Hiring a Japanese Chef in Barcelona: Catalonia's Work Permit

Hiring a cook from Japan for a Barcelona restaurant follows Spanish immigration law, but the office that decides the work permit is not the one that handles the rest of Spain. Since 2009, Catalonia's own government has handled initial work authorisations for employment in Catalonia. This guide covers that difference and the Barcelona market. The general Spanish route, including the labour market test, is explained in our Spain guide.

1. Barcelona in numbers

• The Catalan statistics institute (Idescat), using Spain's annual population census, counted 1,498 Japanese nationals living in the city of Barcelona on 1 January 2025.
• That is 63.31% of all Japanese nationals in Catalonia. Japanese nationals in Catalonia are heavily concentrated in the city.
• Japan's foreign ministry counted 9,733 Japanese nationals in Spain as a whole on 1 October 2025.

A community of about 1,500 people is small. It will not staff a kitchen on its own, but it is where to start looking for bilingual front of house staff and for cooks who already hold Spanish residence. Anyone who already has the right to work saves you the entire procedure below.

2. In Catalonia, the work permit is Catalan

According to Catalonia's Department of Business and Labour (Departament d'Empresa i Treball), initial work authorisations for foreign nationals are a competence transferred to the Generalitat under article 138.2 of Catalonia's Statute of Autonomy. Catalonia was the first autonomous community in Spain to manage it, and has done so since 1 October 2009.

The split works like this:

The two administrations coordinate, but for an employer the practical point is simple. For a first hire from Japan into a Barcelona restaurant, you apply through the Generalitat's procedure, not through a Spanish state immigration office.

3. How the application works in Catalonia

The Generalitat's procedure for an initial residence and work authorisation for employed work is coded AUT01a. According to its pages (updated July 2026):

• Who applies. The employer who wants to hire a non-resident foreign worker. A legal representative can act for the employer, with a notarised power or an apud acta power registered in the Generalitat's register of representatives (Representa).
• Online only. Under article 197.2 of Royal Decree 1155/2024, all applications must be submitted through the official electronic procedure. Companies cannot file on paper.
• Guides. The Generalitat publishes a processing guide and a separate support guide on how to prove the worker's professional qualifications. Read both before you start; the qualification guide matters for a cook whose training was in Japan.
• Fees. The employer pays the work authorisation fee, which can be paid through the online form or at a bank. The worker pays the residence fee (form 052). If the worker has no foreigner number (NIE) yet, which is usual, they receive a request to pay it once one is assigned.
• No refunds. The work fee is charged for processing the application, whatever the outcome. It is not returned if the application is refused, withdrawn or closed.

The substance of the test does not change because Catalonia handles it. You still need to show the national employment situation allows the hire, you still need a proper contract, and pay must meet the legal minimum. Those rules are in the Spain guide.

4. Why the shortage catalogue does not help

Spain's catalogue of hard-to-fill occupations (Catálogo de Ocupaciones de Difícil Cobertura) lets an employer skip the labour market test for listed jobs. The catalogue for the third quarter of 2026 was published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado on 2 September 2026. Its only cooks are ship's cooks (cocineros de barco), listed with other merchant navy jobs for all coastal provinces plus Lleida and Madrid.

A restaurant cook therefore goes through the job offer route: register the vacancy with the public employment services and obtain the documentation showing it could not be filled locally. In Catalonia that is the Catalan public employment service; ask it what documentation it issues for an AUT01a application.

5. Pay floor and the working holiday option

Royal Decree 126/2026 set Spain's minimum wage (salario mínimo interprofesional) for 2026 at €1,221 a month, or €40.70 a day, paid in 14 instalments, which is €17,094 a year. Where the collective agreement for your business sets a higher minimum for the grade, that applies.

Spain and Japan have run a working holiday programme since 2017, and Japan's foreign ministry lists up to 700 places a year for Japanese nationals. Working holiday participants already in Barcelona are worth including in your local search. The programme is temporary by design, so if you want to keep someone long term, plan the AUT01a procedure well before their stay ends. The programme's conditions are in the Spain guide.

6. A Barcelona hiring plan

1. Recruit locally first. Barcelona holds most of Catalonia's Japanese residents.
2. For a hire from Japan, register the vacancy with the public employment service and collect evidence that it could not be filled.
3. Read the Generalitat's AUT01a processing guide and its guide on proving professional qualifications.
4. File the application electronically, pay the work fee and keep the proof.
5. Once the authorisation is granted, the cook completes the visa and residence steps, which the Spanish State handles. See the Spain guide for the timing.

To reach Japanese cooks already in Spain and elsewhere in Europe, you can post a job on WashokuJob.

General information gathered from official sources in September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. Confirm current requirements with the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Spanish authorities or a qualified adviser before acting.