Country Spotlight: How to Send to Spain with Interparcel

Spain is the world's second most visited country, a paradise of sunny beaches, diverse culture, and exquisite cuisine. Travelling to Spain and not seeing any landmarks would be impossible, with La Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, and Museo Nacional del Prado on the doorstep.

As well as being a desired holiday spot, Spain is also a popular parcel destination. At Interparcel, we can help ship your Spain-bound packages safely in time for a quick siesta!

Why ship to Spain?

Spain has built strong trade links with the UK and other nations in the European Union, annually exporting over £2.5 billion in goods. Among these exports are meat, olive oil, and citrus products which we often see stocked in UK supermarkets.

With UK exports to Spain rising to over £9 billion, the demand for a fast, reliable, and easily tracked courier service has increased exponentially. Casual senders and businesses have found that sending parcels to Spain with Interparcel has made the whole process stress-free and more affordable. Let's not forget, with our excellent courier partnerships, eCommerce businesses will continue to able to send to Spain in 1-2 days so that they can keep their customers happy and satisfied with their service! Plus, we're sure that the new visa requirement for UK citizens won't be a deterrent to move abroad, as many sun-seekers will be setting their sights on picturesque Spain and will require a convenient and trustworthy shipping service.

What to know when sending to Spain

Sending a parcel to Spain is easy-peasy when you have all the necessary information to send to Europe, so we're going to take you through some things to remember before booking a delivery to Spain's sunny shores.

Brexit changes

As the UK left the EU on the 1st of January, requirements for sending to and from the UK to any European country have changed. This means that every sender will need to complete a customs document. Customs invoices are used by Customs in foreign countries to assess the goods, value, and reason for Import / Export and calculate the cost of tax and duties payments.

The handy thing is, we've added a customs invoice form that you can fill out during the booking process with us. There you will need to:

• Describe your items (type, quantity, value, manufacture location)
• State your tax status (non-commercial, non-VAT registered business, or VAT registered)
• EORI number (this is mandatory for all sales, whether it's a VAT business or adhoc eBay seller)
• Reason for sending
• HS code (this is used to classify your items)
• IOSS number (only for Business-to-Consumer shipments)

Make sure you check where each individual component of your goods originated from. If noted incorrectly, this could cause delays at customs.

July VAT changes

As of 1st July, the EU updated its VAT system for goods imported from outside the EU. As the UK is no longer part of the EU, British-based eCommerce companies who sell to Spain will be affected.

VAT is now applied on all goods regardless of their value and is charged at the rate set in the buyer's delivery location. For Spain, the VAT rate is 21%. This means, if you are a seller registered in the UK and are sending an item to Spain, you would report and pay your VAT in the UK but at the Spanish 21% VAT rate as that is the delivery country.

For more information, please read our blogs on the July VAT changes and IOSS.

Prohibited and restricted

Spain's prohibited and restricted list doesn't differ very much from that of many other EU nations, but you should always check our Prohibited and Restricted Items list and refine your search via country and courier to find the most accurate list of goods. By doing this you can avoid sending goods that aren't allowed to ensure cheap shipping to Spain.

As the trade market is likely to grow and as demand for products increases, small businesses in the UK will require fast and reliable courier services to send to Spain. But it's essential to take some time to do a little research into what goods can and can't be sent as to not delay your delivery. Often these halted shipments incur lengthy wait times and additional fees!

Pack for protection

It's an uncommon occurrence that a parcel becomes damaged during transit, but packaging your parcels for protection is good practise! For businesses, this may mean incorporating a unique, branded packaging that will keep contents secure.

When packaging items to be sent to Spain you will need to make sure that any materials you use will withstand being handled multiple times and being loaded on and off of delivery vehicles. They may also be stacked on top or underneath other parcels.

Ensure you:

• Use a strong and rigid cardboard box (preferably double-lined if the packages' weight exceeds 10kg)
• Individually wrap loose items to protect from movement/vibrations
• Fill the empty space in the box with cushioning materials such as packing peanuts, tissue paper or bubble-wrap

Why use Interparcel to send to Spain

With experience sending to over 250 countries and territories, our courier partners are ready and equipped to deliver your parcel to Spain. As one of our most popular destinations to deliver to, we are able to find you cheap shipping to Spain with services you'll love. Plus, with Interparcel you can easily send to Spain and beyond without getting bogged down in the Brexit paperwork as we've done all the hard work for you. So, book a delivery, fill in the blanks and you're ready to send!

We also offer some of the fastest delivery estimates at discounted prices to Spain and customers can choose from a range of services from Economy, Priority to Express. We like to cover all bases at Interparcel, so no matter the deadline we work hard to have you parcels delivered on time and for less.

To send a parcel to Spain with us at Interparcel, all you need to do is measure and weigh your parcel and pop these details into our Quote Tool to find the most suitable shipping solution for you.

Shipping to Spain as a business?

If you're a small business thinking of shipping to Spain, we can make sending even easier. We listened to our business customers and created our Shipping Manager to help organise, fulfill and send orders from multiple marketplaces in just a few clicks - combining cheap shipping to Spain with ease of use when booking a delivery!

Our shipping services integrate with all of the big names in eCommerce, many of which are created to support international selling. Interparcel users that integrated their online stores also benefit from:

• Simple customs forms: streamlined customs invoices to speed up the process
• Advanced shipping manager: collate orders from multiple eCommerce platforms into one place
• Multi-channel fulfilment: collates orders from multiple e-marketplaces into one place
• In-built address verification and correction, no more manual errors or unprofessional mistakes
• Parcel Presets to save parcel details for faster sending
• 'Send Again' and 'Return Parcel' actions to streamline repeat and return orders
• Cheapest way to send a parcel to Spain!

Plus, try out our Branded Tracking feature when sending to Spain

Our Branded Tracking feature allows businesses to provide their customers with a seamless company-centric tracking experience. Our customers are able to create a bespoke tracking page which keeps your logo and brand aesthetic consistent throughout. From the initial sale right through to delivery, your customers can monitor their parcel's journey, staying in the loop while your brand stays in the spotlight.

This feature allows you to customise the logo and colour of your tracking portal and create a unique URL to pass on to customers when sending a parcel to Spain. This way you can create a professional branded tracking experience whilst they can watch their parcel be safely delivered to them.

From Barcelona to Malaga our couriers are dedicated to delivering quality services and speedy estimates. With Interparcel we can find you the best price for a service you'll love so why waste time? Get a quote now and see what you've been missing!

If you have any questions about sending a parcel to Spain please contact our parcel experts available from 8 am - 8 pm Monday to Friday and 9 am - 1 pm on weekends via telephone, email or live chat.