Increasing mobility within Europe means that a growing number of inheritance cases have a cross-border dimension. People resident abroad frequently leave assets in Spain, such as holiday properties or investments. The situation becomes particularly complex when the surviving heir is not a spouse but the partner in a registered civil partnership or civil union established abroad.

When negotiating international contracts, arbitration clauses typically receive less attention than commercial or financial aspects. However, the choice of seat of arbitration is one of the most important legal decisions for the parties, as it determines the legal framework applicable to the proceedings and the degree of intervention of the courts. The seat must not […]

The largest increase compared to the previous year was again recorded in insolvency proceedings involving natural persons who are not entrepreneurs, which rose by 44%. Insolvencies involving natural persons who are entrepreneurs also rose again, however by only 4.4%, while insolvencies involving legal entities fell by 0.2%. Between January and March 2025, there were 3.7% more evictions due to non-payment of rent, while civil enforcement proceedings fell by 17.9%. Debt collection proceedings rose by 64.6% and labour law dismissal claims by 3.1% compared to the first quarter of 2024.

Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January on measures to improve the efficiency of the justice system brings about a comprehensive reform of Spanish procedural law (e.g. by reforming the regulations on procedural costs and introducing the concept of the binding offer).

On 3 April 2025, Organic Law 1/2025 came into force in Spain which unleashed a comprehensive reform of the Spanish justice system and procedural law to increase their efficiency. The reform assigns a crucial role to the out-of-court settlement of legal disputes and, in this context, introduces the legal concept of the so called “confidential binding offer” (oferta vinculante confidencial) as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism.

Introduction On 2 January 2025, Organic Law 1/2025 was enacted, introducing several reforms to improve the efficiency of the Public Service of Justice in Spain, and entered into force on 3 April 2025. The Organic Law covers a variety of measures, including the mandatory inclusion of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms (ADR) before bringing a claim […]

The reform of the Spanish Law on Civil Procedure (Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil, LEC), which aims to make the Spanish justice system more efficient, also includes changes regarding fast-track proceedings (juicio verbal). The main objectives of the new regulation are to optimise procedural time limits and streamline certain procedures (and procedural steps) that have sometimes delayed the resolution of disputes. Below, we outline the most important changes regarding fast-track proceedings.