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Bárbara Botía Sainz de Baranda

Senior Lawyer — Legal Division

Areas of expertise

Data protection & privacy Corporate compliance Commercial and civil law Real estate law Legal due diligence

Specializations

  • External Data Protection Officer (DPO)
  • Legal cybersecurity
  • Due diligence on corporate transactions
  • Tourist rental & real estate regulation
  • Criminal compliance (Art. 31 bis CP)

Education

  • Law Degree, University of Murcia
  • BBA in Business Administration, University of Murcia
  • Registered no. 11,233, Málaga Bar Association (ICAM)

Languages

Spanish English

Biography

Barbara Botia Sainz de Baranda is one of those professionals who defy easy categorisation: an economist by training and a lawyer by practice, or perhaps the other way around. Her dual degrees in Business Administration and Law from the University of Murcia are not academic decoration — they are the tools that allow her to move with equal confidence between a trial balance and a set of contractual terms. Over more than fourteen years of practice, she has built the kind of profile that companies increasingly demand: someone who can understand risk in legal terms and quantify it in financial ones.

Before joining BMC in 2020, Barbara developed her career in business advisory, where she honed a specialisation that has become critical for any serious organisation: personal data protection, corporate compliance, and cybersecurity from a legal perspective. It is not about knowing the GDPR by heart — any lawyer with access to the Official Journal can manage that — but about knowing how to implement a compliance programme that works in practice, integrates into the company’s operational processes, and withstands a regulatory inspection without incident.

At BMC she serves as data protection and compliance lead, acting as external DPO for clients across multiple sectors. Her day-to-day work includes preparing Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs), managing security breaches, reviewing data processor agreements, adapting internal policies to the European and Spanish regulatory framework, and training senior management in compliance culture. She also leads legal due diligence on corporate transactions, where her hybrid profile proves especially valuable: while a pure lawyer reviews clauses, Barbara reviews clauses and understands what they mean for the income statement.

Her commercial and civil law practice complements the compliance work. She has advised on company formation and restructuring, shareholder agreements, share purchase agreements, and civil claims arising from commercial relationships. Registered with number 11,233 at the Malaga Bar Association, she combines the technical rigour of legal practice with an uncommon ability to translate complex legal concepts into the language that managers and boards of directors need to hear.

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Services led

Practice areas where Bárbara serves as lead advisor or active contributor

Corporate Secretarial

End-to-end management of corporate obligations: general meetings, minutes, share register, accounts filing, and Commercial Registry matters.

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Entity Management

Full-service corporate entity administration that frees your leadership team from the operational burden of compliance.

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EU AI Act Compliance

Full compliance with the EU Artificial Intelligence Act: risk classification, conformity assessments, transparency obligations, and prohibited practice audits.

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AI Governance

AI governance frameworks, ethics committees, algorithmic auditing, bias detection, and AI system registries for responsible organisations.

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Anti-Money Laundering (AML)

AML/CFT compliance programme for entities subject to Spain's Law 10/2010: policies, procedures, training, and SEPBLAC liaison.

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Data Breach Management

Immediate data breach response: 72-hour AEPD notification, containment, impact assessment, affected individual communication, and post-breach remediation.

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Compliance Risk Mapping

Comprehensive compliance risk mapping: regulatory obligation register, risk heat maps, multi-regulatory gap analysis (GDPR, NIS2, AI Act, AML), and regulatory change management.

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Cookie Compliance & Digital Consent

Cookie audit, Consent Management Platform implementation, LSSI-CE compliance, and ePrivacy Regulation preparation for websites and digital platforms.

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Criminal Compliance for Companies in Madrid

Criminal compliance for businesses in Madrid: Article 31 bis CP programme, whistleblowing channel Law 2/2023, compliance officer and Anticorruption Prosecutor defence.

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Criminal Compliance

Corporate criminal compliance programmes to exempt or mitigate the criminal liability of legal entities under Article 31 bis of the Spanish Criminal Code.

