Business Takeover / Traspaso

Year after year, numerous bars, cafés, restaurants and shops on Mallorca change to a new operator. This is the takeover contract with which a current tenant or lessee of a business or business premises transfers his legal status to the new business owner.

This process is called “Traspaso” in Spain. In this context, this means “transfer” or “assignment”. The legal figure of the Traspaso appears unusual in some respects, especially since very often not insignificant transfer fees are required.

You have to know that in Spain completely furnished businesses are rarely rented or leased by the owner. Rather, often only the simple commercial space with bare side walls, ceiling and floor is made available by the owner. Often it is then up to the tenant to equip the premises accordingly, to install heating or air conditioning and sometimes also to pay for the corresponding connections to the utilities. These investments by the previous leaseholder are then also reflected in the down payment that is required for the assignment of the rental contract, the transfer of the customer base, the takeover of the facility, etc. The price charged for the Traspaso can usually be renegotiated.

So with a Traspaso you don’t buy the property. This remains with the owner and the new operator rents the commercial space from him. For everything else, a takeover agreement is concluded between the old and the new operator.

It is important to carefully check the rental agreements and licenses beforehand. Has everything been paid for at the suppliers and utility companies and what does the future rental agreement look like?

If all questions in this connection have been clarified, only the Spanish administrative regulations need to be observed for the description of the existing permits and the imminent opening of operations. Here it is advisable to call in a specialized Gestoria (office for administrative and tax matters), which can also apply for additional licenses or extensions for music operations or longer opening times.