Spain Formation & Compliance File (S.L.)

1. Spain Formation Checklist

Sequence assumes incorporation by public deed before a Spanish notary (escritura pública de constitución) with cash contribution, under the Ley de Sociedades de Capital (RD Leg. 1/2010, "LSC") and Ley 18/2022 "Crea y Crece".

1. Name clearance — Obtain the certificación negativa de denominación social from the Registro Mercantil Central (RMC), confirming the chosen corporate name is available and reserved. Reservation is nominative and time-limited; the deed must be signed while it is valid.
2. Provisional tax ID — Apply for the provisional NIF (Número de Identificación Fiscal) for the company-in-formation at the Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria (AEAT), typically via modelo 036, so the entity can operate the bank account and appear in the deed.
3. Bank account & capital deposit — Open a company-in-formation bank account and effect the capital desembolso of €30,000; obtain the bank certificate (certificado bancario de ingreso) evidencing the deposit, to be produced to the notary. (Under "Crea y Crece", cash capital may alternatively be evidenced by the founders' declaration of responsibility in the deed.)
4. Public deed of incorporation — Execute the escritura pública de constitución before a Spanish notary, incorporating the bylaws (estatutos sociales), the sole-member's founding decisions, the capital evidence, the beneficial-ownership declaration (titularidad real), and the appointment and acceptance of the director.
5. Registration at the Commercial Registry — File the deed for inscripción at the Registro Mercantil of Madrid (the province of the registered office). Legal personality attaches on registration; the registry issues the registered particulars (datos registrales).
6. Census / tax declaration (alta censal) — File modelo 036 with the AEAT to declare commencement of activity, elect tax obligations (corporate income tax, VAT/IVA), and convert the provisional NIF into the definitive NIF.
7. Social Security employer registration — Register the company as an employer with the Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social (TGSS) and obtain the employer contribution account code (Código de Cuenta de Cotización, "CCC") before the first hire's start date; affiliate/register employees (alta) prior to commencement of work.

2. Proposed Organizational Chart

The Spanish entity is held in a single ownership chain; there is no intermediate Spanish holding company.

1. Marea Digital, Inc. (Delaware, USA) — ultimate parent; holder of group IP and the central data platform.
   1. Marea Digital, S.L. (Madrid) — existing Spanish operating client of the group.
      1. [New entity] Marea Digital [Operations] S.L.U. (Madrid) — the new single-member operating subsidiary constituted by this file; 100% held by its sole member.

Note for the file: confirm which existing group company is to be the sole member of the new S.L.U. (the US parent directly, or the existing Spanish S.L.). The drafts below assume the sole member is the entity resolving to make the investment in Part A §4; adjust the ownership line and the D-1A foreign-investment analysis accordingly, since direct non-resident ownership triggers different filing considerations than ownership through the resident Spanish S.L.

3. Company-Name Request Checklist (certificación negativa de denominación)

1. Prepare three alternative names in order of preference. The RMC processes them in ranked order and reserves the first that is available:
   1. 1st choice: Marea Digital Iberia, S.L.U.
   2. 2nd choice: Marea Digital Operaciones, S.L.U.
   3. 3rd choice: Marea Digital Servicios Digitales, S.L.U.
2. Confirm each candidate ends with the legal-form indicator (Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada / "S.L." or "S.R.L."; unipersonality is reflected as "S.L.U." once single-member status is declared) and is not identical or confusingly similar to an existing name.
3. Screen against the prohibited-name rules (no terms implying an unauthorised regulated activity; no official-body or misleading terms).
4. File the application with the Registro Mercantil Central (online or on paper), naming a founder/promoter as beneficiary of the reservation.
5. On grant, verify the certificate is issued in the beneficiary's name and note the validity window — the deed must be executed before the reservation lapses, and the certificate must be produced to the notary.
6. If all three are refused, submit a fresh set of three; do not proceed to the deed without a valid certificate on file.

8. Initial Capitalization Schedule

Note: €30,000 comfortably exceeds the minimum cash capital of €1 introduced by "Crea y Crece" (Ley 18/2022); it is set at the conventional €3,000+ level and above to reflect the group's operating substance and creditor comfort. The special reserve/creditor-protection rules that apply to companies capitalised below €3,000 are therefore not engaged.

9. Incorporation Closing Agenda

1. Pre-closing confirmations. Valid certificación negativa de denominación on file; provisional NIF issued; bank certificate of the €30,000 deposit in hand; POA apostilled and sworn-translated; NIE of the director obtained.
2. Notary appointment. Attorney-in-fact appears before the notary with the certificate, bank evidence, bylaws, and identity documents.
3. Execution of the deed. Sign the escritura pública de constitución, incorporating the bylaws, capital subscription, unipersonality declaration, beneficial-ownership declaration, and the director's appointment and acceptance.
4. Notarial telematic transmission. Notary transmits the deed electronically to the AEAT (definitive NIF) and to the Registro Mercantil for registration where the streamlined "Crea y Crece" / CIRCE route is used.
5. Registration. Registry examines and inscribes; collect the registered particulars — legal personality attaches.
6. Post-closing handover. Deliver executed deed, registry confirmation, definitive NIF, and open the post-incorporation checklist (§A.10 / Part C).

