Eviction for non-payment of rent in Spain: procedure and deadlines

In Spain, eviction is the court procedure through which the owner of a home or commercial premises recovers possession when the tenant is in breach. In most cases the breach is non-payment of rent, but it is not the only ground, and the procedural route differs depending on which one applies.

The procedure has changed twice in a short space of time. Royal Decree-Law 6/2023 reformed the conduct of the juicio verbal with effect from March 2024, and Organic Law 1/2025 added a new requirement from 3 April 2025. Many guides still in circulation describe the earlier scheme, which no longer applies.

What follows is the procedure as it works today, with the deadlines and the provisions behind them. The rules are national: the competent court is the one for the place where the property is located.

The four types of eviction

Choosing the wrong route is one of the most common causes of delay, because each ground carries its own admissibility requirements.

Eviction for non-payment of rent

The tenant stops paying the rent or the amounts payable under the contract. This is a ground for automatic termination under article 27.2(a) of the Urban Tenancies Act (Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos), and it is heard as a juicio verbal under article 250.1.1 of the Civil Procedure Act (Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil), whatever the amount involved. Repossession and the unpaid rent can be claimed in the same proceedings.

Eviction on expiry of the term

The contract has expired, notice of non-renewal was properly served, and the tenant remains in occupation. What matters here is whether the duration and extension regime of the Urban Tenancies Act was respected: mandatory extension up to five years, or seven where the landlord is a legal entity, followed by tacit extension of up to three further years unless the landlord gives four months' notice.

Eviction of an occupier without title (precario)

Someone occupying without a contract, or under a title that has already expired, and without paying rent. This proceeds under article 250.1.2 of the Civil Procedure Act. It should be distinguished from the action to recover possession of a home occupied without consent, which is article 250.1.4 and follows its own rules.

Eviction for nuisance or unlawful activity

Noise, insanitary conditions, danger or unlawful activity on the premises. This is also a ground for automatic termination, article 27.2(e) of the Urban Tenancies Act. Where the problem affects neighbours there is often a parallel route through the owners' association, which we cover in condominium law in Spain.

The mandatory step before filing, since April 2025

This is the least known change and the one with the greatest practical consequence. Article 5 of Organic Law 1/2025 makes prior recourse to an appropriate dispute resolution mechanism a procedural prerequisite. The requirement covers the declaratory proceedings of Book II of the Civil Procedure Act, including eviction proceedings, and the list of exceptions is closed: eviction for non-payment is not on it.

The consequence is not a penalty or a mere delay. Articles 399.3 and 403 of the Civil Procedure Act are explicit: without evidence of that attempt, the claim will not be admitted.

The law is flexible as to form. The requirement is satisfied by mediation, conciliation, the neutral opinion of an independent expert, a confidential binding offer, or any other negotiating activity, and expressly also where the negotiation is conducted directly by the parties or by their lawyers. There is no obligation to go through any particular body: what matters is that the attempt is documented.

A lawyer is only mandatory where the mechanism chosen is a binding offer, and only above 2,000 euros.

The prior demand: the decision that closes off enervación

Enervación allows the tenant to bring the proceedings to an end by paying what is owed. It is set out in article 22.4 of the Civil Procedure Act and has two important limits: it can be used only once, and it is excluded where the landlord formally demanded payment through a verifiable means before filing the claim and payment was not made.

This is why the order of steps matters more than their content. A demand made at the right moment, through a means that leaves a trace and kept as evidence, is what separates an eviction that concludes from one that restarts every time the tenant brings a month up to date.

What the claim must contain to be admitted

Beyond evidence of the settlement attempt, the Civil Procedure Act imposes admissibility requirements specific to this type of claim:

• The circumstances that allow or exclude enervación in the particular case. Without that statement the claim is inadmissible, article 439.3.
• Whether the property is the occupier's habitual residence.
• Whether the claimant qualifies as a large property holder (gran tenedor de vivienda) under article 3(k) of Act 12/2023 on the right to housing. A claimant who states they do not must attach a Land Registry certificate listing their properties.

Omitting either of the last two statements is enough for the court to refuse the claim, so the Land Registry certificate is worth obtaining in advance rather than once the court asks for it.

