Are you considering moving to Barcelona to start a business? Prepare your arrival, business organisation and first local contacts. French Tech Barcelona offers resources and routes into a community of French-speaking founders, professionals and talent.
To organise your arrival, start with the relocation guide for French-speaking entrepreneurs. Setting up your business activity should be prepared separately from personal formalities.
Before leaving: essential preparation
Prepare residence and identification formalities
For French or other EU citizens, prepare formalities related to freedom of movement and the length of your stay. The EU citizen registration certificate includes the foreign national identification number. Check documents, appointments and fees with the relevant service. Source: Policía Nacional, EU citizen registration.
For non-EU nationals, the residence permit depends on the project. Consult the entrepreneur route requirements before preparing your application.
Choose a legal structure: autónomo or Sociedad Limitada?
The choice depends on your activity, partners and potential responsibilities. Prepare it with a professional and consult the business setup guide.
For an autónomo, tax registration uses form 036: form 037 was withdrawn in February 2025. Source: AEAT. Social Security registration must be prepared before starting the activity. Source: Seguridad Social.
An SL has a minimum share capital of €1. Below €3,000, the law provides for additional reserve requirements and liability on liquidation if assets are insufficient. Prepare the total budget and registration timetable with the professionals concerned. Source: article 4 of the Spanish Companies Act.
Identify your health coverage
Health coverage depends on factors including your work and residence. Identify the scheme that covers you and the supporting documents needed for your situation. Private insurance is not a uniform obligation for every entrepreneur. Source: Your Europe, health coverage.
Build your relocation budget
Estimate housing costs using recent listings, then add bills, transport, appropriate health coverage, professional costs and a cash reserve. Compare terms and journeys before choosing a neighbourhood or workspace.
Our guide to workspaces in Barcelona helps you prepare your criteria. To search for a workspace, browse the public Officeboard listings.
Check your tax position before relocating
The inbound expatriate regime, often called the “Beckham law”, is subject to conditions and is not automatic. Have your eligibility, income and application timetable examined. Source: AEAT, special inbound expatriate regime.
The form 149 instructions help you check the formalities with your adviser. Identify contacts in the directory of French-speaking service providers.
Join the French Tech Barcelona ecosystem
Once you arrive, discover French Tech Barcelona’s community of French-speaking founders, professionals and talent. Explore our podcast studio for recordings, our Talentboard for candidate and recruiter processes, and our Officeboard to browse the public space catalogue and request information from the team. The meetup calendar helps you prepare conversations with the community.
Browse the directory of French-speaking service providers to identify contacts in law, tax, HR, real estate and finance. You can also apply to join the community, subject to manual approval. Our complete guide to joining Barcelona’s tech community details the method we recommend for integrating over 90 days.
For a question about your arrival, tell French Tech Barcelona about your project.