How Spanish deadlines are counted and what silence means (silencio administrativo)

Key rules

• Default wait: If no time limit is set for your procedure, the office has three months to answer, and never more than six unless a law says so.
• August: August counts as a normal month for office deadlines, unlike court cases.
• Holiday calendar: Use the holiday calendar of the place where the deciding office sits.
• Silence: Silence usually means approval, but in some procedures it means refusal, so check your procedure's rule.
• Proof: You can ask for a certificado de acto presunto, which must be issued within 15 days.

Counting days: start the day after

A deadline in days starts the day after the notice is received, opened or deemed rejected. The day you receive it does not count. The same applies when the clock starts from publication of a decision or from the day silence takes effect.

Deadlines in days are working days unless the rule says "calendar days" (días naturales). Working days (días hábiles) leave out Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

August counts

August is a normal month for dealings with public offices. Only weekends and holidays are skipped. Court cases are different: August is mostly closed for them. Do not assume a holiday pause for an office procedure.

Which holiday calendar applies

Use the calendar of the place where the office handling your case sits. That means three layers:

• National holidays, set each year for the whole country.
• Regional holidays, published by each autonomous community.
• Up to two local holidays per town.

When you file online, the office's electronic site must show which days do not count. Check the calendar for the right region and town for the year in question.

Counting months

Deadlines in months or years run from date to date. Start the day after the notice. The deadline ends on the same-numbered day of the last month. If that month has no such day, it ends on the last day of the month. If the last day is not a working day, it moves to the next working day.

Tax and some special procedures can have their own counting rules, so check the notice you received.

How long the office has to answer

The office must answer every request in writing. The time limit is set by the rules for each procedure and cannot be more than six months unless a law or EU rule says otherwise. If no limit is set, it is three months. The clock starts when your request is registered at the office that decides it.

What silence means

If the office does not answer in time, the result depends on the procedure.

• Usually, silence means yes (silencio positivo). For requests you start yourself, the request counts as approved.
• Sometimes, silence means no (silencio negativo). This applies to petitions to the authorities, transfers of public property or public service powers, procedures affecting public property or the environment, and appeals and reviews. A specific law or EU rule can also set a refusal. Some immigration procedures work this way, so check the rule for yours.
• Silence cannot give you something the law forbids. An approval by silence is void if the request itself broke the law.

When silence means no, a deadline for your next step (such as an appeal) starts the day after silence takes effect. Count it as above.

Getting proof of silence

You do not need paper proof for silence to work. But banks, landlords or other offices may ask for it. After the time limit has passed, ask the office in charge for a certificado de acto presunto, in writing or online. It must be issued within 15 days of your request reaching that office.

The timeline, the documents list and the calculator below help you apply these rules to your case.

Choosing between options

What does it mean if the administration does not answer your request in time?

• Silence counts as approval: Your request is a procedure you started yourself and no rule says otherwise; the request is treated as approved once the time limit runs out.

• Silence counts as a refusal: Your request is about the right of petition, transferring public property or public service powers, public property or environmental damage, an appeal or review, or a law or EU rule sets refusal for your procedure.

Silence approves by default for procedures you start yourself, unless a rule for your procedure says refusal, and it can never give you something the law does not allow.

Timeline and deadlines

• Find the time limit for your procedure; if none is set, three months applies: when you file your request

• The office's time to answer starts running: from the day your request is registered at the office that decides it

• Start counting your own deadline in days: the day after the notice or publication, never the day of the notice itself

• Skip Saturdays, Sundays and holidays when the deadline is in working days; August counts as normal: for every day of the deadline

• Count a deadline in months from date to date, ending on the same-numbered day; if the last day is not a working day, it moves to the next working day: the day after notification, publication or silence

• The maximum time to answer ends, and the office has not replied: after the procedure's limit, never more than six months unless a law or EU rule says otherwise

• Ask for the certificado de acto presunto if you need proof: after the time limit has expired

Documents you need

• Certificado de acto presunto: a certificate confirming that silence has approved your request, issued by the office responsible for deciding your procedure, on written or electronic request once the time limit has run out. It is optional, because silence works without it, but it helps prove the result to third parties.

Working day deadline calculator for Spanish procedures

Work it out

What you enter

• Working days you are given (days): The notice or letter states the deadline, for example 10 días hábiles.
• Saturdays and Sundays in the stretch you count (days): Mark the day after the notice on a calendar, count forward working days, and tally the weekend days you pass.
• Weekday holidays in the stretch you count (days): The holiday calendar for the office's region and town, published in the official gazette and on its website.

Figures used

• Counting starts the day after the notice (days after notice date): 1 day (as of 2016)

Worked example (with Working days you are given 10 days, Saturdays and Sundays in the stretch you count 4 days, Weekday holidays in the stretch you count 1 days)

When the sum misleads

• The day of the notice itself is never counted; day 1 is the day after the notice is received, opened or deemed rejected.
• If the deadline is in calendar days (días naturales), set weekend days and holidays to 0.
• For deadlines in months or years, count from date to date: start the day after the notice and end on the same-numbered day of the last month. If that month has no such day, use its last day.
• If the last day falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day.
• Online filings are accepted until 23:59 Spanish peninsular time on the last day, even from the Canary Islands or abroad. Filing on a non-working day still leaves the deadline on the next working day.

Frequently asked questions

Does August count when I am counting working days?

Yes, August counts as a normal working month for administrative deadlines, so only weekends and holidays are skipped. Courts work differently: August is mostly closed for court cases, so do not apply that rule to an office procedure.

Whose holiday calendar do I use to count working days?

You use the calendar of the place where the office handling your case sits, not where you live. National holidays are published each year, regional ones by each autonomous community, and towns add up to two local holidays. For online filings, the office's electronic site must show which days are not working days.

Can I get proof that silence has approved my request?

Yes, once the time limit has run out you can ask the office that decides for a certificado de acto presunto, a certificate of presumed approval. It must be issued within 15 days of your request reaching the office. You do not need it for the silence to count, but it helps when you show the result to a bank or another office.

Does silence always mean my request is approved?

No, silence approves your request in most procedures you start yourself, but it means a refusal in some cases, such as petitions, public property or public service powers, environmental damage, and appeals. Many specific laws, including some immigration procedures, also set refusal, and silence can never give you something the law does not allow.