Spain

Spain applies the European rulebook and has added a national layer on top of it. The Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores supervises investment firms and, in 2023, imposed restrictions on the marketing of CFDs and other leveraged products that go further than ESMA's.

The marketing restrictions

The CNMV's measures target how these products reach retail investors rather than the products themselves. They restrict mass advertising of CFDs to the general public, prohibit the use of celebrities and public figures to promote them, and require prominent risk warnings in any permitted communication. The regulator's reasoning was documented and specific: its own analysis of retail accounts showed a large majority losing money, and it concluded that advertising was drawing in exactly the investors least equipped to trade these instruments.

Trading conditions

The ESMA caps apply unchanged — 30:1 on major pairs, 20:1 on minors, gold and major indices, 10:1 on other commodities, 5:1 on shares, 2:1 on cryptocurrencies — with negative balance protection, 50% margin close-out and no bonuses. Binary options are banned for retail clients.

Compensation

Spain's investor compensation scheme, FOGAIN, covers clients of Spanish investment firms up to €100,000 — one of the higher limits in the EU and five times the €20,000 floor that applies in several other member states. This matters because most brokers serving Spain are licensed elsewhere in the EEA and passport in, which leaves you with the licensing country's scheme instead. A Spanish-authorised broker is materially better protected than a passported one, and the difference is visible in the account agreement.

Tax

Gains from trading are taxed as savings income on a progressive scale, and losses can generally be offset against gains within the same category subject to statutory limits. A Spanish intermediary withholds and reports; a foreign broker does not, which leaves the resident with the full declaration, including the reporting obligations that apply to assets held abroad. Confirm the detail with an asesor fiscal.

Before opening an account

Search the CNMV's registers of Spanish firms and of EEA firms operating in Spain, check the regulator's warning list of unauthorised entities, and establish whether your protection is FOGAIN's €100,000 or a passported scheme's €20,000.