tender and their results, below the thresholds too, are published through the Plataforma de Contratación.

Cresques reads the award notices for the CPV categories you choose and shows who already sells that category in Spain. It does not help you bid for the contracts; the notices are evidence of who the buyers already trust, and the lawful first contact above is how you reach them without a complaint to the AEPD.