SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Alfonso López-Ibor, Pablo Henriquez de Luna, Virginia Jover and Carmen Serrano, López-Ibor DPM
theless, within civil proceedings certain matters are excluded from this obligation, such as the protec- tion of fundamental rights, proceedings concerning minors, applications for interim measures prior to filing a claim, and the European order for payment proce- dure. Ultimately, the Spanish legislator seeks, through this measure, to reduce litigation in Spain as well as to alleviate the workload of the courts, which in recent years has been extremely high. However, the practical application of the OL 1/2025 is giving rise to certain difficulties, such as the absence of uniform criteria for determining compliance with the requirement of admissibility. Recently, a resolution by the Chief Judge of Madrid has been published; however, given the recent entry into force of the law, no case law has yet been estab- lished in this regard (pursuant to Article 1.6 of the Spanish Civil Code and Supreme Court doctrine, case law is deemed to exist when there are two or more Supreme Court judgments on the matter in question). Separately, and irrespective of the OL 1/2025, in some special lawsuits, such as challenges to corporate decisions (general shareholders’ meetings and boards of directors), the plaintiff is required to have previously voted against the decision being challenged. 3.2 Statutes of Limitations Under Spanish law, there are two types of statute of limitations applicable to civil actions. Both are found in the Spanish Civil Code (SCC) and the Commer- cial Code, and their nature and application have been developed by case law. The first type of statute of limitations ( prescripción ) may be interrupted by means of a judicial or non-judi- cial claim or an acknowledgment by the defendant of the existence of the obligation. There are different durations for the period of this first statute of limitations, depending on the action to be brought. • For actions based on in rem rights ( derechos reales ) over immovable property, the statute of
limitation is generally 30 years, whereas the period for actions over movable property is generally six years after possession was lost. • Actions based on mortgages last for 20 years. • The statute for actions brought to protect personal rights is five years. This statute is also applicable to actions arising from contractual obligations. • The statute for actions based on a tort is one year from the date on which the claimant became aware of the damages caused. The second type of statute of limitations applicable to civil actions may not be interrupted ( caducidad ). This is the case with: • actions relating to the enforcement of final judg- ments or awards (five-year period from the date of judgment); • actions to amend or terminate contracts due to vices in the consent (four-year period); or • claims brought to the courts within an existing proceeding (a two-year period if there has been no procedural activity at first instance level, and a one-year period at higher levels). In addition, under Spanish law, special legislation can contain its own limitations. For example, Section 205 of the Capital Companies Act establishes a one-year time limit for challenging company resolutions. In the same way, Section 140 of the Intellectual Property Act grants the holder a period of five years to claim dam- ages for infringed rights. 3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant The SCPA requires a defendant to have the capacity to be a party and the condition of being a legitimate party to the proceeding. Section 6 of the SCPA determines that the following may be parties to the proceedings before civil courts: • natural persons; • legal persons; • an estate or separated estate which temporarily lacks an owner or the owner of which has been deprived of disposition and administration powers; and
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