Estar obligado a

Estar obligado a
 

Estar obligado a hacer algo.
Ej. LAs empresas españolas están obligadas a contratar a un tanto por ciento de minúsvalidos.
How can we translate estar obligados in this sentence, to be forced to, sound very strong.

I would suggest obligated to "Spanish companies are obligated to hire a certain percentage of..."

Another possiblity is "to be required to (do something)", which is essentially a synonym of "to be obligated to (do something)"

The above are correct, but at least in UK English, if the obligation is specified by law, it becomes a legal requirement then it is usual to be that specific.

Spanish businesses are legally required to employ a certain percentage of disabled people.

I also found To be obliged to, is it a synonym of Obligated?

Yes, and I think I would use it more often.

A driver is (legally) obliged to carry his/her driving licence when driving.

I agree with Perikles, but I somehow think that obliged is less rigid than obligated. In southeastern parts of the USA you may hear much obliged said instead of thank you--like the Portuguese obrigato (or is it obrigado:thinking:). Nobody would say very obligated as a means of saying thank you.

For that reason I think obliged has a more flexible meaning.

It's obrigado. :)