Civil lawyer in Alicante: recovering what you are owed and enforcing your contracts

01What a civil lawyer in Alicante does

Civil law governs relationships between private parties: debts, contracts, damage, housing and communities of owners. A civil lawyer in Alicante is the professional you turn to when one of these problems has stalled and you need it resolved properly, whether by negotiation or in court.

I am Esther Sánchez Hellín, a lawyer registered with the Alicante Bar Association (ICALI, number 5795), and I have practised in Alicante since 2002. Family law is my main specialisation, but a large part of my daily work is patrimonial civil law. Many of my clients are foreign residents and property buyers on the Costa Blanca, and this guide is written with you in mind.

The most common matters in my office are payment claims, breaches of contract and arras (deposit) agreements, civil liability for damage, hidden and construction defects, disputes with communities of owners and tenants, and consumer claims against businesses and banks.

One honest note before we go on: consultations are held in Spanish. If you need an interpreter, say so when you write to me on WhatsApp and we will arrange one. For inheritance, family or criminal matters, see the dedicated guides in the guide index.

02Recovering an unpaid debt or invoice: monitorio and juicio verbal

This is the most common enquiry: someone owes you money and will not pay. Spanish law has fast procedures for these situations, and with the right paperwork most are resolved without a long trial.

The procedimiento monitorio (order for payment)

For debts that are monetary, due, enforceable and documented (invoices, contracts, acknowledgements of debt, even messages), the monitorio procedure in articles 812 and following of the Civil Procedure Act (Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil, LEC) is the natural route. The court orders the debtor to pay, and the debtor has 20 days to pay or object. If they do nothing, enforcement is ordered against their assets; if they object, the case becomes a verbal or ordinary trial depending on the amount.

Juicio verbal and juicio ordinario

Claims up to 15,000 euros go through the juicio verbal, a quicker procedure with fewer formalities; above that figure, the juicio ordinario. In verbal proceedings under 2,000 euros a lawyer and procurador (court agent) are not compulsory (art. 31 LEC). More in my article on debt recovery in Alicante (in Spanish).

On deadlines: most contractual debts expire after 5 years (art. 1964 Civil Code). A formal written demand (a burofax) interrupts that period, so do not let time slip by. And if the problem is the other way round, that you cannot pay your own debts, see the guide on debt relief and the second chance law.

03Contracts: breaches, property purchases and arras

A large share of civil disputes begin with a contract that one party fails to honour: a builder who abandons your renovation, a buyer who pulls out after signing the deposit contract. The Civil Code gives you two main options when the other side breaches: demand performance or terminate the contract, and in both cases claim compensation for the damage caused (art. 1124 Civil Code).

Property purchases and arras on the Costa Blanca

With so many property transactions between private individuals in Alicante, deposit contracts generate a great deal of work. If the parties agree arras penitenciales (art. 1454 Civil Code), a buyer who withdraws loses the deposit and a seller who withdraws must return double. But not every deposit works this way: depending on the wording it may be confirmatory or penal, with very different consequences. Foreign buyers often sign a contrato de arras drafted by the estate agent without independent advice. Having that clause reviewed before you sign prevents many lawsuits in Alicante, San Juan, Torrevieja or Benidorm.

Faced with a breach, my first step is always to analyse the contract and the communications to establish who breached first, and to send a formal demand granting a deadline to perform or terminate. That letter interrupts the limitation period and doubles as the pre-court settlement attempt.

04Civil liability: claiming for damage someone caused you

Civil liability (responsabilidad civil) is the obligation to repair damage caused to another person. It can be contractual, when it arises from a contract, or extra-contractual, when there is no prior relationship: article 1902 of the Civil Code, which obliges anyone who causes damage through fault or negligence to repair it. Falls, leaks, damage from a neighbour's works, dog bites or professional negligence are all claimed this way.

The deadline is short: 1 year

Extra-contractual liability actions expire after one year (art. 1968 Civil Code), counted from the moment the injured party could know of the damage. If you have suffered damage, document it immediately (photos, medical reports, witnesses, repair estimates) and claim in writing to interrupt the period.

You can claim material damage, personal injury (the road accident compensation scale is often used as a rough reference), consequential losses and, where proven, moral damage. The person responsible often has insurance and the claim is directed against the insurer, which makes recovery easier. If the damage comes from a road accident, the route is different and I explain it in the guide on car accident claims in Alicante.

05Hidden defects in the home you bought

You buy a home in Alicante, move in, and then damp, cracks, a faulty electrical installation or a structural problem appears that nobody mentioned. It is one of the most frequent enquiries in my office, especially from foreign buyers of resale property and holiday homes in Playa de San Juan, Campello or Santa Pola.

Resale property: liability for vicios ocultos

The Civil Code makes the seller liable for hidden defects that render the property unfit for its purpose or reduce its value to the point that, had you known, you would not have bought it or would have paid less (art. 1484 Civil Code). You have two options: withdraw from the contract and recover what you paid, or keep the property with a price reduction (art. 1486 Civil Code). The deadline is very short, six months from delivery (art. 1490 Civil Code), so you must act quickly.

New-build property: the Building Act (LOE)

If the property is a new build, the Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación provides guarantees of 1 year for finishes, 3 years for habitability defects (damp, insulation, installations) and 10 years for structural defects, counted from completion of the works. In every case you need an expert report (informe pericial) identifying the defect and its cause, and a written demand before suing.

