The FACe platform, through which all suppliers must issue invoices to Spanish town halls for subsequent payment, has been completely inaccessible since Wednesday 19 November 2025 due to remodelling work, according to a statement from the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service. The outage has blocked the submission of electronic invoices to public administrations, leaving thousands of companies and self-employed workers with no way of meeting their administrative obligations and being paid for work or services carried out.
The service’s website has displayed an official message that reads: «We apologise for the inconvenience. Major remodelling and maintenance work is being carried out on the FACe service and its databases, which requires the service to be completely shut down». The text, signed by the responsible ministry, has not specified when the service will be restored nor offered alternatives for submitting documents.
Some users of MiFacturae, an alternative tool for generating invoices, have reported on technical forums that from Wednesday 19th they were receiving notifications about the imminent shutdown of FACe. However, this information has not been officially communicated to all suppliers, creating an imbalance in access to information. The reliance on parallel platforms to receive critical alerts points to systemic failures in institutional communication protocols.
The lack of prior notice has caused administrative chaos, as it coincides with usual invoicing periods. Professionals from many sectors have reported delays in payments and immediate cash-flow problems.
The shutdown comes at a critical time for Spain’s digital transformation, with the imminent introduction of the VeriFactu system from January 2026. This new model, which will require certified software to issue invoices, is causing uncertainty among small and medium-sized businesses: only 8% have completed their adaptation, according to a study by Ipsos published in El País.
The FACe crisis reveals a worrying disconnect between the aims of administrative modernisation and operational reality. While companies and self-employed workers are required to take on costly digitalisation processes, the administrations themselves are failing to guarantee basic services. The lack of transparency over when a solution will arrive and the absence of alternative channels raise serious doubts about the capacity to manage this forced digital transformation.
