Notification of a Debt in Spain – Supreme Court Judgment

A recent judgement in the Supreme Court (El Tribunal Supremo - Supreme Court | GCJ | Judiciary) in Spain has clarified an earlier First Instance ruling that if an individual moves house and does not inform their debtors, then any formal letters that they (the debtors) send to the previous address continue to be legally valid, which in turn can affect the credit rating of that individual.

The Ruling

In the recent case at the Supreme Court (STS 5/2026, 8 de Enero de 2026 - vLex España) a debtor tried to argue that he had not received the debt request and as a result he claimed the debt did not exist as it had been sent to another address that he had previously used.

The Court of First Instance in Spain had found in favour of a debtor, holding that he was correct and any notifications of debts should be sent to a current address: otherwise, it could not be proved that the debtor had received the notifications. That earlier decision has now been overturned at the Supreme Court who have ruled that a debtor does indeed have the obligation to correctly notify any creditors of their new address. Any failure to do so deemed it perfectly valid to send debt requests to a last known address.

What are the potential implications for British property owners?

This clarification of the Supreme Court Judgement has clear ramifications for British people who own properties in Spain. In particular, those owners who have not used their properties in Spain for many years or who have “abandoned” their properties believing that the Bank would simply take back the property in satisfaction of their debts to the Bank in Spain.

Utility companies, Banks, Community Management companies (amongst others) in Spain now have clarity and only have to notify the debt at the last known address of the debtor. The debtor, as has been a long-held myth, cannot simply “walk away” from their property, they now have the formal obligation to let their creditors know their new address for notification purposes.

How can Judicare help?

We are, and have been for many years, representing clients who have found themselves in a similar situation in Spain and through our involvement, we have achieved settlements and released clients from their obligations and free of any threats to their future.

So, if you are facing problems with a Spanish mortgage debt, our specialist legal team can help you through the whole process.

• Our legal teams have decades of combined experience of handling problematic foreign Mortgage debts in Spain.
• We are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and as such we carry professional Indemnity Insurance giving you vital protections and redress in the unlikely scenario something goes wrong.
• We have successfully negotiated over €60million of foreign Bank debt being written off for our clients.
• Using a Claims Management Company (CMC) or a so called “advisory firm” providing foreign property debt solutions across the EU can be risky, as there are no safeguards or any regulatory redress for clients if something goes wrong.

If you have received a letter from a Spanish Bank, or have been served with legal papers from a Spanish Court, have fears you may soon receive something, or would simply like more information on our fixed fee approach a member of our team will be happy to take your call on a confidential basis at 01438 840258 or via email to admin@judicaregroup.com

We can also arrange a free no obligation teleconference via Zoom/Skype.

Getting in touch will allow us to understand your individual circumstances and discuss with you your concerns and objectives. Working with you we can then decide upon the correct strategy to approach and find the solution which is right for you.