Rules for business premises in Spain
Self-declaration (declaración responsable)
The declaración responsable is the document in which whoever runs an activity in Spain states, on their own responsibility, that they meet the requirements, hold the papers to prove it and will go on meeting them. It lets them start on the day it is filed, with checks afterwards (art. 69 of Ley 39/2015).
Also known asdeclaración responsable · declaration of compliance · statement of compliance · DR
What it is exactly
Ley 39/2015, Spain's Common Administrative Procedure Act, defines it in art. 69.1: the applicant states that they meet the legal requirements, “that they hold the documentation proving it”, that they will make it available to the authorities when asked and that they will keep meeting those requirements for as long as the activity lasts. The requirements must be set out expressly, clearly and precisely in the declaration itself, and the authorities must keep up-to-date templates published (art. 69.5).
From the day it is filed, it allows the activity to start, “without prejudice to the powers of verification, control and inspection” of the authorities (art. 69.3). A notification is a different thing: it simply informs the authorities of certain details (art. 69.2), and the two cannot both be required for the same matter (art. 69.6).
An example: a 120 m² stationery shop opens with a self-declaration, without waiting for any licence. If its town hall's template makes it declare that the electrical installation is legalised, and months later the municipal inspector asks for the electrical installation certificate and there is none, the problem is not a formality: what was declared was untrue.
Worth knowing
It is not a faster permit: it means accepting that you already comply. If an essential piece of information is inaccurate, false or left out, or the documents requested are not provided, the activity cannot continue from the moment the authorities find out, without prejudice to other liabilities, and the decision may require things to be put back as they were (art. 69.4). When it replaces the activity licence is decided by Ley 12/2012, your region's law and the municipal by-laws; Ley 12/2012 still refers to art. 71 bis of Ley 30/1992, whose content is now this art. 69.
Sources
Related terms
- Activity licence (licencia de actividad)The licencia de actividad is the prior municipal licence to run a business from premises in Spain. Today it is the exception: Ley 12/2012 bans it for retail and the services in its annex up to 750 m², where a self-declaration is enough, and outside that annex the region and the town hall decide.
- Electrical installation certificate (CIE)The electrical installation certificate (CIE), known in Spain as the ‘boletín’, is the document the installation firm signs when it finishes, extends or alters a low-voltage installation. It is filed with the autonomous community and, without the stamped copy, the distribution company cannot connect the premises.