Spain’s new language compliance law: What businesses need to know

Written by alm Translations 

Businesses operating in Spain face significant new multilingual customer service obligations following the introduction of Law 10/2025.

For many organisations, compliance will no longer be limited to communicating in Spanish (Castilian). Depending on where services are delivered, businesses may also need to support co-official regional languages such as Catalan, Basque, Galician, Valencian and Aranese.

With implementation required by 28 December 2026, organisations should begin reviewing multilingual customer communications, digital platforms and customer service processes now to reduce compliance risk and operational disruption.

What is Spain’s new language compliance law?

Published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on 27 December 2025, Law 10/2025 entered into force the following day and provides a twelve-month implementation period. Organisations covered by the legislation must comply by 28 December 2026.

The law strengthens customers’ linguistic rights by requiring certain organisations to communicate with customers in Spanish and, where applicable, the relevant co-official language of the autonomous community in which services are provided.

Which businesses must comply with law 10/2025?

The legislation applies to providers of essential services regardless of size, together with large companies. Large companies are defined as organisations with 250 or more employees and either annual turnover exceeding €50 million or an annual balance sheet total exceeding €43 million.

Which organisations should review their multilingual communications?

Although the legislation specifically applies to providers of essential services and larger organisations, any business operating customer-facing services across Spain should review its multilingual communications.

This is particularly relevant for organisations in financial services, insurance, utilities, telecommunications, transport, retail, e-commerce and other regulated sectors where customer communication forms part of wider compliance obligations.

Which languages are covered?

Alongside Spanish (Castilian), businesses may need to support Catalan, Valencian, Basque (Euskera), Galician and Aranese (Occitan) where these are recognised as co-official languages within the relevant autonomous community.

What new customer service requirements does the law introduce?

The legislation introduces several important operational changes:

• General complaints must normally be resolved within 15 working days.
• Billing and overcharge disputes must normally be resolved within five working days.
• Organisations must offer postal, telephone and electronic communication channels.
• Customers must be able to access a human adviser where required.
• Customer service quality must be independently assessed and published annually.

These shorter timescales significantly increase the importance of efficient multilingual communication workflows.

Are businesses already required to use regional languages?

Yes. Regional obligations have existed for many years, particularly in Catalonia, where businesses may already be required to provide signage, consumer information, contracts and customer communications in Catalan.

Why is enforcement increasing?

The implications of the legislation are already being discussed by legal and compliance specialists. The Global Legal Post reports that the new customer service law is expected to reshape customer relationships across sectors including retail, reinforcing the growing importance of multilingual compliance.

Read the Global Legal Post article: New Spanish customer service law shifts luxury retail client relationships.

How will this affect customer service and digital platforms?

Organisations should review customer-facing content across websites, mobile applications, customer portals, CRM systems, automated emails, complaint responses, billing communications, chatbots, FAQs and customer support channels to ensure customers can communicate in the appropriate language throughout the customer journey.

AI-assisted customer service can help organisations respond more efficiently, but businesses should ensure customers can access appropriately trained human advisers where required and that multilingual responses remain accurate, consistent and appropriate for regulatory communications.

Why AI alone is not enough

AI-assisted translation can help organisations manage multilingual customer communication at speed, but Spain’s new requirements make quality control and accountability increasingly important.

Complaints, billing disputes and regulated customer communications require consistent terminology, accurate records and access to trained human advisers where necessary. For many organisations, the most effective approach will combine translation technology, terminology management and specialist human linguistic review.

How should businesses prepare for compliance?

Businesses should begin reviewing customer-facing documentation, complaint handling procedures, multilingual customer support, websites, mobile applications, customer portals, terminology management, translation memories, version control and governance processes well before the 28 December 2026 deadline.

Organisations should also review how multilingual customer communications are managed across CRM systems, customer support platforms and internal documentation to ensure written records remain accurate, consistent and aligned with customers’ chosen language.

If your organisation operates multilingual websites, customer portals or applications, it is also worth reviewing how software localisation, user interfaces, notifications, help content and customer communications are managed to ensure consistency across every supported language.

Is language compliance only about regulatory compliance?

No. Organisations that invest in multilingual customer communication can improve customer trust, strengthen regional engagement and differentiate themselves within local markets. Language accessibility is increasingly becoming both a compliance requirement and a competitive advantage.

Conclusion

Spain’s evolving language legislation reflects a broader shift towards recognising linguistic rights as consumer rights. For organisations operating in Spain, multilingual communication is becoming part of regulatory governance rather than simply customer service. Businesses that prepare early will be better placed to meet legal obligations, reduce operational risk and deliver a consistent customer experience across every region in which they operate.

ALM helps organisations prepare for multilingual regulatory requirements through technology-enabled translation workflows, terminology management and specialist linguistic review, helping keep customer communications accurate, consistent and compliant across every supported language. Get in touch to discuss your Spain compliance timeline.