Spain – A gateway to the electronic notariat

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The Spanish notariat now offers the general public a new web portal, which extends to the whole of society the connection that has existed since 2002 between the more than 2,800 notary’s offices and numerous public bodies: https://www.portalnotarial.es/

Through this portal, individuals and companies can choose the notary they want to carry out various procedures and services, with the same security and guarantees as in notary’s offices, but with the agility of digital operations.

They can also find out which notaries keep the originals of their documents and ask them to “download“ electronic copies, so that they are always at hand. Similarly, they can designate their preferred notary to formalise their mortgage and supervise the documentation given to them by the financial institution, or initiate the preparation of a will with him or her, or ask him or her to carry out the formalities necessary for the incorporation of a company on their behalf. They can even receive advice from the notary via videoconference and in the notary’s office whenever necessary.

This web portal opens up to society the technological potential that notaries have had for 20 years. In fact, the existence of the electronic notary’s office has made it possible, in 2020 alone, to send 8 million electronic copies of notarial acts to the authorities, almost 2.5 million to the registers and land registry, and hundreds of thousands of telematic settlements, certifications or data transmissions, which means a volume of notarial signatures exceeding 20 million.

“These online services are just the beginning of all those that we will be able to add to the portal, pending the necessary legislative reforms“, explained the president of the General Council of Notaries, José Ángel Martínez Sanchiz. “The Portal is a firm commitment on the part of notaries to offer new digital facilities and services to citizens and companies, with the security and guarantees inherent to our function“, he assured.

With regard to the execution of the notarial act, at present this must still be done in person. In some cases, however, this process could be electronic, as notaries can guarantee its security through the use of qualified electronic signatures and video conferencing in the notary’s electronic office. This technology is fully developed and tested and could be applied immediately to the transposition into Spanish law of the European Directive allowing companies to be incorporated entirely online.