SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Daniel Jiménez García, SLJ Abogados
expected that ESG and energy transition disputes will be a meaningful growth area. Technology Platforms A newer strand is worth flagging. The exclusivity dis - pute between Cabify and Auro (formerly Unauto VTC), two competing ride-hailing platforms, has generated significant Spanish arbitration case law. The High Court of Justice of Madrid ( Tribunal Superior de Jus- ticia de Madrid – TSJM) annulled the award in Reso - lution 66/2021 for applying domestic competition law instead of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and the ensuing liti - gation has produced two references to the Court of Justice of the European Union that remain pending. 1.3 Arbitration Institutions Domestic Institutions The leading Spanish institution for international work is CIIAM. Created in 2020 by consolidating the inter - national activity of the CAM, the Spanish Court of Arbitration ( Corte Española de Arbitraje – CEA) and the Civil and Commercial Court of Arbitration ( Corte Civil y Mercantil de Arbitraje – CIMA), with the Madrid Bar Association ( Ilustre Colegio de la Abogacía de Madrid – ICAM) as strategic partner, it was joined by the Ibero-American Arbitration Centre ( Centro Iber- oamericano de Arbitraje – CIAR) in 2024 and by CAM Santiago in April 2025. The Centre administers pro - ceedings in Spanish, Portuguese, English and French and allows the seat to be fixed in any city in the world. Rebranding No new institution was established in the past 12 months, but there was a significant identity change. On 19 January 2026, the institution formerly known as CIAM-CIAR adopted the acronym CIIAM, consolidat - ing its Madrid–Santiago positioning and, in the words of its president, integrating rather than replacing its founding courts. Practitioners saw both acronyms in circulation in clauses drafted before that date; the change is one of branding and does not affect the validity of existing CIAM-CIAR clauses. Track Record CIIAM has administered 68 cases since 2020, with an aggregate amount in dispute of EUR424.9 million. In 2025 alone, it handled cases worth EUR149 million,
a 17% increase on the previous year, with 37.5% of matters arising from a CIIAM clause in the parties’ contract and the remainder from referral by the found - ing courts. Domestic and International Alternatives For domestic and Spanish-language regional work, CAM, CEA and CIMA remain the institutions of choice. The ICC continues to be the first choice for large multi- jurisdictional contracts. The LCIA is frequently chosen when one of the parties is based in the United King - dom or the United States. 1.4 National Courts Allocation of Jurisdiction Since the 2011 reform, the Civil and Criminal Cham - bers of the High Courts of Justice of the Autonomous Communities ( Tribunales Superiores de Justicia ) have heard applications for the judicial appointment and removal of arbitrators, set-aside applications and the recognition (exequatur) of foreign awards. The Courts of First Instance are responsible for the enforcement of awards once recognised, and for interim relief in support of arbitration. Practical Consequences Concentration at High Court level has produced a body of specialist case law and, over time, a more predictable approach. The TSJM hears the largest share of set-aside applications, and its decisions carry particular weight in the market, although its relation - ship with the Constitutional Court in relation to the scope of award review has been the defining institu - tional story of the past years — see 11.3 Standard of Judicial Review . Reorganisation of the Courts The Spanish court system is being restructured. Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January 2025 replaces some 3,900 single-judge courts with 431 courts of instance ( tribunales de instancia ), with staged entry into force from 1 July 2025. The reform is organisational and does not alter the allocation of arbitration-related juris - diction described previously.
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