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Eviction and Tenancy Lawyers in Barcelona

We recover the property and the unpaid rent. We assess the route, the deadlines and the room for negotiation before filing.

When a tenant stops paying, the problem is not only the debt: it is time. Every month that passes adds unpaid rent, and the procedure has deadlines that are either used or lost depending on how the claim is prepared.

Since April 2025 there is also a mandatory preliminary step: attempting a settlement before filing. Without evidence of it, the court will not admit the claim. We explain this below, because it changes how a case is prepared from day one.

We act for landlords, property-holding companies and businesses managing real estate, in Barcelona and across Spain. We also advise tenants where the claim they have received does not stand up.

Situations we handle

Rent arrears

The most common case. Repossession and the rent owed can be claimed in the same proceedings, and it is worth deciding beforehand whether to close off the tenant's right to pay and stay.

See the procedure step by step

Term expired, tenant still in

The term has ended, notice was properly served and the tenant remains. The mandatory extension regime of the Urban Tenancies Act and its exceptions decide the outcome.

Occupation without title

Someone occupying with no contract, or under a title that has already expired. The route differs from eviction for non-payment and the choice has consequences.

Nuisance or unlawful activity

Noise, insanitary conditions, danger or unlawful activity on the premises. It is a ground for automatic termination, and also a matter for the owners' association.

See condominium law

Unauthorised works and subletting

Works without the owner's consent, assignment or subletting behind their back, damage caused deliberately. Each ground is proved differently.

Commercial and industrial premises

Tenancies for uses other than housing are governed by the contract before the statute. More room to negotiate, and more risk if the contract was poorly drafted.

Claiming the rent, not just the keys

Recovering the flat does not recover the money. Rent is claimed, enforced and attached, and is time-barred after five years.

See debt recovery

Tenancy agreements

Drafting and review before signing: rent and indexation, deposit and guarantees, term, termination clause and registration at the Land Registry.

The procedure as it works today

Two reforms changed this process in 2024 and 2025. What follows is the current scheme, not the one most guides still in circulation describe.

  1. Before filing: attempting a settlement

    Since 3 April 2025, recourse to an appropriate dispute resolution mechanism is a procedural prerequisite in civil matters, under Article 5 of Organic Law 1/2025. Eviction for non-payment is not among the exceptions. Negotiation conducted directly between lawyers qualifies, provided it is documented.

  2. Deciding whether to close off payment-and-stay

    The tenant can stop the eviction by paying, once only. But that door closes if the landlord formally demanded payment through a verifiable means before filing and payment was not made. It is the single most important decision in the case and it is taken before filing, not after.

  3. The claim

    Repossession is sought together with the rent owed, in the same proceedings. The claim must state whether the property is the occupier's habitual residence and whether the landlord is a large property holder. If either statement is missing, the claim is inadmissible, under article 439.6 of the Civil Procedure Act.

  4. The court's demand: ten days

    Once the claim is admitted, the Court Clerk requires the tenant, within ten days, to do one of four things: vacate, pay, pay in full to stop the eviction, or oppose. That same demand already fixes the date and time of the hearing and the exact date and time of repossession.

  5. No opposition: decree and repossession

    If the tenant neither responds nor appears, the Court Clerk issues a decree ending the proceedings and repossession follows with no further notice. Failure to oppose amounts to consenting to termination of the tenancy.

  6. Opposition: hearing and judgment

    If the tenant opposes, the matter goes to a hearing with each side's evidence. What counts here is the documentation prepared at the outset: contract, receipts, formal demands, correspondence and the condition of the property.

  7. Repossession

    The application for enforcement made in the claim itself is enough to repossess on the date and at the time set, with no additional step. Where the property is the debtor's habitual residence, they are given one month to vacate, extendable by a further month on justified grounds.

The deadlines that decide the outcome

10days
to respond to the court's demand
art. 438.5 LEC
1+1month
to vacate a habitual residence
art. 704.1 LEC
5years
to claim unpaid rent
art. 1966.2 Civil Code
15days
minimum if debt is waived for voluntary departure
art. 437.3 LEC

Deadlines verified against the consolidated texts published in the Spanish Official Gazette. The real timetable also depends on the court's workload and on how service is effected, which is where most time is lost.

The settlement attempt is no longer optional

Since 3 April 2025 a claim cannot be filed without having first attempted an agreed solution, and that attempt must be capable of proof. The consequence is not a fine or a delay: it is that the court will not admit the claim.

The law is flexible as to form. There is no obligation to go through any particular body, and it is enough that the attempt is documented.

  • Mediation, conciliation, a neutral expert opinion or a confidential binding offer all qualify
  • So does negotiation conducted by the parties' lawyers, if it is documented
  • A lawyer is only mandatory for a binding offer, and only above 2,000 euros
  • The action to recover a home occupied without consent is exempt

Payment-and-stay is won before filing

Spanish law lets the tenant end the proceedings by paying what is owed. It can be used only once. And it is excluded where the landlord formally demanded payment through a verifiable means before filing and payment was not made.

Which is why the order of steps matters more than their content. A demand properly made and properly evidenced, at the right moment, is what separates an eviction that concludes from one that restarts every time the tenant pays a month.

