Spanish translation

One language, many varieties

Spanish is a Romance language that developed from Latin in the Iberian Peninsula and spread through the Spanish Empire to the Americas, the Caribbean, parts of Africa and the Philippines. Today more than 90 per cent of native speakers live outside Spain.

The written language is highly standardised, with the Royal Spanish Academy and the Association of Spanish Language Academies setting norms. Spoken Spanish varies widely, however. Vocabulary, pronunciation and forms of address differ between Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, the Andes and the Southern Cone. In much of Latin America ustedes is used where Spain uses vosotros, in countries such as Argentina and Uruguay vos replaces tú, and everyday words differ (ordenador in Spain, computadora in much of Latin America). Marketing, consumer content and anything meant to feel local needs to be tailored to the audience.

Spanish has a literary tradition of the highest calibre, from Cervantes and Don Quixote to the Latin American boom of García Márquez, Borges and Neruda, and eleven Nobel laureates in Literature have written in it.

Where Spanish is spoken

Spain

Spain has around 48 million people, with Madrid and Barcelona as the main business centres. Spanish (Castilian) is the official language, with Catalan, Basque and Galician co-official in their regions.

Mexico

Mexico has the largest Spanish-speaking population in the world, at around 130 million, and is a major manufacturing and trading economy closely tied to the United States.

Central and South America

Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Bolivia, Cuba and many other countries have Spanish as an official language, with a combined population of hundreds of millions.

The United States

The United States has the second largest Spanish-speaking population in the world after Mexico, at tens of millions, and a large, young and growing Hispanic consumer market. US Spanish has its own character, shaped by contact with English and by the diversity of origins of its speakers.

Elsewhere

Equatorial Guinea has Spanish as an official language, and Spanish speakers live in the Philippines, Morocco, the Western Sahara, Israel and across Europe. The UK has a sizeable Spanish-speaking community, including many Latin American residents.

Key industries in Spanish-speaking markets

Tourism and hospitality

Spain is one of the world’s most visited countries, and Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America are major destinations. Hotels, airlines, tour operators and property companies produce large volumes of multilingual content.

Banking and financial services

Santander and BBVA are among the world’s major banks, with large operations across Latin America, and the region has a fast-growing fintech sector.

Energy and renewables

Spain is a leader in wind and solar, with companies such as Iberdrola active worldwide, and Latin America has significant oil, gas, hydro and renewable resources.

Mining

Chile and Peru are major copper producers, and the ‘lithium triangle’ of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia holds a large share of the world’s lithium. Mining projects require technical, environmental and community documentation.

Agriculture and food

Spain is a leading exporter of olive oil, wine, fruit and vegetables, and Latin America exports coffee, beef, soy, avocados, fruit and more.

Automotive and manufacturing

Mexico is one of the world’s largest vehicle and parts producers, and Spain has a significant automotive industry.

Fashion and retail

Inditex, owner of Zara, is one of the world’s largest fashion retailers, and Spanish-language retail and e-commerce is large and growing.

Telecoms and media

Spanish-language television, music, streaming and publishing reach hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

Pharmaceuticals and healthcare

Healthcare in Spanish is needed across Spain, Latin America and the United States, with regulatory, clinical and patient documentation.

Legal and public services

US and UK courts, hospitals and local authorities rely on Spanish translation for access to services and justice.

Why translate your business materials into Spanish?

The audience is vast and diverse

With over 20 countries and a very large US market, Spanish gives access to some of the largest consumer groups in the world.

Consumers prefer their own language

Spanish speakers, including those who are bilingual, respond better to content in Spanish, particularly for finance, healthcare, insurance and legal services.

Legal and regulatory requirements

Product labelling, consumer contracts and health information are often required in Spanish in Spain, and in the US many public services must provide language access.

Business relationships

In trade with Latin America and Spain, Spanish builds trust and speeds up negotiation.

Public services

Hospitals, schools, local authorities and charities in the UK and the US depend on Spanish translation to serve their communities.

Getting Spanish right

The key choice is which variety to write for. Spanish for Spain, Latin American Spanish, Mexican Spanish and US Spanish all differ, and a neutral variety can work for some content but not for local marketing. Formal and informal address, gendered language (a topic of ongoing debate), and the conventions of legal and technical text all need to be agreed at the start. AI translation is stronger in Spanish than in many languages, but human translation is still the best way to avoid errors that will stand out to native readers.

Why trust Atlas with your Spanish translation?

Native Spanish translators matched to your audience

Our Spanish translators include native speakers from Spain and Latin America, matched to the variety your audience speaks.

Sector expertise

We have translators with subject knowledge across legal, medical, financial, technical, marketing, public sector work and more

Human translation, always

No AI here! Every Spanish project is handled by a real person who is a native speaker of the language.

A named project manager on every job

Every Atlas project is led by a dedicated member of our team who takes personal responsibility for quality and delivery, so you will always have someone to call.

ISO-certified quality

Atlas holds ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Management) and ISO 17100:2017 (Translation Services) certifications, and was one of the first UK translation agencies to achieve the latter. We are also members of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading and the Association of Translation Companies.

35 years of experience

Spanish has been one of our core languages since Atlas was founded in 1991. If you have a Spanish project to discuss, we would be glad to hear from you.