ABSTRACT
The business letter in Spanish is subject to certain conventions in respect of its layout, its language register and its contents. There are also differences between practice in Spain and in the many Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America. Apart from a tendency in the latter area to continue with expressions or formulae now regarded as rather outmoded in Spain itself, there is naturally an American influence in commercial correspondence and it should be noted that there are minor variations in practice between individual countries. However, by observing what is current practice in Spain (and here too there is an increasing flexibility due to influence from EU nations and the USA), writers and readers of business correspondence should not experience difficulty in dealing with Latin American contacts.
