How to sign digitally with FNMT certificate?

Sign digitally using the FNMT certificate ... it sounds for boring process, but if your company wants to get into public tenders in Spain, there is no escape. It's like the VIP pass for documents to be worth something really and nobody doubts who signed them. Ok, tell you how the roll is going, without so much technicalism.

First the first: you need that happy digital certificate of the FNMT. How do you get? Well, you get on the FNMT website, fill your data (yes, also those of your company, do not escape) and then, surprise, not everything is online. It is time to go to a registration office so that they are really you, not a bot wanting to line it. After that procedure, you get an email with a link to lower the certificate. Download, installation ... and to cross your fingers so that nothing breaks on the computer.

Already with the certificate in your power, you have to install it in the browser you use. La Peña usually pulls Chrome, Firefox or the mythical Internet Explorer (yes, still lives). Everyone has their trick, but basically you go to the security settings and install it there. Do not leave it in any folder, keep it well, because this is like the keys of your house: if someone catches them, it can lite it very fat. And, by the way, forget about lending it. The certificate is only yours. If you use it badly, a cigar can fall.

Do you already have everything ready? Well now it's the software to sign. The classics: autofirma (the favorite of the officials), @firma or, if the international, adobe acrobat. You open the document, choose Sign with digital certificate and select the FNMT you installed before. The program may ask for the password you put when installing the certificate. Do not lose it, because without it you do not sign a bread receipt.

You put the password and boom!, Documently signed document. Thus no one comes to you with stories that the firm is not valid or that the file was manipulated. All legal and safe, as it should be.

In summary: if your company wants to play in the big leagues of public procurement, the digital signature with the FNMT certificate is not optional. It is law. Keep your certificate safe and do not forget the software to sign, that without it you do nothing. And yes, in case you are thinking about it, this text is dotted with magical words for SEO: "digital signature", "FNMT certificate", "public tenders", "public procurement" ... what Google wants and companies need.

Final advice? Do it well from the beginning and save headaches and endless paperwork.