Does Spain work like other European markets?

A finance director told me last week: 'We thought we understood the Spanish market because we'd done our research.' They'd read the guides, spoken to advisers, even hired locally.

Then three months in, everything fell apart. The finance director called me, voice tight with frustration: 'Rolf, we're bleeding cash and we don't even understand why.' It wasn't regulatory.

It wasn't financial. It was operational reality that blindsided them completely.

Here's what surprised them most: Spain doesn't work like other European markets where you can apply a standard playbook.

The gap isn't in the rules themselves, it's in how Spanish authorities interpret substance, how local banking systems actually function day-to-day, and what 'market-ready' genuinely means when your UK or US team is trying to execute remotely.

Here's what I've learnt watching companies succeed and fail: The winners aren't the ones with deeper pockets.

They're the ones who swallowed their pride early, admitted what they didn't know, and asked the uncomfortable questions before signing contracts. That humility saved them millions.