What the terms in a Spanish administrative notice mean

Terms used

• Requerimiento — A requerimiento is a formal request from an office asking you to correct a defect or supply missing documents.
• Trámite de audiencia — The trámite de audiencia is a stage before the final decision where you can examine your file and send allegations.
• Resolución — A resolución is the office's final decision on your application, such as a grant or a refusal.
• Cl@ve — Cl@ve is Spain's government login system for using electronic offices.
• DEHú — DEHú is the single electronic address where public bodies place official notices for you.
• Certificado digital — A certificado digital is an electronic ID certificate that lets you identify yourself and sign online with Spanish authorities.

Key rules

• Requerimiento: A correction request must be answered, or your application is treated as withdrawn.
• Resolución: A refusal needs no reply but stands unless you appeal within the deadline in the notice.
• Electronic notices: An electronic notice you do not open within 10 calendar days of being made available counts as rejected, and your deadlines run from that date anyway.
• Deadline: The deadline is in the closing paragraphs, often only in the attached PDF.

Start with the heading

The heading tells you what the notice wants from you. There are three common types:

• Requerimiento: you must answer it.
• Trámite de audiencia: you may look at your file and send your side.
• Resolución: the office has decided. You reply only if you want to challenge it.

Every notice is a notificación. Receiving it is what starts the clock on your deadlines.

Requerimiento: fix or supply something

A requerimiento (usually "de subsanación") says your application has a defect or a missing document. It does not refuse anything. The procedure stays open, but only if you answer.

Typical wording: "se le requiere para que en el plazo de 10 días hábiles aporte...". It also warns that otherwise "se le tendrá por desistido de su petición". That means the office will treat your application as withdrawn and issue a decision saying so.

You normally have 10 working days, counted from the day after the notice reaches you, to answer a correction request. The period written in your notice is the one that applies. Send exactly what the notice lists, within that time.

Trámite de audiencia: your chance to respond

This is a hearing stage before the final decision. It gives you at least 10 and at most 15 days to examine the file and send allegations (your arguments) and documents. The notice states the exact period. Use it if you disagree with what the office seems ready to decide, or if you have evidence it has not seen.

Resolución: the decision

A resolución ends the procedure. It may grant, refuse or declare your application inadmissible. Look for "Resolución", "Denegar", "Inadmitir" or "Se resuelve denegar...".

You do not have to reply, but a refusal stands unless you challenge it. The closing paragraphs explain how. They usually say the decision "pone fin a la vía administrativa" and offer:

• a recurso de reposición, which is optional, within one month, and/or
• a recurso contencioso-administrativo in court, within two months.

Some decisions can instead be challenged with a recurso de alzada to a higher office. The notice names the body and the deadline. Some procedures have their own periods, so follow what your notice says.

Where to find the deadline

Look at the closing part of the notice. In a requerimiento it reads "en el plazo de diez días hábiles contados a partir del día siguiente a la recepción de esta notificación". In a resolución it is in the final paragraph on appeals.

Deadlines come in three forms: working days (días hábiles), months counted date to date, and sometimes calendar days (días naturales). Electronic notices often carry these details in an attached PDF, not in the message. Read the PDF in full.

Electronic notices

If you are served electronically, the notice counts as received when you open it. If you do not open it within 10 calendar days of being made available, it counts as rejected, and your deadlines run from that date anyway. The email or SMS alert you get is only a courtesy. It is not the notification, and ignoring it does not stop the clock.

To check for waiting notices, log in to the electronic office with a certificado digital or Cl@ve, or use DEHú. The Carpeta Ciudadana also helps.

What to do next

Use the decision, timeline, documents and checklist below to match your notice to your next step. If you are unsure which type you hold or how the deadline is counted, ask the office that sent it before the period runs out.

Choosing between options

What do you need to do with the notice you hold?

• Answer it with the missing documents: The heading says requerimiento de subsanación or requerimiento de documentación, and the text asks you to provide documents within a set period or be treated as having withdrawn.

• Examine the file and send your allegations: The notice is a trámite de audiencia, a hearing stage before the final decision, where you may look at the file and submit arguments and documents.

• Appeal it, or accept it: The notice is headed Resolución, denies or declares your application inadmissible, and lists the appeals available, such as reposición or court.

A requerimiento has to be answered and does not end the procedure; a resolution needs no reply but has to be appealed if you disagree.

Timeline and deadlines

• The notice reaches you, and the clock for your deadlines starts: from the day after it reaches you

• Answer a correction request (requerimiento de subsanación): within 10 working days

• Examine the file and send your allegations after a hearing notice (trámite de audiencia): at least 10 and at most 15 days, as the notice states

• An electronic notice you have not opened counts as rejected, and deadlines run from that date: after 10 calendar days

• Appeal a resolution with an optional reposición appeal: within 1 month of the notice, if the resolution ends the administrative route

• Go straight to court against a resolution: within 2 months of the notice

Documents you need

• The notice itself, issued by the public office handling your file, with its heading and date of receipt

• The attached PDF of the notice, which holds the full text with the deadline and appeal details and can differ from the portal summary

• The missing documents or corrections that a correction request names, each one supplied as the notice asks

• A certificado digital, Cl@ve or access through DEHú, to open electronic notices in the electronic office

Checklist

• Read the heading of the notice to see whether it is a requerimiento, a trámite de audiencia or a resolución.

• Open the attached document and read the closing paragraphs for the deadline and how it is counted.

• Check the date the notice reached you or was made available, because the count starts the day after.

• List the defects or missing documents the requerimiento names, and gather each one before the deadline.

What to watch out for

• An unopened electronic notice still counts: An electronic notice you do not open within 10 calendar days of being made available counts as rejected, and your deadlines run from that date anyway. The procedure carries on without you. Log in to the electronic office regularly, and open notices as soon as you see them.

• Mixing up a correction request with a refusal: A requerimiento does not end the procedure and has to be answered, while a resolution that denies or declares your application inadmissible has to be appealed. Treating one as the other can lose you the chance to act. Check the heading and the closing paragraphs. Phrases like "se le tendrá por desistido" point to a correction request, and "pone fin a la vía administrativa" points to a resolution.

• Relying on the portal summary: The message or portal summary can differ from the attached document, which holds the deadline, the appeals available and the body to address. Open and read the whole attached document before you decide what to do.

Frequently asked questions

Where in a Spanish notice do I find my deadline?

Your deadline is normally in the operative part of the notice, in the final paragraphs. A correction request says something like "en el plazo de diez días hábiles contados a partir del día siguiente a la recepción", and a resolution ends with a paragraph on appeals. Electronic notices may show this only in an attached PDF, so open the attachment.

Are deadlines in a notice counted in working days or calendar days?

It depends on what the notice says: días hábiles are working days, días naturales are calendar days, and meses are counted from date to date. Read the unit written next to the number in your notice and count exactly that way.

Does the email or SMS alert I receive count as the notification?

No, the email or SMS alert is only a courtesy and does not affect whether the notice is valid. The notice counts once it is made available in the electronic office or you open it. Not receiving an alert does not stop your deadlines.

How can I check whether an electronic notice is waiting for me?

Log in to the electronic office with a certificado digital (digital certificate) or Cl@ve, or use the single electronic address system called DEHú. You can also check the Carpeta Ciudadana, the citizen's personal folder. Companies and professionals must deal with the administration electronically, and individuals can choose to.