An authority decided against you: which appeal route applies?

Key rules

• Check the resolution: The decision letter must say whether it ends the administrative route, which appeals exist and where to file.
• No double route: Once you file reposición, you cannot go to court until it is decided or treated as rejected.
• Reposición is optional: If the decision ends the administrative route, you can skip reposición and go straight to court.
• August: August counts for administrative appeals but not for court filings.

Start with the resolution itself

The decision letter must tell you three things: whether it ends the administrative route, which appeals you can use, and where to file them. Read that part first. Your route depends on it.

Note the date you were notified. Your deadline counts from the day after.

The routes you can use

• Recurso de alzada: for decisions that do not end the administrative route. You file it with the body above the one that decided.
• Contencioso-administrativo: a case before the administrative court. You can go here once the administrative route is ended.

A fourth route, the extraordinary review, is only for decisions that are already final and only on listed grounds. These include an error of fact shown by the file, new documents of decisive value, false documents or testimony, and acts tainted by criminal conduct. It is not a normal way to challenge a decision.

Tax matters have their own system, with reposición or an economic-administrative claim. Some sectors also have special review bodies. If your decision is a tax one, follow the appeal details in the letter.

How to pick

1. The decision does not end the administrative route. Use alzada. This is usually the case when a lower official or office decided and a higher body sits above it.
2. The decision ends the administrative route. You have two choices: reposición first, or the court directly. This is usually the case for decisions from a minister or secretary of state, from a body with no superior, and for decisions on alzada appeals themselves.
3. You are unsure. Follow what the resolution says. If it says nothing, or is wrong, see the "what if" section below.

Reposición and a court case cannot run together. Once you file reposición, you must wait until it is expressly decided or is treated as rejected through silence. Only then can you go to court.

Deadlines

Against an express decision you have one month to file an alzada or reposición appeal, and two months to go to the administrative court.

How to count:

• A month runs from the day after notification to the same date of the next month. If that month has no such day, the deadline ends on its last day.
• If the last day is a weekend or holiday, it moves to the next business day.
• For the administrative appeals, August counts as a normal month. For court filings, August does not count, except in special procedures such as the protection of fundamental rights.
• The electronic registry works every day. A filing made on a non-business day counts as made on the next business day.

If the authority never answered, the deadlines work differently. An alzada appeal against silence can be filed at any time after silence takes effect. For reposición against silence, check the time limit with the office or a lawyer before you rely on it.

Do not leave it to the last day. A missed deadline makes the decision final.

Next steps

The step-by-step process below shows how to write and file the appeal and keep proof. The FAQ covers overlaps and silence. If you have already missed the deadline or got no appeal details, read the "what if" section below.

Choosing between options

Which appeal route should you use against the decision?

• Alzada appeal to the superior body: Use it when the decision does not end the administrative route. File it with the superior of the body that decided, within one month of an express decision.

• Optional reposición appeal to the same body: Use it when the decision ends the administrative route and you want the same body to look again. File it within one month of an express decision. You cannot go to court until it is answered or counts as refused.

• Go straight to the administrative court: Use it when the decision ends the administrative route and you want to skip reposición.

Read the resolution: it must say whether it ends the administrative route. If it does not, use alzada. If it does, choose between reposición and going straight to court, but not both at once.

Step-by-step: filing an administrative appeal

• Read the resolution and note the date you were notified: As soon as you receive it

• Check the appeal details it must contain: which body to file with, the deadline, and whether it ends the administrative route: Right after reading it

• Open any electronic notification quickly: if you do not open it, it counts as rejected and the deadlines start running anyway: 10 calendar days after it is made available, including weekends and holidays

• Write the appeal with your name and details, the decision you challenge and why, an address for notifications, the place and date, your signature, the body it goes to, and what you ask for. Attach the resolution, proof of representation if someone files for you, and your evidence: Before the deadline ends. A wrong name for the appeal does not stop it being processed if its real nature is clear