The court's demand: the tenant's ten days

This is the core of the current procedure. Under article 438.5 of the Civil Procedure Act, once the claim is admitted and before the hearing, the Court Clerk (letrado de la Administración de Justicia) requires the defendant, within ten days, to do one of four things:

• Vacate the property.
• Pay the claimant.
• Enervate, by paying or depositing the full amount claimed plus whatever is owed at the time of payment.
• Oppose, by appearing and briefly setting out why the amount is not owed, in whole or in part, or why enervación does not apply.

That same demand already fixes the date and time of the hearing, should there be opposition, and the exact date and time of repossession if there is none. It also warns that failure to oppose amounts to consenting to termination of the tenancy.

A defendant who intends to apply for legal aid must do so within three days of the demand.

If the defendant does not pay, does not vacate and does not appear, the Court Clerk issues a decree bringing the proceedings to an end and repossession follows with no further notice.

Repossession and its deadlines

The application for enforcement made in the claim itself is sufficient to carry out repossession on the date and at the time set, with no additional step, under article 549.3 of the Civil Procedure Act.

Where the property is the habitual residence of the debtor or of those dependent on them, article 704.1 allows one month to vacate, extendable by a further month on justified grounds. Once the period expires, repossession proceeds immediately. This grace period does not apply to commercial premises.

Where third parties other than the debtor are in occupation, they are notified of the enforcement and have ten days to produce documents justifying their position, article 704.2.

What can be claimed besides repossession

Recovering the property does not recover the money. Article 250.1.1 of the Civil Procedure Act expressly covers both the claim for unpaid rent and amounts due and the recovery of possession, so both can be sought in the same proceedings. Claiming repossession alone means opening a second set of proceedings afterwards for the money.

Unpaid rent is time-barred after five years, under article 1966.2 of the Civil Code, which deals specifically with the price of rural and urban tenancies.

There is also a negotiating tool provided by the legislation itself and rarely used: article 437.3 allows the landlord to state in the claim that all or part of the debt and costs will be waived if the tenant vacates voluntarily within the period indicated, which cannot be less than fifteen days from service. If the tenant accepts, the effect is equivalent to submission to the claim. In many cases recovering the property sooner is worth more than recovering the full debt later.

Where only the money remains outstanding, the route changes. We cover that in debt recovery in Spain.

What a tenant served with a claim can do

There is less time than is generally assumed: ten days from the court's demand, and letting them pass without responding is treated as consent to termination of the tenancy. Even so, there are real defences worth reviewing straight away:

• Whether the claim meets the admissibility requirements: documented settlement attempt, statement on enervación, habitual residence and large-holder status.
• Whether the amount claimed is correct, after deducting payments made, the deposit and sums that were not the tenant's responsibility.
• Whether enervación is still available, that is whether it was used before and whether a verifiable prior demand was made.
• Whether the landlord has met their own obligations, in particular the necessary repairs under article 21 of the Urban Tenancies Act.
• Whether there is a situation of vulnerability certified by the social services, which may give a right to an extraordinary extension of the contract against a large property holder.

The mistakes that delay evictions most

• Failing to document the prior settlement attempt. Since April 2025 this is a ground for refusal, not something to be cured later.
• Demanding payment without leaving a trace. A message with no proof of service does not close off enervación.
• Omitting the statements required by article 439.6. Habitual residence and large-holder status: without them, the claim is not admitted.
• Claiming repossession only. This forces a second set of proceedings for the rent.
• Badly drafted service addresses in the contract. Service is where most time is lost, and it is settled when the contract is drafted.

What no longer applies, despite what you may still read

• The specific prior conciliation for large property holders and the requirement to produce a vulnerability report, introduced by Act 12/2023 in paragraphs 6(c) and 7 of article 439, were declared unconstitutional and void by Constitutional Court Judgment 26/2025 of 29 January.
• The former scheme of article 440 of the Civil Procedure Act, with the summons warning of the possibility of enervación. That mechanism now sits in article 438.5, with its ten-day demand.
• The short-form claim as the normal shape of the juicio verbal. Since March 2024 the form of the ordinary procedure applies where a lawyer is involved.

In short

An eviction for non-payment is largely decided before the claim is filed: in how payment was demanded, in whether the settlement attempt was documented, and in whether the claim meets the admissibility requirements. Done that way, the timetable that follows is short and predictable. Done carelessly, it becomes a procedure that keeps restarting.

If you have rent arrears running or a contract expiring without agreement, tell us the situation and what documents you hold. We will tell you which route applies, which deadlines are already running and what you can claim besides repossession. We advise in Spanish, Catalan, English, French and Italian.