06Communities of owners and tenancies

Living in a community of owners (comunidad de propietarios) creates friction, and some of it ends in court: special levies (derramas) that some owners refuse to pay, general meeting resolutions that harm one owner, unauthorised works, noise, leaks between flats. The Horizontal Property Act (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, LPH) regulates all of this.

Unpaid fees and challenging resolutions

Communities can claim unpaid fees through a special monitorio procedure, using the certificate of the meeting resolution that approves the debt (art. 21 LPH). In turn, an owner who considers that a resolution is contrary to the law or the statutes, or seriously harms them, can challenge it in court: the deadline is three months in general and one year if the resolution is contrary to the law or the statutes (art. 18 LPH).

Tenancies

Landlords and tenants mostly argue about unpaid rent, return of the deposit and duration: remember that a residential lease has a minimum term of 5 years (7 if the landlord is a company) under article 9 of the Urban Leases Act (LAU), and that the legal deposit for housing is one month's rent (art. 36 LAU). If the problem is non-payment or a tenant who stays on after the contract ends, the route is the eviction procedure, which I explain in the guide on eviction lawyer in Alicante. For the latest reforms, see my analysis of the new rental rules in the Valencian Community (in Spanish).

07Consumers and banks: unfair terms and mortgage costs

When you contract as a consumer (a person acting outside their trade or profession) the law protects you with extra force. The General Consumer Protection Act (RDL 1/2007) provides that unfair terms are void, that goods carry a legal guarantee and that the business must honour what it promised in its advertising. Any contract with a business, from a renovation to a gym membership, can be reviewed in this light.

Claims against banks

In banking matters, Spanish courts have spent years declaring clauses in mortgage loans and consumer credit void. The most frequent in my office are mortgage set-up costs (notary, registry, gestoría and valuation), arrangement and unpaid-instalment fees, disproportionate default interest and revolving credit cards with interest rates that may be considered usurious under the 1908 Usury Act. Before suing, you must complain to the bank's customer service department, which has a deadline to reply; that step also counts as the compulsory pre-court settlement attempt.

What you can recover depends on the type of clause, the date of the contract and case law that changes often. If you would like me to take a look, send me a photo of the key pages on WhatsApp and I will tell you whether there is something to claim.

08MASC: the compulsory settlement attempt before suing since 2025

Since 3 April 2025, under Organic Law 1/2025, in most civil matters you can no longer file a claim without proving that you first attempted an appropriate dispute resolution method (medio adecuado de solución de controversias, MASC).

What counts as a MASC

• Direct negotiation between the parties, normally through their lawyers, with a written proposal.
• Civil mediation, regulated by Law 5/2012.
• Conciliation before a notary, registrar or court clerk (letrado de la Administración de Justicia).

If the other side does not reply or refuses, you can sue once the legal waiting period has passed, proving the attempt with the documents themselves (burofax, mediation record, etc.). Be aware that an unjustified refusal to negotiate can have consequences for the award of costs. The monitorio, enforcement proceedings and a few other matters are exempt from this requirement.

In practice the initial demand letter now matters far more: it satisfies the legal requirement, interrupts the limitation period and often closes the matter without a trial. If you prefer to discuss it in person, book an appointment.

09How much a civil case costs in Alicante and how long it takes

Lawyer and procurador fees

In my office you always work with a written engagement letter (hoja de encargo) stating what the service includes and what it costs, before we start. Fees depend on the amount at stake and the complexity, and as a guide they are quoted by stage (pre-court negotiation, claim and trial, appeals), so you only pay for what is actually processed. The procurador is compulsory in matters above 2,000 euros and their fees follow a regulated scale with maximum amounts.

Court fees, experts and costs

Private individuals do not pay court fees in civil proceedings in Spain. You may have expert costs (essential in hidden defects or damage cases) and burofax or notary expenses. If you win, the general rule is that the losing party pays your costs (art. 394 LEC), capped at one third of the amount in dispute unless they acted recklessly; if you lose, the reverse may apply. If your income is below the thresholds of Law 1/1996, you can apply for legal aid (justicia gratuita) through the ICALI legal guidance service.

How long it takes

A monitorio without opposition can be resolved in a few months; a juicio verbal in Alicante, as a rough guide, takes 6 to 12 months to judgment; an ordinario, 12 to 20 months, plus the appeal if there is one. You do not need to be in Spain for most of the process: with a power of attorney for litigation (poder para pleitos) signed before a Spanish notary or at a consulate, I can act on your behalf while you are abroad.

How a civil claim is processed, step by step

1. 1
   First consultation and document review

   I analyse the contract, invoices, communications and deadlines and tell you whether the claim is viable and which route suits it.

2. 2
   Demand letter and negotiation (MASC)

   I send a burofax with the claim and a settlement proposal; compulsory since 2025, and it resolves many cases on its own.

3. 3
   Evidence and experts

   Where needed we commission an expert report (damage, construction defects) and gather witnesses and documents.

4. 4
   Claim or monitorio petition

   I file the written claim with the competent court of first instance, normally the one where the defendant lives.

5. 5
   Defence, pre-trial hearing and trial

   The ordinario has a pre-trial hearing and a trial; the verbal has a single hearing if either party requests it.

6. 6
   Judgment and appeals

   In most matters the judgment can be appealed to the Alicante Provincial Court (Audiencia Provincial).

7. 7
   Enforcement

   If the losing party does not pay voluntarily, the judgment is enforced by seizing bank accounts, wages or property.

Frequently asked questions