Legal guide
How to sell homemade cakes in Spain legally
To sell homemade cakes in Spain you need a registered kitchen: the regional health register of your autonomous community if you sell straight to customers, or the national RGSEA register if you also sell to cafés, restaurants or shops. Spain has no cottage food law, so a home kitchen only qualifies if your region accepts it and it passes inspection. You also register as self-employed (autónomo), take food handler training and give allergen information. This is a summary, not legal advice: confirm the details with your regional health department.
Last verified October 11, 2026
Can you sell cakes from home in Spain?
Unlike many US states, Spain has no cottage food law. Anyone who sells food, even four cakes a month, is a food business operator under EU Regulation 852/2004 on food hygiene: washable surfaces, a hand basin, temperature control, raw ingredients kept apart from finished goods, and a written food safety plan.
A family kitchen rarely meets those rules, and many regions will not accept one for cakes with cream or custard. Royal Decree 1086/2020 relaxes some hygiene requirements for small producers and direct sales and lets regions ask for further adaptations, and some regions have their own rules for small-scale artisan production. Ask your regional health department before you spend money.
Selling unregistered cakes on Instagram or WhatsApp can lead to a fine, and if someone gets ill the liability is yours. The usual ways to start legally are:
- Rent hourly time in a shared or commercial kitchen that is already registered.
- Fit out a commercial unit or a space separate from your home as a bakery.
- Register your own kitchen, only if your region allows it and it passes inspection.
- Bake for a registered bakery that sells under its own name.
Read next: Permits to sell homemade baked goods in Spain and Latin America
RGSEA or regional register: which one you need
The RGSEA, officially RGSEAA (the General Health Register of Food Businesses and Foods), is set out in Royal Decree 191/2011. It is run by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN), but you apply through your autonomous community, which processes the application and passes it on. Businesses that sell only to the final consumer, on their own premises or with their own delivery, are left out of the RGSEA and go on the regional health register instead. Under Royal Decree 1021/2022, a retail business can also supply other shops and stay on the regional register if that supply is marginal, local and restricted: roughly, no more than a quarter of what you make, within your area, and never to businesses on the RGSEAA. Your region applies the details.
The application is usually a prior notice or responsible declaration to the regional health department, with a description of the activity, a floor plan of the kitchen and your food safety plan. An inspection may follow. Some regions charge a fee and others do not; check the amount on your region's website.
| Who you sell to | Register | Where to apply |
|---|---|---|
| Final customers only (orders, markets, your own shop) | Regional health register | Your region's health department |
| Cafés, restaurants or shops that resell | RGSEA | Regional health department, which notifies AESAN |
| Both final customers and businesses | RGSEA | Regional health department |
The town hall licence
Separately from the health register, the town hall has to approve the activity in that space, usually through an activity licence or a responsible declaration. If the kitchen is in a home, the town hall may check that the use is allowed under the zoning plan and by the residents' association. Ask the planning department before you sign a lease or start building work.
Registering as autónomo and VAT on cakes
To invoice, you register with the tax agency on form 036, choosing the IAE activity code that matches what you do (pastry production or retail, depending on how you sell), and join the self-employed social security scheme (RETA). The monthly autónomo contribution depends on your net earnings, and new starters can apply for a reduced rate; check the current amount with Social Security or an accountant (gestoría).
Cakes, pastries and sweet baked goods carry 10% VAT (IVA), not the 4% rate that applies to bread. You will need to issue invoices or receipts, file VAT every quarter and keep income and expense records.
Read next: Invoice template for autónomos in Spain who bake
Food handler training
The government-issued food handler card (carnet de manipulador de alimentos) was abolished by Royal Decree 109/2010, but training is still required: Regulation 852/2004 says anyone who handles food must be trained in hygiene for their work. In practice you take a course with a training company or academy, which gives you a certificate. You need it, and so does anyone who helps you in the kitchen.
The food safety plan the inspector expects, based on HACCP, covers temperature logs, cleaning and disinfection, supplier checks and traceability, which in a small kitchen mostly means keeping the invoices and batch numbers of what you buy.
