SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Verónica Meana, José Antonio Domínguez, Enrique Ortiz and Mikel Garteiz-goxeaskoa, Aiyon Abogados
The carrier’s liability for delay will be limited to two and a half times the amount of freight charged for the affected cargo, with the maxi - mum limit equivalent to the freight charged for the complete cargo. The right to limit liability does not apply in the case of wilful misconduct or gross negligence of the carrier. Carriers are entitled to opt for the aforemen - tioned limitation of liability regime or to apply the limitation of liability regime under the LLMC 76/96. 3.4 Misdeclaration of Cargo The carrier can establish a claim for damages against the shipper for misdeclaration of cargo, as established in Article 260 of the SSA. Other remedies are the right to discharge the cargo in certain circumstances and the right to destroy it in the case of dangerous goods (Article 232 of the SSA). As of January 2023, no relevant judg - ment on these SSA provisions has been pub - lished. 3.5 Time Bar for Filing Claims for Damaged or Lost Cargo The time bar to file a claim for lost or damaged cargo is one year. This time limit applies to both contractual and tort claims. The Hague–Visby Rules provide that this time bar can be extended by agreement of the parties (ie, a time extension). The time bar cannot be interrupted by a letter of demand to the respond - ent. If the claim is not filed within that one-year period or within the time extension, the action is time-barred. However, under Article 286 of the SSA, and not - withstanding the remission to the provisions of
the Hague-Visby Rules, it is not clear whether this one-year time bar will be considered inter - ruptible by a letter of demand or whether it will require the claimant to obtain a time-extension agreement. There are appeal court judgments suggesting that the one-year time bar is not interruptible if the carriage is governed by a bill of lading as a contract, but this will be a matter for the Supreme Court to rule on. 4. Maritime Liens and Ship Arrests 4.1 Ship Arrests Spain is a State party to the International Con - vention on Arrest of Ships signed at Geneva on 12 March 1999 (the “1999 Arrest Convention”) that came into force on 14 September 2011. The domestic law that covers ship arrest in Spain is Article 470 et seq of the SSA and the provi - sions regulating general conservatory measures in Article 721 et seq of the Spanish Code of Civil Procedure. 4.2 Maritime Liens Spain is a State party to the International Con - vention on Maritime Liens and Mortgages signed at Geneva on 6 May 1993 (the “Lien Conven - tion”) that entered into force in Spain on 5 Sep - tember 2004. Furthermore, Article 122 et seq of the SSA, also provides that maritime liens be governed by the Lien Convention. Accordingly, and as established in Article 4.1 of the Lien Convention, the following claims are considered liens: • claims for wages and other sums due to the Master, officers and other crew members with
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