You have been sued in a Spanish civil court: how to respond

Terms used

• Rebeldía — Rebeldía is the court status declared when a defendant does not appear or answer in time; the case continues without them.
• Juicio verbal — The juicio verbal is the shorter civil procedure, used for smaller claims and certain matters whatever the amount.
• Juicio ordinario — The juicio ordinario is the full civil procedure, used for larger or undetermined claims and certain listed matters.
• Contestación — The contestación is your written answer to a claim in an ordinary procedure.
• Procurador — A procurador is a court representative who files documents and receives notices for you, working alongside your lawyer.
• Monitorio — The monitorio is a fast procedure for unpaid money debts, with its own special rules.

Key rules

• Ordinary claim: You have 20 working days to answer.
• Verbal claim: You have 10 working days to answer.
• Counting: The days start the day after service and skip weekends, holidays and August.
• Silence: If you do not answer, you are declared in rebeldía, which is not an admission but leaves you out of most later notices.
• Lawyer: Contact a lawyer immediately, because you will usually need a lawyer and a procurador.

Act now: the clock is already running

If a Spanish court has sent you a claim, you have 20 working days to answer in an ordinary civil claim and 10 working days in a verbal civil claim. The count starts the day after the notice was served on you. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays do not count, and August does not count either.

Staying silent is the worst option. The court declares you in rebeldía and the case goes on without you.

First, check the notice is real

Look at the court named, the case number and how the papers reached you. Keep the envelope, any receipt you signed and a copy of everything. Write down the date and the way you received it, because the deadline depends on it.

Which deadline applies to you

The type of procedure decides the deadline. It should be stated in the court papers. In general:

• A verbal claim (juicio verbal) covers claims up to €15,000. It also covers certain matters whatever the amount, such as eviction for unpaid rent or end of a lease, possession actions, and many tenancy and building-community disputes.
• An ordinary claim (juicio ordinario) covers claims above €15,000 or of undetermined value. It also covers matters such as honour, privacy, image, competition, advertising, intellectual property and company law, whatever the amount.

When the matter and the amount point to different procedures, the matter wins. If you cannot tell which procedure you are in, treat the shorter deadline as yours and ask a lawyer straight away.

What to do

1. Contact a Spanish lawyer immediately. In most cases you will need a lawyer and a procurador to act in court. If money is tight, ask about free legal aid when you first apply.
2. File your written answer before the deadline. In an ordinary claim this is the contestación. In a verbal claim it is also a written answer. Any objections and any counterclaim go in it.
3. Attend the hearing or trial the court sets. The step-by-step process below shows the order for each procedure.

Many civil claims must first have been through an attempt at alternative dispute resolution. If the claimant skipped it, tell your lawyer, as it may be an objection.

What happens if you do nothing

After the deadline, the court clerk declares you in rebeldía. This does not mean you admit the claim. The claimant must still prove their case, and the case continues.

But the effects hurt you:

• You are only told about the final judgment and decisions that end the case. You will miss the other steps.
• If the court does not have a valid address for you, notices may be published in a public notice (an edict) and you may never see them.
• You can still join the case later, but you take it as it stands. You cannot undo steps already taken.

If you only learn of the case later

A judgment against you can still be appealed. If you missed the case through force majeure or because you were never properly served, you may be able to ask to have a final judgment rescinded. This has strict time limits, so see a lawyer the day you find out. Special rules apply in some matters, such as payment orders (monitorio).

Choosing between options

Which kind of civil procedure is your claim, and so which deadline applies?

• Verbal claim (juicio verbal): The claim is for up to €15,000, or it is about a matter that goes this way whatever the amount, such as eviction for non-payment, possessory actions, or many tenancy and apartment-block matters.

The subject matter comes first and the amount second: a listed matter follows its own procedure whatever the value. Otherwise, up to €15,000 is verbal and above that is ordinary. The notice you received should say which one it is; if it does not, ask your lawyer or the court before the deadline starts to run out.