  • The demand must be verifiable and provable, not a message with no trace
  • The claim must set out the circumstances allowing or excluding it, or it is inadmissible
  • If the tenant has already used it once, it cannot be used again
  • Claiming the rent alongside repossession avoids a second set of proceedings later
Read the procedural guide

Habitual residence and large holders: what the claim must state

The 2023 housing act added two mandatory statements to any claim seeking to recover possession of a property. The claim must say whether the property is the occupier's habitual residence and whether the claimant is a large property holder. A claimant who states they are not must attach a Land Registry certificate listing their properties.

It is worth knowing what is no longer required: in January 2025 the Constitutional Court struck down the provisions imposing on large holders a specific prior conciliation and the production of a vulnerability report. Many guides still present them as being in force.

  • Either statement missing: the claim is inadmissible
  • The Land Registry certificate is obtained in advance, not once the court asks
  • Large-holder status does still matter for the extraordinary extension of the contract
  • In a designated stressed rental market the tenant may seek additional annual extensions

Commercial premises: a different regime and more room

Tenancies for uses other than housing do not enjoy the protection that residential tenancies do. They are governed first by what the parties agreed, then by Title III of the Urban Tenancies Act and only lastly by the Civil Code. For a business that means two things at once: considerable room to negotiate, and considerable risk if the contract was poorly drafted.

The same logic applies to homes over 300 square metres, or whose annual rent exceeds 5.5 times the minimum wage: they fall outside the protective regime.

  • There is no statutory mandatory extension: the term is what was agreed
  • The grounds for automatic termination are narrower than in residential tenancies
  • Assignment and subletting have their own rules, best settled in the contract
  • The grace month before repossession does not apply

A registered tenancy: the route almost nobody uses

Where the tenancy is registered at the Land Registry and the contract provides that it will terminate on non-payment with immediate return of the property, termination operates automatically. It is enough to serve a demand on the tenant, judicially or through a notary, at the address designated in the registration. If there is no reply within ten working days, or the reply accepts, the record of service is title to cancel the tenancy at the Registry.

It is a provision of the Urban Tenancies Act that is rarely used, and it is decided when signing, not when the arrears arrive. Which is why reviewing the contract before signature is usually worth more than any later proceedings.

  • Requires registration of the tenancy and an express termination clause
  • Requires designating an address for service in the registration
  • Ten working days of tenant silence and the demand takes effect
  • It is agreed when drafting: afterwards there is no room
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Frequently asked questions

How long does an eviction take?

There is no single answer, and be wary of anyone who gives you a fixed figure. The deadlines the law sets are short: ten days for the tenant to respond to the court's demand, and one month extendable by another to vacate a habitual residence. What lengthens the procedure is almost always something else: the court's workload, the difficulty of serving the tenant, and defects in the claim itself, which force amendment and restart the clock.

Of those three, the third is the only one within our control, and it is the one we work on before filing anything.

Is there really such a thing as express eviction?

The phrase is commercial, not legal: there is no procedure by that name. What does exist is a scheme far quicker than a few years ago, which is either exploited or wasted depending on how the case is prepared. The initial demand already fixes the exact date and time of repossession, and if the tenant does not oppose it is enforced with no further step.

Put differently: speed is not bought, it is prepared.

How much does an eviction lawyer cost?

It depends on the type of eviction, on whether the rent claim is joined, on whether there is opposition and on whether enforcement is needed. We do not publish a fixed rate, because a single price for different cases can only be wrong in one direction or the other.

What we do before you instruct us: tell you which route applies, what can be claimed besides repossession, and give you a written quote for your actual case.

Can I claim the unpaid rent and repossession together?

Yes, and generally you should. Article 250.1.1 of the Civil Procedure Act expressly covers both the claim for rent and amounts due and the recovery of possession. Seeking repossession alone means opening a second set of proceedings for the money, with its own cost and timetable.

Unpaid rent is time-barred after five years, under article 1966.2 of the Civil Code.

What if the tenant pays just before the hearing?

That is the right to pay and stay, and where it applies the proceedings end: the tenant remains in the property. But it can only be used once, and not if you formally demanded payment through a verifiable means before filing and payment was not made.

Which is why the prior demand is not a formality. It determines whether the eviction will conclude or be suspended every time the tenant brings a month up to date.

Do I have to attempt a settlement before filing?

Yes, since 3 April 2025. Article 5 of Organic Law 1/2025 makes it a procedural prerequisite in civil matters, and eviction for non-payment is not among the exceptions. Without evidence of it, the claim is not admitted.

The law allows very different ways of satisfying it, including negotiation conducted between the parties' lawyers. In a good number of cases that attempt resolves the matter, and it is cheaper and faster than litigation.

Can a company be evicted from commercial premises?

Yes, and the starting point is different. In tenancies for uses other than housing the contract governs, not the protective residential regime. That usually favours the landlord as to term and grounds for termination, and works against them if the contract was drafted carelessly.

The grace month to vacate that the law reserves for habitual residences does not apply either.

I am the tenant and I have been served. Can I do anything?

Yes, and there is little time: the court's demand gives ten days, and letting them pass without responding is treated as consenting to termination of the tenancy, with repossession following without further notice.

There are real defences worth reviewing straight away: whether the claim meets the admissibility requirements, whether the amount claimed is correct, whether the prior settlement attempt was made, whether the right to pay and stay is still available, and whether the landlord has met their own obligations. If you intend to apply for legal aid, you must do so within three days of the demand.

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