Dual-qualified Anglo-Spanish counsel acting for international property owners, investors and businesses in disputes connected to Spain.
Cross-border Civil Litigation in Spain
Cross-border disputes carry stakes that go beyond the courtroom. Jurisdiction, conflicting legal systems and procedural deadlines can turn a manageable problem into a costly one if early advice is not taken.
At DCC TAX & LEGAL, our dual-qualified UK and Spanish abogados guide international clients through every stage of the dispute – from first letter to final enforcement – with a single, consistent strategy across borders.
Civil Litigation
When dealing with cross-border disputes, early legal advice is critical. International litigation involves complex jurisdictional issues, conflicting legal systems and procedural challenges that demand specialist experience.
We assist clients throughout the dispute resolution process — from pre-action correspondence and protective measures through to trial, appeal and enforcement. We provide clear, pragmatic guidance and effective representation in both litigation and arbitration, ensuring one consistent strategy from the outset.
Our international network of partner firms allows us to act seamlessly across multiple jurisdictions, coordinating proceedings and protecting our clients’ interests worldwide.
Our services
We advise and represent clients in civil and patrimonial litigation across multiple jurisdictions. We prepare, file and defend claims, ensure procedural compliance, and protect our clients’ rights at every stage of the process.
Cross-border disputes often involve several jurisdictions, different legal traditions and complex procedural rules. We provide clear, coordinated and strategic representation before the civil courts and the arbitral tribunals in the UK, in Spain and in any other jurisdiction where our clients have interests.
Our dual-qualified, multilingual team acts for individuals, companies, family offices and institutions. We combine legal precision with cultural understanding to deliver practical and effective solutions in each case.
Areas of expertise
Property Acquisition and Development
International buyers of Spanish property face risks at the point of acquisition that are not always visible from outside the country. Off-plan deposits, construction quality and developer solvency are recurring sources of dispute. We act for buyers from the moment the contract is signed.
Off-plan purchases in Spain (comprar sobre plano) remain a leading source of dispute, particularly where developers fail to deliver on time, depart from the specifications agreed in the contract, or become insolvent before completion. Under Law 38/1999 and its predecessor Law 57/1968, buyers’ stage payments must be guaranteed by a bank or insurance instrument, and there is a clear legal route to recover funds when delivery fails. We act for international buyers who paid instalments and never received the property, pursuing the developer, the bank and the insurer to recover capital and statutory interest.
The Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación (LOE) imposes a tiered liability regime on developers, architects, engineers and contractors for defects that appear after delivery. Liability runs for one year for finishing defects, three years for habitability defects and ten years for structural defects, with joint and several liability across the parties at fault. We advise international owners and communities of owners on the technical and legal preparation of LOE claims, the appointment of court-appointed experts (peritos judiciales) and the recovery of repair costs from the parties responsible.
Once an international owner holds Spanish property, friction tends to arise at the edges — with neighbours, with the community of owners, and with the records held at the Land Registry and the cadastre. Early, decisive action protects value.
Boundary disputes in Spain typically arise where the Land Registry, the cadastre and the physical reality of a plot disagree. The mismatch is common in coastal and rural property — particularly older fincas — and it can affect everything from sale negotiations to construction permits and tax liability. We act for landowners in deslinde proceedings, in the rectification of registry entries (expediente de dominio) and in the resolution of access and right-of-way issues (servidumbres). Where neighbours are willing, we drive a registered settlement; where they are not, we litigate.
The Spanish horizontal property regime (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal) governs communities of owners in apartment blocks, urbanisations and mixed-use developments. Disputes are frequent over service charges, structural works, short-term lets, voting rights and the validity of community resolutions. We represent international owners challenging community resolutions, defending against unjustified charges, and pursuing or resisting works orders. Where our client sits on the community board, we also advise on procedural compliance so that decisions hold up to challenge.
A significant share of mortgages sold in Spain over the past two decades contains clauses that, on the case law of the Spanish Supreme Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union, have been found unfair or insufficiently transparent. International borrowers are entitled to recover what they were overcharged.
