Charles Davis Sep 6, 2017:

As far as I know and can tell from what's available online, this use of "carátula" is unique to Spain. Here, for comparison, is a "pliego de condiciones administrativas" from Uruguay. Again, it is a call for bids, not a bid; it sets out the conditions of the contract for which bids are invited and the details of the bidding procedure. In this case, however, the "carátula" is one of the elements that must be included in the bids and is literally a cover sheet (three cover sheets, one for each envelope); see Appendix 3 on pp. 29-31 (pp. 35-37 of the file):
http://www.inau.gub.uy/index.php/primera-infancia/participac...

This is completely different from the type of "carátula" referred to in the question.

Charles Davis Sep 6, 2017:

This is not part of a bid submitted by a party tendering for a contract; it is a summary of the conditions of a contract offered for tender. In other words, as Janet has said, it comes from the entity putting out a request for proposals. There are quite a few examples of carátulas de pliegos de cláusulas administrativas available online. Here are three chosen at random. They all come from the Basque Country, but not, I think, because this is a specifically Basque phenomenon, though maybe calling it a "carátula" is typically Basque; I don't know. I have seen the same thing called "cuadro de condiciones" elsewhere (in Spain).

http://www.a-zz.net/contratos/pdf/20-16_Caratula.pdf
http://www.industria.ejgv.euskadi.eus/contenidos/informacion...
http://www.labastida-bastida.org/adjuntos/labastidaContratan...

They all follow the same form: a numbered list of points summarising the conditions of the contract for which bids are invited.

This is clearly not a cover(ing) letter. Nor can it sensibly be called a cover sheet. Might it be called a prospectus? I think "executive summary" normally applies to a different context.

Eduardo Ramos Sep 5, 2017:

Usually, by definition, an Executive Summary is even shorter than a Carátula... As you mentioned 15 pages (and as said below) personally I would go for "Face of" or (simply) "Summary of". Works with any Pliego, IMHO. Good luck, hope I could help :)

Janet Austin (asker) Sep 5, 2017:

By the way, the Technical Specifications part of the Bid Document is 111 pages, so a 15 page Executive Summary is certainly appropriate, to my way of thinking, but I'm not a government entity, so....

Janet Austin (asker) Sep 5, 2017:

What about "Executive Summary"? What about "Executive Summary"? I've seen that used with a response to a RFP, but not from the other side, from the entity putting out a Request for Proposals, but it seems to fit in this case. Has anyone else seen it used in this context?