Short answer
In Spain, agency price lists checked in November 2026 put a full day of interpreting at €540 to €780 plus 21% VAT, and a half day at €400 to €650. Simultaneous interpreting normally takes two interpreters and a booth per target language, plus receivers and a technician; travel and per diem are usually extra. AI captions on guests' phones suit talks and internal events, while negotiations and official events still call for an interpreter.
Disclosure: the Getix Translate team wrote this article, and Getix Translate is one of the apps we compare. No other company paid to be included or for its position.
Features and prices checked on the official websites on 10 November 2026. They may have changed since.
In Spain, interpreters for events charge by the half day and the full day, and each quote counts people, hours and equipment its own way.
How much does an interpreter cost per day in Spain?
In the agency price lists we checked on 10 November 2026, a full day of interpreting costs €540 to €780 plus 21% VAT and a half day €400 to €650. Public contracts and the UN give reference points:
- €610 plus VAT buys a full day of simultaneous interpreting in a San Sebastián research foundation's public contract from 2025, extended to May 2027. Source: Basque public contracts portal
- €1,555 plus VAT is the total the Basque Government awarded on 14 April 2026 for one day of simultaneous interpreting at a delegation's visit; the record gives no breakdown. Source: Basque public contracts portal
- €566 a day, net, is the higher UN rate for short term conference interpreters in Spain, July to December 2026. Source: UN Chief Executives Board
| Price list | Mode | Half day | Full day | Extra hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MBA Traducciones | Simultaneous | €500 | €650 | €100 |
| MBA Traducciones | Consecutive | €650 | €780 | €175 |
| Dixit, English or French | Any mode | €450 | €545 | Not listed |
| Dixit, Chinese, Japanese or Korean | Any mode | €550 | €650 | Not listed |
| ITA Traducciones | Simultaneous | €440 | €540 | €100 |
| Mondo Agit | Any mode | €400 | €550 | €120 |
MBA Traducciones, Dixit and Mondo Agit call these prices indicative: venue, subject and availability can change them. Dixit requires two interpreters once simultaneous work passes an hour and a half. Ask any agency whether a simultaneous quote covers one interpreter or the pair. Hourly rates and minimums are in our interpreter cost per hour index.
Half day or full day: which should you book?
Book the full day if the programme might run past four hours. A half day means up to four hours at MBA Traducciones, Dixit and Mondo Agit; a full day, up to seven hours at Dixit and eight at the other two. In the table, a full day costs €95 to €150 more than a half day, and an extra hour €100 to €175. Where a list charges extra hours, a half day that runs two hours over costs more than a full day.
Simultaneous, consecutive or liaison: which mode fits your event?
Pick simultaneous for conferences and long programmes, consecutive for a short speech or a negotiation, and liaison for visits and meetings between two sides. MBA Traducciones, for example, lists congresses for simultaneous, press conferences for consecutive and business visits for liaison.
| Event | Simultaneous, from a booth | Consecutive | Liaison or whispered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conference, congress or seminar | Yes | No every passage is said twice | No |
| Negotiation between two sides | Partly needs equipment in the room | Yes | Yes in short turns |
| Visit to a factory or site | No the booth stays in one room | Partly at each stop | Yes or a portable radio kit |
| One or two listeners in a larger meeting | No | No | Yes whispered, no booth |
Words in Spanish quotes
- Cabina
- The soundproof booth, usually one per target language.
- Receptores
- Receivers with headphones, one per listener.
- Infoport
- A portable radio kit with 20 receivers per case, for one language in one direction.
- Susurrada
- Whispered interpreting, or chuchotage, for one or two listeners.
- Enlace or bilateral
- Liaison interpreting in short turns between two sides.
- Media jornada, jornada completa
- Half day and full day; the hours vary by agency.
- Dietas, desplazamiento
- Per diem and travel, usually billed on top.
Why does simultaneous interpreting need two interpreters per language?
Because concentration fades: a pair takes turns to keep quality up all day. The professional standards of AIIC Italia, a region of the international association of conference interpreters, make at least two interpreters per language and per booth the general rule, so nobody works alone without a colleague to take over. AIIC Greece and Cyprus gives the example of a car launch from Spanish into four languages: eight interpreters, each pair taking turns every 30 minutes.
If a quote has one interpreter for a full day in a booth, ask why. Questions back in the speakers' language add people too: the same standards count three interpreters for two languages both ways, or two for short meetings if each can work into both languages. They also limit an interpreter's normal day to two sessions of two and a half to three hours.
What does a one day conference with interpreters cost?
For each language the audience hears, plan on two interpreters, a booth, receivers and a technician, plus VAT and any travel. Take a seven hour conference in Spanish with 60 guests who need English:
- Interpreters: two at €540 to €650 each from the lists above, if the price is per person, so €1,080 to €1,300.
- Equipment: a booth, receivers and a technician, quoted per event. As a reference, the Autonomous University of Barcelona's interpreting faculty charges €750 a day plus VAT for a room with booths, up to 79 receivers and support, and rents it only with interpreters it arranges.
- Travel: nothing for a local team; otherwise travel days, per diem and a hotel.