Step-by-step: responding to a civil claim

• Check the notice is genuine: look at the court, the case number and how it reached you: As soon as you receive it

• Note the date and method of receipt, and keep the envelope, any acknowledgment and a copy: On the day you receive it

• Work out which kind of procedure it is and what deadline it sets: Right away, because most deadlines are short and cannot be extended

• Contact a lawyer; a lawyer and procurador (court representative) are often mandatory. If money is tight, apply for free legal aid (justicia gratuita) at the colegio de abogados: Immediately, in the first days

• Ordinary claim (juicio ordinario): file your written answer (contestación), with any objections and any counterclaim: Within 20 working days, counted from the day after service

• Ordinary claim: if you made a counterclaim, the claimant answers it, then the court holds a preliminary hearing (audiencia previa) to seek a settlement, settle procedural objections and fix the points in dispute: The claimant has 20 days to answer; the hearing follows in roughly 20 days

• Ordinary claim: attend the trial the court sets, after which the judgment follows: On the date the court sets

• Verbal claim (juicio verbal): file your written answer, with any objections and any counterclaim in the permitted cases: Within 10 working days, counted from the day after service

• Verbal claim: attend the hearing (vista), where the court deals with objections, fixes the disputed facts and takes evidence: On the date the court sets

• Verbal claim: wait for the judgment: Normally within 10 days after the hearing

• Payment order (monitorio): pay or file your opposition: Within 20 working days from the day after the payment order is served

• If you ignore the notice, expect a default judgment, fines or enforcement; if you already missed the deadline, ask a lawyer about late remedies straight away: As soon as you realise the deadline has passed

What to watch out for

• Silence leads to rebeldía: If you do not answer in time, the court declares you in rebeldía (default). The case goes on without you, and you are only told about the final judgment and steps that end the case. Answer within the deadline for your procedure, and contact a lawyer as soon as the papers arrive.

• Notices may reach you only by public notice: If the court does not have your address, notices are published by edict, a public notice you will probably never see. You could lose the case without knowing. Keep your address up to date with the court once you are involved, and check that any papers you receive were served properly.

• Joining late means taking the case as it is: You can join the case after missing the deadline, but you cannot undo what has already happened. If you missed the deadline, get a lawyer at once. After a final judgment, cancelling it is only possible for force majeure or improper service, and within time limits.

What if you ignored a court notice or missed the deadline?

Missing a deadline does not always end the case, but the ways back are narrow and the clocks are short. See a lawyer (abogado) the day you realise, and bring every paper the court sent you.

If a judgment was issued against you in your absence

A defendant who never appeared is declared in rebeldía (default). If the judgment is now final (sentencia firme), you can ask the court to cancel it, but only in two situations:

• Force majeure stopped you from appearing.
• The summons was left with someone else, or posted by public notice, and you never actually knew about the case.

You have 20 days from the day the judgment was personally notified to you. If you were served by public notice, there is also an outer limit of 4 months from the judgment's publication. That limit can be extended for as long as the force majeure lasts.

File with the court that issued the judgment. Filing does not automatically stop enforcement, which is suspended only in limited circumstances. If the court cancels the judgment, the case restarts and you can take part.

If the court notice was never properly delivered

If you were not served as the rules require, and that left you unable to defend yourself, you can ask the court to declare the steps void (incidente de nulidad de actuaciones). This also covers a badly served summons.

• Raise it as soon as you learn of the problem, and within 20 days of learning of it.
• The outer limit is 5 years from the date of the notification.
• Send a written request to the court that issued the ruling, with your reasons and evidence.
• The court answers with a written ruling (auto).

The 20 days start when you find out, not when the notice was sent. Note the date you discovered it and keep proof.

If you missed the deadline in a payment-order case

In a proceso monitorio (a fast-track claim for an unpaid debt), you have 20 working days to oppose. After that, the order is enforced as if it were a judgment.

Your options after that are limited:

• Objection to enforcement. It only works on narrow grounds, such as having already paid or settled the debt. You cannot reopen whether the debt is owed.
• Nullity. This applies if the order was served on you badly, as described above.
• A later ordinary lawsuit. A payment-order decision does not close the question for good, so you can bring a full lawsuit to dispute the debt. It does not stop enforcement unless the court orders that, but it can be a way to recover money you paid.
• Consumer debts. If you are a consumer, the court must check for unfair contract terms on its own, and you can raise them during enforcement.

What to do now

1. Find the date on every notice and note when you first learned of the case.
2. Contact a lawyer immediately. Each route above has its own strict clock, and the right one depends on your dates.
3. Do not ignore enforcement steps such as an asset freeze (embargo), because those continue while you challenge.

Frequently asked questions

Does staying silent mean the court believes the claim?

No, staying silent does not mean the court accepts the claim as true. The court declares you in rebeldía (default), but the claimant must still prove the case and the proceeding continues.

Can I still join the case after the deadline has passed?

Yes, you can join the case later, but you take it in the state it is in. Steps already done are not repeated for you. Speak to a lawyer quickly to see what is still open.

Can I challenge a judgment if I never knew about the claim?

Yes, you can appeal, and you may ask to cancel a final judgment if you missed the case through force majeure or because the claim was never properly served on you. Strict time limits apply, so see a lawyer straight away.