You live in Spain and work for an organisation abroad. One day they offer to put you on their payroll instead of paying your invoices. It sounds simpler, and sometimes it is. But from Spain, the choice has consequences for you and, above all, for them.
The work is the same. The obligations are not.
As an employee, your foreign employer takes on obligations in Spain.
What changes between the two options?
As a freelancer, you are registered as autónomo, you invoice your client and you handle your own tax and Social Security. Your client abroad simply pays invoices. As an employee, the relationship moves to your employer: someone has to register as employer in Spain, pay Social Security contributions on your salary and, where applicable, deal with withholdings.
What an employee arrangement usually requires
When a foreign organisation employs someone living in Spain, it typically needs to:
- Register as an employer with Spanish Social Security.
- Pay employer and employee contributions on the salary each month.
- Put in place a contract that complies with Spanish employment law.
- Review whether any bilateral Social Security agreement with its own country applies.
For a small organisation with one person in Spain, that is a significant commitment.
The digital nomad route
Spain has a specific framework for people who work remotely for companies abroad, often referred to as the digital nomad regime. It is mainly an immigration route. If you already live in Spain on another basis, for example through marriage to a Spanish national, you do not need it, but the employer’s obligations in Spain exist all the same.
An example: the offer from a small client
A professional works for several small organisations abroad. One of them offers to employ her. For that organisation, it would mean registering in Spain and running Spanish payroll for one person; for her, a single employer instead of several clients. In her case, remaining autónoma was simpler for everyone, and she kept the freedom to work for the others.
Watch for employment in disguise
The opposite risk also exists. If you work as autónomo but in practice under the direction and organisation of a single client, with fixed hours and no independence, the relationship may be treated as employment. The label on the contract does not decide it; the way the work is done does.
Any questions about your situation?
At Cigarrán we compare both options for your specific case. Book a call.
Where Cigarrán fits in
At Cigarrán we compare both options for your specific case: the cost for you, the obligations for your client and the risks of each. If employment is the right route, we advise on how your employer can do it properly in Spain.
Choose with the numbers in front of you
Neither option is better in general. One of them is better for you, and it is worth knowing which before you sign.