- VAT: 21% on all of it.
Each extra language adds another pair of interpreters and another booth. For a small group in one language, an infoport kit can replace the booth: one Spanish supplier rents it from €200 plus VAT. For guided visits, see receivers or phone apps for tours.
What is included in an interpreter's day rate?
Usually only the interpreting. All four lists exclude VAT, and MBA Traducciones and Mondo Agit also exclude travel and equipment. Mondo Agit may charge up to 100% for a cancellation, and Idiomáticus bills travel time at half its hourly rate. For interpreters from abroad, AIIC lists travel days, a daily allowance, airfares and any visas.
What your quote should state
- Team: interpreters per language, and their hours.
- Hours: what a half and a full day mean, and the price of an extra hour.
- Equipment: booths, receivers, technician and setup, or none.
- Travel: travel time, per diem and hotel, included or at cost.
- Preparation: when documents are due, and whether a briefing is included.
- Recording: whether you may record or stream; AIIC standards require the interpreters' consent.
- Cancellation: fees by date, and the cost of a postponement.
- VAT: whether the 21% is included.
How do you organise interpreting for an event?
Start from the languages, then book people and equipment together.
List the languages. What is spoken on stage, what the audience needs, and whether questions come back.
Choose the mode for each session. Simultaneous for talks and panels, consecutive for a short speech, liaison for visits.
Get two or three quotes. Use the checklist above, so they compare the same team, hours and equipment.
Book the equipment with the team. A booth per target language, a receiver per listener plus spares, a technician.
Send the material early. Programme, slides, speeches, names and terms, as AIIC advises, and offer a briefing.
Prepare videos for the booth. Interpreters need to see the screen, a direct audio feed and the script in advance.
Test the sound before the doors open. AIIC asks the team leader and the sound engineer to check all equipment first.
When are AI captions on guests' phones enough?
When the audience needs to follow a talk or a meeting and nothing is being signed. With Getix Translate, our product, a laptop near the speaker listens, and each guest opens a link on their own phone, picks a language and reads, with no account and nothing to install. The host's screen keeps the original next to each translation.
AI captions on phones are enough
- Talks and training: one language on stage, part of the audience reading in their own.
- Internal events: a company meeting, an onboarding day, a partner visit.
- Small budgets and short notice: no booths, receivers or technician.
- Several languages in one room: up to 5 at once, depending on the plan.
Book an interpreter
- Money or a contract at stake: negotiations, signings, official meetings.
- Crosstalk: when panellists talk over each other, words get lost.
- Listening, not reading: long days, or guests who would rather hear a person.
- More than 5 languages, or a weak connection: captions need internet for the host and every guest.
An interpreter asks when something is unclear and answers for the rendering; AI captions do neither, and they can get a name or a number wrong. On cost, one hour of the event uses one hour of the host's plan, however many languages it shows: from €3.78 per meeting hour on the largest plan, VAT included, and guests pay nothing.
Put the laptop on power and a stable connection where it hears the speaker, and pick the languages first: they can't change during a meeting. Choose the Presentation speaking style and add names to the Glossary. A meeting runs up to 3 hours, so restart in a break; the link stays the same on that laptop unless you choose a new link for each meeting.
Limits
Getix Translate helps you follow the conversation. It is not a substitute for a professional interpreter, or for a sworn translator or interpreter where the law or the situation requires one.
See also live translation at a table.
FAQ
How much does an interpreter cost per day in Spain?
In the agency price lists we checked on 10 November 2026, a full day costs €540 to €780 plus 21% VAT and a half day €400 to €650. Travel, per diem and equipment are usually extra.
How much does a simultaneous interpreter cost for a conference?
Plan on two interpreters per target language. Spanish agency lists charge €540 to €650 for a full day into English, plus 21% VAT; ask whether that price is per interpreter. A booth, receivers and a technician come on top.
How many interpreters does a conference need?
For simultaneous interpreting, usually two per target language, each pair in its own booth, and more for long days or questions in both directions.
Can AI captions replace a conference interpreter?
Not where words carry legal or financial weight, where people talk over each other, or where the audience would rather listen than read. For talks, training and internal events, captions on guests' phones are often enough.
Sources
- MBA Traducciones: interpreting rates: checked 10 November 2026.
- Dixit: interpreting rates: checked 10 November 2026.
- ITA Traducciones: simultaneous interpreting rates: checked 10 November 2026.
- Mondo Agit: interpreting rates in Spain: checked 10 November 2026.
- Idiomáticus: interpreter rates in Spain: checked 10 November 2026.
- Basque public contracts: Donostia International Physics Center: checked 10 November 2026.
- Basque public contracts: interpreting at a delegation's visit: checked 10 November 2026.
- UN Chief Executives Board: interpreter rates from 1 July 2026: checked 10 November 2026.
- AIIC Italia: professional standards: checked 10 November 2026.
- AIIC Greece and Cyprus: tips for event planners: checked 10 November 2026.
- Autonomous University of Barcelona: rooms with booths and receivers: checked 10 November 2026.
- Infoport rental by a Spanish interpreter: checked 10 November 2026.
- Getix Translate pricing: checked 10 November 2026.