How to write a cover letter for a job in Spain

The cover letter is the carta de presentación. InfoJobs, Spain's large job board, treats the carta de motivación as a different and more personal document; when an advert asks for a carta de presentación, it wants the factual one-page letter described here.

Expect to send one. EURES, the European job mobility network, calls it the first impression you give the company, not a formality, and asks for a concise, formal letter written for the job rather than a standard one. Since most applications now go by email, the letter is often the body of the email itself (University of Oviedo).

Write in Spanish unless the advert is in another language: EURES notes that Spanish is fundamental for working in Spain.

One page, in the order the University of Seville's employment portal gives:

1. Your details.
2. The reader's name, job title, company and address.
3. Place and date, with the month in words: "Valencia, 7 de octubre de 2026". The month takes a small letter.
4. The greeting, the body and a short conclusion.
5. A formal close, your signature and your name.

In an email, the subject line names the job, the greeting is the first line, and your phone number goes under your name. See How to send a cover letter by email.

The greeting ends with a colon. The Complutense University of Madrid's style guide calls the colon the correct sign after a letter's greeting, and says the word that follows starts with a capital, an exception to the usual rule after a colon.

Spaniards have two surnames, usually the father's first and then the mother's, though parents can choose the order (Spanish Consulate in Manchester). In a greeting the first surname alone is usual, as in the Seville example "Estimado Sr. García": Marta Ibarrola Senén becomes "Estimada Sra. Ibarrola:". Write both in the address block, as the person writes them.

Write to the reader as usted throughout: "le escribo", "su empresa", "quedo a su disposición". The model letters from InfoJobs and the University of Oviedo all do.

• Length. EURES allows up to two A4 pages for the CV.
• Photo. Not required, though EURES notes it can help for some roles (EURES).
• Europass. The European CV format is an accepted alternative to a classic CV, especially for someone applying from another European country (EURES).

The letter should not repeat the CV. InfoJobs advises against restating it and against praising yourself with adjectives; give facts instead.

Thandi Mbatha is South African and has run paid campaigns for three years at a safari travel agency in Cape Town. She now lives in Valencia and is applying to be a digital marketing specialist at Vientolar Viajes, a travel company that sells short breaks around the Mediterranean. The reader is its marketing director, Marta Ibarrola Senén. All of them are invented.

The Spanish letter keeps the facts of the English one and changes the form: both surnames in the address block, the date in words, the colon after the greeting, usted throughout. If Spanish is not your first language, have a native speaker read the letter before you send it.

• A comma after the greeting. Use a colon, then a capital.
• One letter for every company. EURES asks for a letter written for the job, not a standard one.
• "A quien corresponda". InfoJobs advises against it; find a name, or address the HR department.
• Repeating the CV, or describing yourself with adjectives. Say what you did and what came of it.
• Spelling mistakes, which the University of Oviedo's guide warns against. Check the accents in particular: candidatura, técnica, disposición.

For the parts of a letter that do not change from country to country, start with How to write a cover letter.