Floor clauses (cláusulas suelo) set a minimum interest rate below which a variable mortgage cannot drop. Following the Spanish Supreme Court ruling of 9 May 2013 and the CJEU decision in Gutiérrez Naranjo (December 2016), unfair floor clauses are void in their entirety, and the bank must refund every euro overcharged from inception, with interest. We act for international owners of Spanish property who suspect a floor clause in their mortgage. We address the bank pre-trial and litigate where the response is unsatisfactory. Many cases settle once the bank receives a properly framed claim.
Multi-currency mortgages (hipotecas multidivisa) — typically denominated in Swiss francs or Japanese yen — were sold in Spain in the mid-2000s on the basis that lower nominal rates would deliver savings. In practice, currency movement increased the capital outstanding well above the original euro value. The Supreme Court has held that, where the product was sold without proper warning of currency risk, the multi-currency clause is void for lack of transparency. We act for international borrowers exposed to multi-currency loans, recovering the difference between the actual balance and the euro position they should have held.
The IRPH (Índice de Referencia de Préstamos Hipotecarios) is a Spanish mortgage reference rate that has consistently produced higher interest than the EURIBOR. After successive rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Spanish courts are finding IRPH clauses void for lack of transparency on a case-by-case basis, with the bank required to recalculate the loan against EURIBOR and refund the difference. We assess each mortgage on its facts, give an honest view of the prospects, and bring the claim where the contract and the marketing record support it.
Spanish banks sold a range of complex financial products to retail customers during the pre-crisis and crisis years. Where the warnings required by law were not given, or the product was unsuitable for the client’s profile, those clients have a clear route to recovery.
Interest-rate swaps and similar hedging products were sold in Spain as protection against rate rises, often to ordinary borrowers who had no real need to hedge. The Supreme Court has repeatedly found that, where the bank failed to explain the asymmetric risk profile of the product, the swap is void for lack of valid consent (error vicio del consentimiento) or actionable in damages. We act for clients who entered into a swap they did not understand and have been charged accordingly, pursue the bank for restitution and damages, and address the knock-on effect on any linked mortgage or loan facility.
Financial mis-selling claims cover a broad range of products: preference shares (participaciones preferentes), subordinated debt (deuda subordinada), structured products, complex investment funds, bank bonds and unit-linked life-insurance wrappers. Liability turns on whether the bank gave the warnings the law requires and whether the product was suitable for the client’s profile. We act for individuals, family offices and corporates that lost capital in products that should not have been recommended to them, pursue rescission and damages, and coordinate any parallel regulatory or reputational dimension.
International succession is one of the most procedurally demanding areas of cross-border practice in Spain. The EU Succession Regulation (Regulation (EU) 650/2012, applicable since 17 August 2015) governs jurisdiction and applicable law where the deceased had habitual residence in an EU Member State. The default rule is the law of habitual residence at death, although the testator may elect the law of nationality by professio iuris in the will. The European Certificate of Succession then operates as the single document of title across participating Member States.
The interaction between common-law testamentary freedom and Spanish forced heirship (legítima) is a recurring source of dispute, particularly for British nationals with Spanish property whose English wills did not include a clear election of English law. We act for executors, heirs and disinherited family members on the validity of foreign wills in Spain, on the procurement or challenge of the European Certificate of Succession, on the Spanish probate routes (declaración de herederos abintestato and aceptación de herencia), and on contested estates litigated before the Spanish civil courts.
Why choose DCC TAX & LEGAL?
Our team has extensive experience in UK, Spanish and international legal systems, and regularly acts for clients in complex cross-border disputes.
We combine:
Dual-qualified lawyers with rights of audience in England and Wales and in Spain.
A working understanding of both common law and civil law systems.
Cultural and linguistic fluency for international representation.
Strategic coordination with local counsel where the matter calls for it.
Get in touch
Our aim is to deliver practical, efficient and results-oriented legal support, so that international clients are represented with clarity and confidence — in English and in Spanish — through every stage of the dispute.
