Selling to gyms and fitness centres in Spain: who decides

In mid-November a Spanish gym is already thinking about January. That is when most new members join, and anything that has to be working on the first day back, from new machines to a booking app, is being decided now. For a foreign supplier of equipment, software or services, this is the window.

The word gimnasio covers very different businesses, though. A pilates studio on a ground floor in Gijón, an 800-member neighbourhood gym in Zaragoza and a town sports centre near Madrid run by a contractor do not buy the same way, and the person who signs is different in each.

Four kinds of centre

Type	Who decides	How to sell
Small studio (yoga, pilates, personal training, functional training)	The owner, who also teaches	Phone call to the owner's mobile, outside class times
Independent gym	Owner or general manager	Call, then visit; quick decisions if the numbers work
Chain or franchise	Head office: purchasing, operations or expansion	Sell to head office; the local club only hires local services
Municipal facility (polideportivo, public pool)	The town council or the private operator	Public tender, or a direct deal with the operator

Work out which row a centre belongs to before you call. A franchisee cannot change the management software the brand imposes, but can hire a cleaner or a repair technician.

With municipal facilities, what the council itself buys goes to tender under Law 9/2017 on Public Sector Contracts and is published on the national or regional public procurement platform. Many of these centres, however, are run by a private company under a concession, and that company buys like any other business.

To filter by activity, the CNAE-2025 classification (Royal Decree 10/2025) uses class 93.13 for fitness and sports centres (in the previous version it was labelled gyms), 93.11 for the operation of sports facilities and 93.12 for sports clubs. Some yoga, pilates and martial arts studios are registered as teaching, under 85.51. Search all of them, and by trading name too.

What they buy from abroad, and what they do not

Local services such as cleaning, laundry and plumbing go to local firms. The openings for a foreign supplier are elsewhere:

• Equipment. Strength and cardio machines, bought or leased, flooring, studio kit. Spare parts and repair times matter as much as the machine: if you have no service partner in Spain, find one before you sell.
• Software and access. Member management, class booking, direct debit of fees, turnstiles, member apps. It must be in Spanish and handle SEPA direct debits.
• Member acquisition. Campaign tools for January and September, websites, video.
• Energy and water. Climate control, hot water, lighting. In a centre with a heated pool, energy is one of the big lines of the budget.
• Compliance products. Water treatment and monitoring fall under Royal Decree 487/2022 on legionella prevention and control, which affects hot-water systems, spas and pools.
• Extra revenue. Vending, supplements, branded clothing.

One warning if you sell access control. Fingerprint and facial recognition are biometric data, and the Spanish data protection authority (AEPD) takes a strict line on them. Its guide on biometric presence and access control (in Spanish) is required reading before you pitch them. Cards, wristbands or a code on the phone avoid the issue.

The buying calendar

Period	What gets decided
October and November	Whatever must be running in January
January and February	Nothing new: staff are busy with the intake
March to May	Retention projects, training, supplier changes
June and July	Whatever must be ready for September
August	Building work and major maintenance, with the club half empty

August matters more than outsiders expect. Much of Spain slows down, clubs are quiet, and that is when floors get replaced and machines installed. A delivery promised for "late summer" that arrives on 10 September has missed the point.

During the day, gyms fill early in the morning, at lunchtime and from six to nine in the evening. Call mid-morning or early afternoon, Spanish time. In a small studio, check the timetable on its website: if a class is on, the decision-maker is teaching it.

Call in Spanish. An owner between two classes will not switch languages for a stranger. Our cold call script for Spain has openings you can adapt.

Arguments that land

• Members who leave, not only members who join. "How many January joiners are still there in April?" is a question every manager asks. Anything that helps answer it gets attention.
• Downtime. An out-of-order sign on a treadmill for three weeks is seen by every member. Response time outweighs the hourly rate.
• Price in memberships. Managers think in members and monthly fees. If your service costs what six members pay each month, say so.
• No closures. Any installation that shuts the gym floor in high season is ruled out. Offer night work, phased work or August.
• Clear payment terms. Spanish law caps B2B payment terms at 60 days (Law 3/2004 on late payment). State your terms in the quote.

Contacting them legally

Chains and mid-sized gyms are usually companies. Many studios and personal trainers are sole traders (autónomos), who count as individuals under data protection law.

• You need a legal basis, normally legitimate interest, and an offer related to their business.
• Screen sole traders against the Robinson opt-out list before calling.
• Say who you are at the start of the call and record anyone who asks not to be called again.
• Unsolicited marketing email and WhatsApp messages are banned by the LSSI, also when the recipient is a business.

The details are in Is cold calling legal in Spain? and Cold email in Spain and the LSSI.

Mistakes foreign suppliers make

• Calling at seven in the evening. It is rush hour on the gym floor.
• Pitching the franchisee for something head office decides.
• Arriving in December with a January offer. Too late. Note it for June, with September in mind.
• Promising new members. You cannot know how many will join. Talk about what you control: delivery dates, response times, price.
• No Spanish-language support. A studio owner in Murcia will not open a ticket in English.

Building your list

Search by activity and province, then split by size. In our directory, 68.2% of businesses have 0 to 2 employees and only 11.1% have 10 to 49. The first group is studios and trainers with premises; the second is gyms with staff, a front desk and shifts. Segmenting by headcount keeps you from offering turnstiles to someone who opens the door with their own key.

Mobiles make up 92.9% of the phone numbers in the directory, and in a small centre that mobile belongs to the owner. If you are choosing where to begin, see where to start selling in Spain by province, and the B2B sales use case shows how to turn the list into a calling plan.