This article examines some of the reasons that might explain why Johann Nestroy has so far not been received in Spain, despite its high level of literary translation activity in the last 40 years. I have based my findings on the polysystem theory by Even-Zohar (1990). On the one hand, there is a lack of recognition Nestroy had to suffer from within his home country until he was finally included in the Austrian canon. On the other hand, Spain proves to be a difficult place for literary works marked by vernacular speech. I also examined specific translation problems any future translator of Nestroy will have to solve when transferring his work into Spanish
