Last verified: 2026-08-29 · Source: primary legislation and official status tables
Recovering a debt from a debtor in Spain
What applies, what it realistically takes, and where the limits are.
Confirmed parameters
Only values checked against a primary source appear here. Where a parameter has not been confirmed, it is left out rather than estimated.
- Parameter
- Limitation period for personal actions
- Value
- 5 years
- Source
- Código Civil art. 1964.2, as amended by Ley 42/2015
- Last verified
- 2026-08-29
- Parameter
- Interruption of the limitation period
- Value
- court claim, extrajudicial demand or acknowledgement by the debtor
- Source
- Codigo Civil art. 1973
- Last verified
- 2026-08-30
- Parameter
- Late payment in commercial transactions: default payment term, interest and fixed compensation
- Value
- 30 days by default, maximum 60; interest at the ECB rate plus 8 percentage points; EUR 40 fixed compensation
- Source
- Ley 3/2004 art. 7 and art. 8, as amended by Ley 15/2010 and Ley 18/2022
- Last verified
- 2026-08-30
- Parameter
- Investigative activity is a reserved licensed activity, which is why we do not carry it out
- Value
- a licence and entry in the national register are required
- Source
- Ley 5/2014 de Seguridad Privada art. 48-50, in force 5 June 2014
- Last verified
- 2026-08-30
Enforcement route
The applicable route for this jurisdiction is recorded as EU. The New York Convention applies to arbitral awards.
Practical constraints
Success fee допустим. Детективная лицензия обязательна — лексика в стоп-листе
What we do here
Debtor in Spain?
The Debt Check is free and tells you whether the claim is worth pursuing.
Start a Debt Check