Spain opens testing for its public e-Invoicing platform

Test services and tools

On 10 November 2026 the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) announced that the first web services of its public e-invoicing platform, the SPFE (Solución Pública de Facturación Electrónica), are available on its developer portal. The services run in AEAT’s pre-production environment, which is its test environment.

Two tools came with the announcement, both in AEAT’s external test portal. One is a client that simulates calls to the platform. The other is a validator that checks a single e-invoice without sending it. AEAT says both are for use during the testing period only.

The SPFE is the free platform AEAT runs under Spain’s B2B e-invoicing mandate, and Order HAC/1028/2026 sets out how it works. The mandate starts on 6 October 2027 for businesses with an annual VAT turnover above EUR 8 million and on 6 October 2028 for everyone else, as covered in our post on the Order.

The documentation so far

AEAT began publishing the technical documentation in October 2026. The earliest versions are dated 9 October 2026, and the service catalogue was last revised on 3 November 2026. The set is listed on the SPFE page of the developer portal.

Some of it is not yet complete. As at 13 November 2026, the sections of the formats document on cancelling invoices, queries, downloads and status messages were marked as pending publication.

Sending invoices

Invoices are sent in the UBL format, following the European e-invoicing standard EN 16931. AEAT’s reference version is UBL 2.5. Its validation document adds that earlier UBL versions are accepted, provided the invoice holds the minimum content set out in Annex I.

The invoices are carried inside ebXML, an international messaging standard. AEAT’s documentation says this choice brings the platform closer to Peppol and to the way private e-invoicing platforms operate.

Checks on each invoice

Each invoice goes through three checks. The first confirms that the file is correctly structured. The second applies the rules of EN 16931. The third applies AEAT’s own rules, which cover Spanish invoicing requirements that the European standard does not. An invoice that fails a check is rejected, and the response identifies the error. AEAT says it will publish its own rules on the developer portal in stages.

The validator in the test portal checks one invoice at a time and is available in the test environment only, not in production. AEAT’s documentation states that use of the service will be monitored, and that using it to validate every invoice before sending may be treated as improper use.

Annex I also includes a field for the QR code required under Veri*factu, Spain’s rules for invoicing software, or under TicketBAI in the Basque Country. The sample invoice AEAT published carries a Veri*factu QR code.

What comes next

Under the Order, the platform must be available at least two months before the first mandate date of 6 October 2027. AEAT takes technical questions on the SPFE at a dedicated mailbox, [email protected].

The Spain country page tracks the mandate as it develops, and the Spain e-Invoicing guide covers scope, exemptions and penalties. Spain’s dates also appear on the global e-invoicing timeline.