What the rules give you in both countries
Contracting authorities must treat economic operators equally and without discrimination (Directive 2014/24/EU art. 18(1); LCSP art. 132(1)).
At the time of tender, authorities must accept the ESPD as preliminary evidence that you are not excluded, meet the selection criteria and, where applicable, the rules on limiting candidates (Directive art. 59(1)). Economic and financial standing and technical and professional ability are set by the contracting body in the notice and must be linked and proportionate to the contract (LCSP art. 74(2); Directive art. 58(1)).
A Portuguese company bidding in Spain
The LCSP provides that a non-Spanish company from an EU or EEA country shows its capacity by registration in the register of its State of establishment or by a sworn declaration or certificate (art. 84(2)). In Spain a tender in an open procedure comes with a responsible declaration following the DEUC form (LCSP art. 140(1)(a)).
- ROLECE: in the simplified open procedure every bidder must be registered in ROLECE (or, where applicable, the regional register) at the closing date, provided competition is not restricted, but a bidder who applied for registration before the closing date is also admitted (LCSP art. 159(4)(a)). In other procedures, registration is a way to prove your capacity, solvency and absence of contracting bans (art. 96(1)), not a general condition.
- The pliegos (tender documents) set the requirements, the language and the way to submit. Read them before you decide to bid.
A Spanish company bidding in Portugal
Under the CCP, those who have not regularised their tax and social security position in Portugal or, where relevant, in the State of their nationality or main establishment cannot be candidates or tenderers (art. 55(1)(d) and (e)). In procedures advertised in the Official Journal of the EU the ESPD (DEUCP in Portugal) is filed; it is not optional there (CCP art. 57(6)).
- Language: the documents that make up your tender are written in Portuguese; the procedure programme or the invitation may allow another language for some documents, where the technical nature of the contract justifies it (CCP art. 58(1) and (2)).
- Submission: tenders are submitted on the electronic platform the contracting authority uses (CCP art. 62(1)). Check how to access it before the deadline.
- If you win, the authority asks for the supporting documents (it must obtain itself those it can, CCP art. 81(10)); you must file the rest on time, in Portuguese or with a legalised translation unless the programme says otherwise; if you fail to do so for a reason attributable to you, the award lapses (CCP art. 81(1) and art. 86(2)(a) and (c)).
The practical barrier
A common obstacle is not the law but finding the notice: it is published in the other country's language, on a platform the company does not watch, sometimes close to the deadline. Sinal reads PLACSP and some regional platforms (Catalonia, Euskadi) in Spain, and BASE in Portugal, plus TED for both, so a company sees the notices in its sectors of both countries side by side.