How to Write an Official Letter in Spanish

Writing letters to officials in Mexico or other Spanish-speaking countries is different than writing letters in the U.S. In the U.S., business letters are usually short and to the point but in Mexico and Latin America, a harried letter without the proper salutations, accents or closing sentences can be considered extremely rude, resulting in the recipient discarding your letter and worse, not providing the service you requested. To avoid these written communication problems, here are a few tips to help you.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Good knowledge of Spanish
• A good English-to-Spanish dictionary

1. Placing the date. If the full address is not given, the date is written in the top right- hand corner of the letter, preceded by the place of origin. Example: Buenos Aires, 20 de Diciembre de...
   If the full address is given, it is usually written in the bottom left-hand corner beneath the signature in Latin America and in the top left-hand corner in Spain. The name of the town or city is then not repeated in the date.

2. Make proper use of the opening greeting. The most common form of opening formal and business letters are: Señor, Señora, Estimado señor, Estimada señora, Estimados señores. More formal greetings include: Distinguido señor, Distinguida señora, Distinguidos señores, Muy señor mío, Muy señores míos. All of the above terms are followed by a colon (:) if the traditional indented format is used. If block style is used, the colon is omitted. In English, the term "Dear" is acceptable in business letters. For Latin America, unless you are very familiar with the recipient, do not use that term.

3. If a person is a licenciado or Esq., use the Lic. before his name. Likewise for architect (Arq.) and engineer (Ing.).

4. The beginning sentence is usually "Por medio de la presente" or "Por medio de este conducto, me permito informarle de la manera más atenta que...," followed by what you wish to convey in your letter.

5. Close your letter with Lo/Los saludo atentamente, Me despido de usted/ustedes atentamente, Aprovecho la ocasión para saludarlo atentamente, Reciba un atento saludo/atentos saludos, Atentamente, Muy atentamente, Reciba un cordial saludo, Esperando sus gratas órdenes,
   En espera de su respuesta, Agradeciendo de antemano su atención a la presente or Sin otro particular.

6. The use of "Don" and "Doña" when addressing the envelope is more common in Spain than Latin America. In Latin America, you may address an envelope with "Sr. Pablo Fuentes" or "Sra. Mercedes Martínez".
   "Don and "Doña" should only be used when the forename is written in full.
   Otherwise, use the following: "Sr. C H Alvarez" or "Sra. M E González".

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure your letter is typed neatly and that the accents are in the right place. Presentation is very important throughout Latin America.