• File it through the electronic registry, a public registry office, a post office in an open envelope so the date is stamped, or a Spanish consulate abroad. Companies, professionals and public employees must file electronically; individuals can choose electronic or paper: Before the deadline ends

• Keep your proof of filing: the electronic receipt, or a stamped copy plus the post office receipt, showing the date and time: Straight after filing

• Ask for suspension if the decision could cause damage that is hard to repair. Filing does not stop the decision by itself: With the appeal or later. The body must decide within one month, and silence means suspension is granted

• Fix any defect the administration points out, and ask for up to 5 more days if documents are hard to get: Within 10 working days of the request, or the appeal can be treated as withdrawn

• Wait for the answer from the administration: Up to three months for an alzada and one month for a reposición

• If there is no answer, treat it as a refusal and go to the administrative court: After the maximum time passes with no answer; court deadlines run from the presumed refusal

What if you missed the appeal deadline or got no appeal details?

A missed deadline usually makes the decision final, and a late appeal is normally turned away without being looked at. But a faulty notice, a case where the office never answered, and a few exceptional remedies can still leave you options.

What a missed deadline does

Once the time limit passes, the decision becomes firm. The deadline for an administrative appeal is one month from the day after you were notified. If the office never answered your original request, you have three months for the appeal, counted from the day after the silence took effect.

A late appeal is rejected without a review of the merits. Going to court is normally closed too, because the court deadline is two months. Deadlines are counted in months from the day after notification, and some sectors have their own special rules, so check yours.

When the notice was defective

A proper notice has to contain:

• the full text of the decision;
• which appeals you can make;
• the body to file them with;
• the deadline.

If the notice lacks these, it does not take effect until you act in a way that shows you know what it says, for example by filing an appeal or asking for a copy. The deadlines then run from that moment. If you ask for the missing information, they run from the date you receive it.

Some cases are less clear-cut:

• If the notice has the text but leaves out other elements, it takes effect when you are notified or appeal. It also takes effect three months after the notice if you do nothing.
• If only the appeal information is missing, that gap can justify accepting a late appeal.
• If the notice has only the text and you wait a long time before complaining, it can be treated as complete. That does not apply if it left you genuinely unable to defend yourself.

Courts decide this case by case, so the weight of the defect depends on whether it caused real defencelessness.

What to do: Do not wait. File the appeal, or write to the office asking for the missing information, and keep proof of the date.

Extraordinary review

You can ask the office that issued a firm decision to review it, but only on strict grounds:

• an error of fact that is clear from the file itself;
• new documents of decisive value that show a mistake and appeared after the decision;
• documents or testimony that a final court ruling declared false and that were decisive;
• a decision reached through bribery, violence, fraud or another punishable act, declared by a final court ruling.

The deadline is four years from notification for an error of fact. For the other grounds it is three months from finding the document or from the final court ruling. The office can first rule that the grounds do not apply. It has three months to decide, and silence after that means rejection.

Other options

• Ask the administration to declare the decision void, if it has a very serious legal defect.
• Ask it to revoke a decision that works against you.
• Make a fresh application, if the facts allow it.

These routes are exceptional. If your deadline has passed, a lawyer or your town hall's advice service can tell you which one fits.

Frequently asked questions

Can I file reposición and go to court at the same time?

No, you cannot file a reposición appeal and a court appeal against the same decision at once. Once you file reposición, you must wait until it is answered or until the silence counts as a refusal. Only then can you go to the administrative court.

Which decisions let me skip the administrative appeal and go straight to court?

Decisions that end the administrative route let you go straight to court, such as the answer to an alzada appeal. The same goes for acts of a body with no superior, like a government council. The resolution itself must say whether it ends the administrative route and which appeals you have.

How long do I have for an alzada appeal if the authority never answered?

If the authority never answered, you can file an alzada appeal at any time once the silence takes effect. The one-month limit only applies to express decisions. The three-month figure you may see is when silence arises, not a filing limit.

Does August count when I count my one-month deadline?

Yes, August counts for administrative appeals, so your deadline keeps running.