Spanish tax residency: need to know

I was on a call before Christmas with a finance director who'd just received their first Spanish tax residency certificate.

She laughed and said, 'I've been commuting from London monthly for nine months, and apparently that made me accidentally tax resident in Spain.' 

Her UK accountant hadn't flagged it, her Spanish lawyer assumed someone else was tracking it and now she's facing a retrospective tax bill that's rewriting her entire compensation structure.

Here's what catches people out: Spain counts physical presence differently than most jurisdictions, and the 183-day rule everyone knows isn't the only test that matters.

Your centre of economic interests, family location, and even where your primary residence sits can trigger tax residency regardless of how many days you've counted.

The expensive part isn't the tax itself, it's discovering the exposure after you've already crossed the threshold and your planning options have disappeared.

Are you tracking physical presence in Spain for everyone in your leadership team, or assuming business travel doesn't count?