Bilingual Profiles and Auto-Translation

SpainTrades serves a bilingual audience — English-speaking expats and Spanish-speaking local customers. This guide explains how your profile is automatically shown in both languages, and what that means for how you're found and contacted.

Write Once, Show in Two Languages

When you write your business description, services, and other profile fields in English, SpainTrades automatically generates a Spanish translation using DeepL — one of the most accurate machine translation services available. Spanish-speaking customers see your profile in Spanish; English-speaking customers see it in English.

You don't need to write two versions of anything. Simply write clearly in your preferred language and the translation is handled for you.

Note: Machine translation is accurate but not perfect. For your main business description, it's worth reviewing the Spanish version if you have a Spanish-speaking colleague who can check it. Contact us if you spot a translation that needs correcting.

The Profile Language Selector

On your public profile page, visitors can toggle between English and Spanish using the language selector at the top. The site defaults to the visitor's browser language preference. Customers who have set their SpainTrades account to Spanish will see the Spanish version automatically.

What Gets Translated Automatically

The following fields are translated:

• Business description
• Services description
• Trade category names
• Qualifications and certifications text

Fields that are not translated include your business name, phone numbers, URLs, addresses, and social media handles — these appear identically in both languages.

English Level Badges

Your profile includes an English level rating — Basic, Conversational, Fluent, or Native. This is set during profile completion and can be updated at any time. It tells expat customers what level of English communication to expect when they contact you.

Be honest about your level. A customer who contacts you expecting fluent English and finds otherwise will leave a disappointed review. Accurate ratings lead to better-matched enquiries and better relationships.

What "Expat-Friendly" Means for Your Profile

SpainTrades uses the term "expat-friendly" rather than simply "English-speaking" because what matters most to international customers is broader than language. Being expat-friendly means being comfortable and experienced working with customers who may not yet have a Spanish bank account, who need a proper invoice, or who are unfamiliar with local building regulations.

These qualities are often worth more to an expat customer than fluent English alone — and they're worth highlighting in your profile description.