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Criminal Defence for Money Laundering

Specialised legal defence for individuals and companies investigated for money laundering (Art. 301–304 CP). Technical defence of rights before the judicial police, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the examining courts.

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Criminal Defence for Tax Fraud

Tax crime defence (Art. 305 CP): expert quantification of the evaded tax quota, voluntary disclosure before charge, and litigation strategy from the AEAT inspection through to oral trial.

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Criminal Defence for Unfair Administration

Specialised legal defence for directors, authorised signatories and executives investigated for unfair administration (Art. 252 CP). Comprehensive strategy from investigation to trial, with coordination of parallel civil corporate liability proceedings.

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Cyber Insurance Advisory

Cyber insurance advisory: policy review, coverage gap analysis, risk quantification for underwriters, claims management, and pre-renewal security improvement roadmap.

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Cybersecurity Audit

Security posture assessment, compliance audits (ENS, ISO 27001, NIS2), vulnerability assessment, penetration testing management, and third-party risk evaluation.

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DAC8 and Crypto-Asset Tax Obligations

Advisory on compliance with the DAC8 Directive (EU 2023/2226) on crypto-asset information exchange, in force from 2026. Obligations for CASP providers and user reporting.

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Data Protection & Privacy

GDPR and LOPDGDD compliance, outsourced DPO, and comprehensive privacy management for businesses.

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Digital Evidence & E-Discovery

Digital evidence preservation with chain of custody, forensic IT coordination, e-discovery in arbitration and litigation, and acquisition of admissible electronic evidence for Spanish and international proceedings.

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DORA Compliance (Digital Operational Resilience)

Full implementation of the DORA framework (Regulation 2022/2554) for financial entities: ICT risk management, incident reporting, resilience testing, and ICT third-party risk.

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Financial Regulatory (CNMV, Banco de España, MiCA, MiFID II)

Financial regulatory advisory for financial entities, fintechs, and crypto-asset businesses in Spain: CNMV and Banco de España authorisations, MiCA compliance, MiFID II, PSD3, Solvency II, AML. Licences for EAFIs, SGIIC, payment institutions, and crypto-asset service providers.

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High-Risk AI Systems

AI Act compliance for high-risk AI systems: conformity assessments, technical documentation, CE marking, post-market monitoring, and EU database registration.

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Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)

Structured DPIA methodology for high-risk processing: risk identification and mitigation, AEPD prior consultation management, and AI system impact assessments.

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Cybersecurity Incident Response

Incident response plans, tabletop exercises, breach containment, forensic investigation coordination, and regulatory notifications to AEPD and NIS2 supervisory authorities.

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Internal Corporate Investigations

Independent internal investigations triggered by whistleblower reports (Law 2/2023), workplace harassment, fraud, bribery, and data breaches — forensic methodology, digital chain of custody, and criminal coordination.

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International Data Transfers

Cross-border data transfer compliance: Standard Contractual Clauses, Transfer Impact Assessments, EU-US Data Privacy Framework, and Binding Corporate Rules for multinational groups.

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ISO 27001 Certification

Information Security Management System implementation and ISO 27001:2022 certification: from gap analysis and Statement of Applicability through the certification audit.

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NIS2 Compliance

EU Network and Information Security Directive 2 compliance: scope assessment, control implementation, incident notification protocols, and board-level security governance.

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Outsourced DPO (Data Protection Officer)

Fully outsourced Data Protection Officer service: continuous GDPR compliance, AEPD liaison, supervisory authority management, and annual compliance reviews.

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Privacy by Design

Article 25 GDPR implementation: privacy by design and by default for digital products, software, apps, and internal processes. Direct integration with product and engineering teams.

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Virtual CISO

Outsourced Chief Information Security Officer for SMEs: strategic cybersecurity leadership, governance, and regulatory compliance without the cost of a full-time executive.

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Whistleblowing Channel (EU Directive)

Implementation of internal whistleblowing channels under Spanish Law 2/2023 transposing EU Directive 2019/1937. Full Internal Information System design, investigation protocols, and confidentiality guarantees.

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