Allergens and labelling
EU Regulation 1169/2011 requires information on 14 allergens, including gluten, egg, milk, tree nuts and soy. Cakes contain most of them, so keep an allergen sheet for each recipe.
If you sell cakes unpackaged, made to order or over a counter, Royal Decree 126/2015 lets you give allergen information in writing on request, for example with an allergen chart. If you sell them packaged, they need a full label. If you sell online, the mandatory information, allergens included, must be shown before the customer pays.
A label on a packaged cake includes at least:
- The name of the food, for example baked cheesecake.
- The ingredient list with allergens highlighted.
- Net quantity.
- Use-by or best-before date.
- Storage conditions, such as keep refrigerated.
- Name and address of the business.
- Nutrition information, unless you use the exemption for small quantities sold directly to consumers.
Read next: Free allergen chart and ingredient label template for bakers
Example: what VAT and the autónomo fee do to your price
An example with made-up but realistic figures: an 8-slice cheesecake. Ingredients cost €7.90 and the box and board €1.50. It takes you an hour, which you value at €10. In this example your autónomo contribution and kitchen rent add up to €300 a month and you sell about 60 cakes, so each cake carries €5 of that.
Total cost is €24.40. To keep a 30% margin on the price before VAT, divide the cost by 0.70 to get €34.86, rounded to €35. Then add 10% VAT, which belongs to the tax agency, not to you: the customer pays €38.50. Had you charged €35 with VAT included, you would keep €31.82 after VAT and your real margin would drop to about 23%.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Ingredients | €7.90 |
| Box and board | €1.50 |
| Labour (1 hour) | €10.00 |
| Share of autónomo fee and kitchen rent | €5.00 |
| Total cost | €24.40 |
| Price before VAT (30% margin) | €35.00 |
| VAT (10%) | €3.50 |
| Customer price | €38.50 |
Read next: Escandallo: what it is and how to make one for your bakery, Food cost calculator for bakers
Keep your numbers in order from the first order
Once you are registered, the tax agency will want figures every quarter and the inspector will want to see that you know what you buy and sell. Farinu is an app for home and micro bakers that handles the numbers: costing for each recipe with ingredients, packaging, sub-recipes, labour, machines and overhead such as the autónomo fee, suggested prices from your target markup or price (a markup is a percentage of cost: the 30% margin above is about a 43% markup, and €24.40 times 1.43 is €34.89, rounded to €35), and separate price lists for retail customers and for cafés.
It also keeps your customers with their WhatsApp numbers, custom orders with the deposit and the balance due, a sales log and a monthly profit and loss. Purchases and stock show what you bought and when, and when an ingredient price rises it tells you which cakes lost margin. The free plan covers costing for up to 10 recipes and up to 50 orders a month; the rest is on the Team plan.
Sources
- Regulation (EC) 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs (EUR-Lex)
- Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 on food information to consumers (EUR-Lex)
- Royal Decree 191/2011 on the RGSEAA health register (BOE)
- Royal Decree 1021/2022 on hygiene in retail food businesses (BOE)
- Royal Decree 1086/2020 on flexible hygiene rules for food businesses (BOE)
- Royal Decree 109/2010, which repealed the food handler card rules (BOE)
- Royal Decree 126/2015 on information for unpackaged food (BOE)
- Law 37/1992 on VAT, article 91 on reduced rates (BOE)
- AESAN: the RGSEAA health register
Questions
- Do I need the RGSEA to sell cakes on Instagram?
- If you only sell to final customers, the regional health register is usually enough; the RGSEA is for selling to other businesses. Either way you need a kitchen that meets the hygiene rules.
- Can I bake in my home kitchen?
- It depends on your region. Many do not accept a kitchen the family also uses, and others accept one that meets the requirements and passes inspection. Ask your regional health department before you start.
- Do I still need a food handler card?
- The official card no longer exists, but training is mandatory. Take a course with a training provider and keep the certificate to show at an inspection.
- What VAT do cakes carry in Spain?
- Cakes, pastries and sweet baked goods carry 10% VAT. Add it on top of your pre-VAT price so you do not lose margin.
Related pages
Price your cakes with every cost included
Cost your recipes with the autónomo fee included, set your markup and keep orders and sales in one place. Farinu is free for up to 10 recipes.