The same misunderstanding reaches us every season: someone signs a power of attorney or a declaration before a notary public in Florida, Texas or New York, sees an impressive stamp, and assumes they now hold "a notarial document" equivalent to what they would sign at a notary's office in Madrid. It is not. And the confusion matters, because it changes what has to happen next for the paper to work in Spain.
What a notary public actually does
The US notary public is an administrative figure, not a lawyer. Most states require no legal training: an application, sometimes a short exam, a surety bond and a fee are enough. The work is limited to two acts:
- Acknowledgment: the signer appears and acknowledges to the notary that the signature on the document is theirs and was made freely. The signer may have signed beforehand.
- Jurat: the signer signs in the notary's presence and swears or affirms under oath that the contents of the document are true. This is standard for affidavits and declarations.
In both cases the notary attests to who signs, not to what the document says. They do not draft it, do not check that it is lawful, do not warn of its consequences and do not advise the parties. The content comes from the signer; the notary only certifies identity and presence.
What a Spanish notary does
The Spanish notary belongs to the Latin (civil-law) notariat, and here the role is radically different. They are a jurist who has passed a demanding public competition and exercises a public function. They do not merely watch who signs: they draft the deed, control the legality of the act, inform the parties of what they are doing, and give public faith as to the content.
The technical consequence is large. The Spanish public deed carries reinforced evidential weight and the status of an authentic instrument. A US acknowledgment certifies a signature; a Spanish deed certifies a complete legal transaction, reviewed and legally controlled. They are instruments of different weight, even if both bear a stamp and are translated into Spanish with the same care.
What it means for your document in Spain
This is where the difference stops being theoretical. A power of attorney or an affidavit "notarized" in the US does not reach Spain on its own. The usual path is:
- Notarization before the notary public (acknowledgment or jurat).
- Hague Apostille, which in the US is not issued by the notary but by the Secretary of State of the state where that notary acted (and, for certain federal documents, the US Department of State). It helps to be clear about where each apostille comes from — we cover it in US apostille: federal vs state.
- Sworn translation into Spanish by a MAEC-accredited translator, after apostilling, because the apostille forms part of the document.
A detail that is often missed: the notary's stamp and the apostille are translated too, not just the main text. The sworn translator faithfully reproduces the acknowledgment wording, the notary's details, commission and expiry, and the content of the apostille. It is part of the document, and the Spanish authority expects to see it in Spanish.
The sufficiency test for a power of attorney
With powers of attorney there is an extra step that surprises those coming from the common-law system. When a power granted abroad is used before a notary in Spain —for example, to buy a property— the Spanish notary assesses whether the power sufficiently empowers the specific act: the so-called juicio de suficiencia. It is not enough that the document exists and is apostilled; it has to say what it needs to say.
That is why the translation matters so much. If the power authorises the agent "to buy real property", the notary needs to see the exact scope of that authority in Spanish to decide whether it covers the operation. An imprecise translation can lead the notary to demand a fresh power, with the delay and cost that entails. If you are preparing a purchase from abroad, it is worth reading first how it all fits into buying property in Spain and how a notarial power of attorney is translated.
An honest note
This is an explanation of the conceptual difference between two notarial systems and of the part that concerns us —the translation— not legal advice. Every procedure has its own casuistry, and the person who decides whether a power is sufficient is the Spanish notary before whom it is used, not the translator. What we can guarantee is that the document arrives in Spanish with the precision that notary expects.
At Textualia we translate powers of attorney, affidavits and other US-notarized documents for use in Spain —including the notary's stamp and the apostille— with MAEC-accredited translators. We deliver as electronically signed PDF and, when the notary requires paper, in physical copy by courier. That way the only clock ticking is the source paperwork, not the translation.