If you are setting up an SL through CIRCE, you first need to create the Virtual Wallet (Cartera Virtual). It is an online wallet where you leave a balance to pay the Commercial Registry fee. Without it, and without enough balance, the application cannot be submitted.

What the Virtual Wallet is

It is a feature of the CIRCE system, run by the Spanish Association of Registrars. It has been used since May 2026 to set up limited companies through this route.

It is not a new cost. The Registry fee always had to be paid: the difference is that it is now paid in advance, and the Registry deducts it from your balance during the process. The wallet only covers the Commercial Registry; the notary is paid separately.

Who has to create it

One of the partners, in their own name. It can be an individual or a company. Keep two things in mind:

  • They need a digital certificate or Cl@ve to identify themselves. If no partner has either, one has to be obtained first.
  • Someone who is not a partner cannot create it for you. The wallet has to be in a partner’s name.

How much to top up

The Government of Catalonia’s page gives two amounts:

  • €110 if income tax (IRPF) withholding applies.
  • €121 if it does not.

It advises always topping up €121, and so do we: that way the process won’t stop for lack of balance. You pay by credit or debit card.

You don’t spend the whole amount. The fee is deducted and you can ask for the rest back.

How to create it, step by step

  1. Go to the Registrars’ website and open the Virtual Wallet (Cartera Virtual).
  2. Identify yourself with your digital certificate or Cl@ve.
  3. Top up the balance by card.
  4. Save the unique identifier the system gives you.

That identifier goes on the DUE, the document used to process the incorporation, together with the name of the partner who holds the wallet. They must match: when the DUE is submitted, the system checks that the wallet is valid and has enough balance, and returns an error if not.

The Association of Registrars also has a video with the steps.

What happens to the remaining balance

Once the fee has been deducted, you can request a full or partial refund from the same Registrars’ website. The sources we consulted don’t give a specific timeframe for receiving it.

If you decide not to go ahead

Neither the official guide nor the other sources we consulted cover this specific case. What the guide does say is that from the Registrars’ website you can recover the balance, in full or in part, and close the wallet. One of the advisory firms explaining it adds that the refund has no additional cost.

For any question about your wallet, the Association of Registrars is who answers: here are its contact channels.

Mistakes that stop the process

  • Leaving it to the last minute without a digital certificate or Cl@ve.
  • Creating the wallet in the name of someone who is not a partner.
  • The partner named on the DUE not being the wallet holder.
  • Topping up less than needed.
  • Not saving the identifier, or not passing it to whoever prepares the DUE.

If you set up your SL with us

You create the wallet and top it up, because a partner has to do it. Once you have it, let us know and send us the identifier: we’ll include it in the DUE and take care of the rest of the process. We cannot start until it has been created.

To see what’s included and how much it costs, take a look at how we set up your SL.