French to Spanish Translation

This direction applies when a French document has to be submitted to a Spanish-speaking country. The source is a diploma, civil registry record or contract coming from France or from Belgium, Switzerland and the francophone countries of Africa; the destination is Spain or a Latin American country. Both languages come from the Romance family; this closeness may look as though it makes translation easier, yet false friends arise from precisely that resemblance.

Typical users are people who have an educational or working background in a francophone country and are moving to a Spanish-speaking country: the student applying for a master’s degree in Spain with a diploma from France or francophone Africa, the person submitting a French document to a procedure in Latin America, the French contracts of companies working between the two markets. In these profiles, settling the destination country (Spain or Latin America) at the outset is the basis for the choice of terminology and certification.

Challenges specific to this pair

Words that look alike in French and Spanish but part company in meaning lead to misunderstanding in official texts; every term is chosen according to its context. French administrative document names (acte de naissance, casier judiciaire) are rendered into Spanish by their institutional function. Accented French names are aligned in the Spanish target with the spelling in the person’s passport. Even though number and date formats are similar in the two languages, they are reviewed against the usage of the destination.

The second difficulty is the breadth of the target geography and the variety of the source. Which Spanish is being aimed at (Spain or Latin America) has to be stated at the outset; moreover, since the administrative structure of the country of issue may differ from that of France in documents from francophone Africa, institution names are conveyed according to the reality of that country. French higher education concepts (licence, maîtrise) are not forced onto an equivalent Spanish degree; the recognition decision is left to the institution concerned, and French marking (out of 20) is not converted but explained.

Third, the set formulas and abbreviations in French documents are carried into Spanish by their meaning; formulas such as né(e) le and délivré le are not left as formulas. Registry and file numbers are not translated, and the record they belong to is stated. The positions of the seals and signatures on the source document are preserved in the translation with a note. In multi-document immigration and recognition files, the name and the equivalents used for institutions are kept consistent across every document; since a jurado is expected in Spain and local certification in Latin America, the set is prepared for a single destination.

One striking aspect of this direction is that the document usually travels between two separate civil law worlds; although both the French and the Spanish tradition rest on Roman law, their institutions, document names and certification procedures diverge. In a document originating in francophone Africa, the name of the ministry or university of the country of issue is both conveyed accurately and explained in a form the Spanish reader can recognise, because the receiving side may take that institution for a French one. If the destination is Spain, certification by a jurado appointed by the MAEC is usually expected locally, so even where the translation is prepared in Türkiye this requirement is verified; for destinations in Latin America, a notarial or local sworn translator regime applies instead. Whether the source document has obtained the necessary apostille or certification in its country of issue is checked at the outset. A French or francophone document is thus processed at the Spanish-speaking institution it is sent to consistently and in full, without prompting a request for further explanation.

Documents for which this direction is requested

Education files come first; French and francophone diplomas, transcripts and course descriptions are requested together for recognition. Next come birth, marriage and civil registry records, along with criminal record certificates, contracts and commercial documents.

• French/francophone diplomas, transcripts and course descriptions
• Birth, marriage and civil registry records
• Criminal record certificates, contracts and commercial documents

Chain of certification

Spain requires a translation by a traductor jurado appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAEC); translations from outside the list are invalid. Latin American countries apply different regimes, such as notarisation or a local sworn translator. An apostille or the applicable certification has to be obtained for the source document in its country of issue (France, Belgium, Switzerland or the African country concerned). Check the certification regime of the country you will apply to and the document requirements from the outset.

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The fee and turnaround information on this page is based on the current tariff; it may vary with the features of the document. For the applicable requirements, consult the institution’s current list of papers.