10. Post-Incorporation Checklist

1. Definitive NIF. Confirm conversion of the provisional NIF to the definitive NIF via modelo 036 after registration.
2. VAT / intra-EU operator status. Register for VAT (IVA) and, if the entity will trade intra-EU, apply for inclusion in the Registro de Operadores Intracomunitarios (ROI) to obtain a VIES-validated VAT number.
3. Beneficial-ownership register. File/confirm the titularidad real declaration in the central beneficial-ownership register (Registro Central de Titularidades Reales), consistent with the deed.
4. Foreign-investment filing. File modelo D-1A with the Registro de Inversiones Exteriores (Dirección General de Comercio Internacional e Inversiones) declaring the non-resident direct investment, within the statutory post-investment window.
5. FDI screening issue-spot (RD 571/2023). Assess whether the investment engages Spain's foreign-direct-investment ex-ante authorisation regime (Art. 7 bis of Ley 19/2003, developed by RD 571/2023) — relevant where a non-EU/EFTA investor acquires ≥10% or control in a target in a sensitive sector (e.g. critical technology, data infrastructure). Flag: given the US-parent ownership and a data-platform group, confirm with counsel whether the sensitive-sector/thresholds are met before closing, or whether a "greenfield" incorporation falls outside the regime.
6. Legalization of corporate books. Legalise the corporate books electronically at the Registro Mercantil within four months of financial-year end (see Part C §12).
7. Powers of attorney (apoderamientos). Grant and register any operational powers of attorney the director wishes to confer (banking, day-to-day management), by public deed and registry inscription.

11. Registered-Office Confirmation

1. Confirm the domicilio social is in Madrid (determines the competent provincial Commercial Registry and municipal obligations).
2. Confirm a valid right of use of the premises (lease, sublease, or intra-group use agreement) and consistency of the address across the deed, modelo 036, bank records, and registry.
3. Confirm the office is within the corporate purpose's effective place of management (to support tax residence in Spain).

12. Corporate Books and Records Index

Commercial Registry obligations

The company must keep its registry entry current: any change to bylaws, registered office, governing body, capital, or sole-member status must be formalised (generally by public deed) and inscribed at the Registro Mercantil. Failure to keep the entry current can close the registry sheet (cierre registral) to further filings.

Annual accounts (depósito de cuentas)

The director formulates the annual accounts within three months of financial-year end; the sole member approves them (see below); and the company files them for deposit (depósito de cuentas anuales) at the Registro Mercantil within the statutory window (approval within six months of year-end, deposit within one month of approval). Non-deposit also triggers cierre registral.

Corporate approvals (junta / decisiones del socio único)

In a single-member company the sole member exercises the powers of the general meeting; its decisions (annual-accounts approval, application of results, director matters) are recorded in the libro de actas. Contracts between the company and its sole member must be documented and entered in the dedicated register, or the sole member may bear liability for resulting company losses.

Tax identification

The company operates under its definitive NIF. Commencement, modification and cessation of tax obligations are declared through modelo 036. Corporate income tax (Impuesto sobre Sociedades) returns and instalment payments follow the AEAT calendar. [Flag for tax adviser: newly-created entities carrying on an economic activity may access the reduced 15% rate under Art. 29.1 LIS for the first period with a positive tax base and the following one — eligibility conditions to be confirmed by the tax adviser.]

VAT registration

Register for VAT (IVA) on the alta censal. For intra-EU B2B SaaS supplies, obtain ROI/VIES registration so the intra-EU VAT number is validated; apply the place-of-supply and reverse-charge rules to cross-border services. [Flag for tax adviser: SaaS place-of-supply, One-Stop-Shop and intra-group charging to be modelled by the tax adviser.]

Payroll & social security

Register as an employer with the TGSS and obtain the CCC before hiring; register (alta) each employee before commencement of work; run monthly contributions and withholdings. Employment terms follow the Estatuto de los Trabajadores and any applicable sector collective-bargaining agreement (convenio colectivo).

Beneficial-ownership information

Maintain accurate titularidad real information consistent with the deed and file with the central beneficial-ownership register; update on any change of beneficial owner. This supports AML obligations and is often requested by banks and counterparties.

Municipal / regional licensing

For an office-based SaaS operation, obtain any required municipal opening declaration/licence (declaración responsable or licencia de actividad) from the Madrid city authority, and confirm no regional (Comunidad de Madrid) sector authorisation is engaged. Confirm local business-activity tax (Impuesto sobre Actividades Económicas) status — start-ups are generally exempt in the first periods and below a turnover threshold.

Website & e-commerce (LSSI)

A commercial website must comply with the Ley de Servicios de la Sociedad de la Información y de Comercio Electrónico (LSSI, Ley 34/2002): publish provider-identification information (company name, NIF, registry particulars, contact), cookie-consent management, and, for online contracting, the mandatory pre-contractual and confirmation information.

GDPR

As a data-processing SaaS group, comply with the GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) and the Spanish LOPDGDD (Ley Orgánica 3/2018): records of processing, lawful bases, privacy information, data-subject-rights handling, security measures, and — given the US-parent central data platform — intra-group data-transfer mechanisms (controller/processor mapping, SCCs and transfer-impact assessment for EU→US flows). Assess whether a DPO is required.

Spanish employee documentation

For each employee: written contract per the Estatuto de los Trabajadores, TGSS alta, occupational-risk-prevention arrangements (prevención de riesgos laborales), working-time recording (registro de jornada), equality/harassment protocols where applicable, and — for the data business — appropriate confidentiality and IP-assignment clauses aligned with the group IP held by the US parent.

Powers of attorney

Operational apoderamientos (banking, procurement, HR) should be granted by public deed, inscribed where they are general or continuing powers, and kept in the powers register; maintain a revocation process on personnel changes.

Document legalization & translation (apostille + traducción jurada)

Foreign corporate documents used before Spanish notaries/registries (parent resolutions, POAs, certificates of good standing) must be apostilled under the Hague Convention (1961) and accompanied by a sworn translation (traducción jurada) into Spanish by a translator authorised by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.