In this article, a series of techniques and tools necessary for the translation of phraseological units are reviewed. Using Corpas Pastor’s contributions to the literature (2000 & 2001) as a point of departure, Núñez-Román examines the assumptions on which they are based, to then go on to review two techniques proposed by Sevilla and Sevilla (2004), and by Sevilla Muñoz (2009), respectively: i.e. the actantial technique and the thematic technique. Finally, he reviews the major dictionaries in which phrases from Spanish and Italian are collected and highlights their strengths and weaknesses from the viewpoint of the translation of the phraseology concerned.