News

Can I change my court-appointed lawyer in Spain?

Anyone under investigation in Spain can replace a court-appointed lawyer with one of their own, but the change only takes effect once the new lawyer holds the previous one's consent. How the handover works in Barcelona, what happens to free legal aid and who pays for the work already done.

I missed my criminal trial in Spain and I live abroad. What now?

What happens after a missed trial in Spain depends on which of two cases you are in, not on living abroad. How a trial in your absence works, when a search order or a European arrest warrant is possible, and what to do first.

Mandatory information when hiring in Spain

Since October 2026, an employer hiring in Spain must put the essential terms of the contract in writing before the employee starts, with seventeen items of minimum content.

The SEPE template falls short

The SEPE has published the official information-document template for Royal Decree 723/2026. It is a sound starting point, but it asks for less than the decree in four sections and has no space for the employee's acknowledgment of receipt.

Shoplifting and theft charges in Barcelona

For a visitor or a foreign resident, a theft charge in Barcelona moves faster than almost anything else in Spanish criminal law. What the word on the paper means, what changed in April 2026, and what happens if you go home before the trial.

Shareholder disputes and director liability

When shareholders argue over a director's decision with serious consequences, the civil and the criminal side rarely run apart. Where the line between them sits, and why the strategy has to weigh both from the start.

The conformidad: pleading guilty in Spain

For a foreign client, the number of months in a conformidad is rarely the expensive part. What the court checks, what you give up, and what a conviction does to a residence permit years later.

Criminal records and residence in Spain

Being arrested does not create a criminal record, and a final conviction does, which decides whether your residence permit is at risk. The mistake that costs most is assuming the criminal case and the immigration file are the same conversation.

Investigations into company directors

A Spanish criminal investigation into a company has two defendants, and their interests run in parallel only until somebody sees an advantage in separating them. Missing that at the outset is the most expensive mistake available.

Arrested in Barcelona: the first 72 hours

Most of what shapes an arrest in Spain is decided in the hours when the person arrested understands least. Which of those decisions are yours, and how to make them from outside the station.

Being investigated in Barcelona

Being named an investigado falls somewhere between a charge and nothing at all, and it marks the point at which the procedure starts running against the clock. What the status means, how you find out you have it, and why a Barcelona case can stay silent for months while deadlines keep moving.

Summoned to a court in Barcelona

A citación tells you where to be and when. It does not say in what capacity you are called, what happens if you do not turn up, or what clock started running the moment it was served.

Spain's RD 723/2026: inform before hiring

Employers in Spain used to have two months to give a new employee written information about their working conditions. From October 5th it must be handed over before they start, and it covers almost twice as much ground.

The EU AI Act and SMEs: what applies since August 2nd

If you use AI rather than build it, there is no single deadline to meet. The obligations started at different moments, and the loudest date is not the one that creates most work.

Doping and sports discipline: what the athlete is risking

Everything in doping law starts with strict liability, under which the athlete answers for whatever shows up in their body. A whereabouts failure or a refusal to be tested can cost years of a career without any positive test at all.

Social Security classification of company directors and shareholders

A company can run for years with someone in the wrong Social Security regime and nothing happens, until a benefit is claimed or an inspection asks, and by then the difference has been building for years.

Sports justice: from the disciplinary file to the TAD and the CAS

Sports have their own system of justice, and its deadlines are counted in working days. I trace which body has jurisdiction and where the route stops.

The 2026 criminal-law reform and favorable retroactivity

For conduct already committed, the starting point is the law in force at the time. Where the later law is more lenient, it applies backwards, and after the 2026 reform that question comes before every other one.

The criminal liability of company directors

Not every bad business decision is a crime, and what separates the two is almost never the size of the losses. I go through the offenses that come up and the question I ask first.

When a company hits a crisis: pre-insolvency, insolvency and the insolvency administrator

The law has a tiered set of tools for a company in difficulty, and almost all of them pay off more the earlier they are triggered, which is why the map is worth reading before you need it.

Offenses against the safety of workers

A failure to provide safety measures can give rise to criminal liability even where no harm occurs at all. Who is liable, and which documents answer most of the question long before any trial.