Missed a Court Date or Got a Court Letter in Spain? What to Do Now

What did you receive? The types of court mail

Spanish procedure law classifies everything a court sends you (art. 149 LEC). The first step is identifying which one you are holding, because each demands a different reaction. Look on the first page for the key word, the court (juzgado) sending it and the procedure number (número de procedimiento).

Check my court letter — €9.90

• A notice (notificación) informs you of a decision or step in a case — an order, a decree, a judgment. It may require nothing from you, but it usually opens the clock to appeal: always read the closing paragraph about available remedies (recursos).
• A summons (citación) sets a place, date and time when you must appear — as a party, a witness or an expert, in a civil or criminal matter. Not showing up has very different consequences depending on your role (see below).
• A deadline order (emplazamiento) gives you a period to enter the case and act — typically to answer a lawsuit: 20 working days in ordinary proceedings (art. 404 LEC), 10 days in the fast-track civil track (juicio verbal, art. 438 LEC).
• A formal demand (requerimiento) orders you to do or stop doing something concrete — most often to pay. The most common is the court payment order (juicio monitorio): 20 days to pay or file a reasoned opposition (art. 815 LEC).
• A lawsuit served on you (demanda con emplazamiento): someone sued you. You receive a copy of the claim and its documents — and the deadline to answer in writing is already running.
• After a traffic accident the letter can be any of these: a summons as witness or accused in a minor-offence trial, a civil claim from an insurer or the other driver, or a payment order over an unpaid excess. Work out your role before reacting.

Real deadlines: the clock is already running

• Deadlines start the day after notification and are counted in working days: Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and the whole of August do not count for most civil steps (arts. 130 and 133 LEC).
• Answering a lawsuit: 20 working days in the ordinary track (art. 404 LEC), 10 days in the juicio verbal (art. 438 LEC).
• A court payment order (monitorio): 20 days to pay or oppose (art. 815 LEC).
• Appeal windows are short — e.g. 20 days to appeal a judgment (art. 458 LEC) — and count the same way, from the day after notification.
• Being away, not opening the envelope or refusing to collect the letter does not stop the clock: if the address was correct, the notification can be valid even if you never read it.

You missed the court date or ignored the letter — what happens

It depends on your role in the proceedings. This is what the law provides:

• A sued defendant who never answers or appears is declared in procedural default (rebeldía procesal, art. 496 LEC). The case continues without you. Default is not an admission of the claim — but you lose your defence, and after that declaration the court only notifies you of the final ruling (art. 497 LEC).
• A payment-order debtor who stays silent: if within 20 days you neither pay nor oppose, the procedure ends and the creditor can request enforcement — seizure of accounts, salary or assets — on a mere application (art. 816 LEC), with interest accruing.
• A witness in a criminal case who skips the first judicial call without excuse faces a fine of €200 to €5,000; if you persist, the police can bring you before the judge and repeated refusal is prosecuted as obstruction of justice (art. 420 LECrim; art. 463 Código Penal).
• An accused or investigated person who does not appear and shows no legitimate cause: the order to appear can be converted into a detention (arrest) order (arts. 486–487 LECrim).
• Administrative citations (traffic fines, immigration offices) are not from a court, but silence works the same way: the decision becomes final and enforceable. Always check who signs the letter.

What to do right now, step by step

1. Read the header: which court (juzgado) sent it, the procedure number, and the type of act — summons, deadline order, formal demand or notice.
2. Identify your role: defendant, accused, witness, injured party? Every consequence above depends on it.
3. Write down the notification date and count your deadline in working days, starting the day after.
4. Gather everything related to the matter: contracts, burofaxes, accident reports, previous complaints, receipts.
5. Decide whether you need a lawyer (next section). If you qualify for legal aid, apply before the deadline slips — and expressly ask the court to suspend the procedural clock while your application is decided (art. 16 Ley 1/1996).
6. Reply through the correct channel — a written answer to the claim, an opposition to the payment order, or appearing on the set date — and keep proof of filing. If the deadline already passed, a defective notification can be challenged and a blameless defaulting defendant can ask to rescind the final judgment (arts. 501 ff. LEC), but these remedies have their own short deadlines: get a lawyer immediately.

When you need a lawyer — and how to get one for free

• In criminal proceedings, defence counsel is mandatory for the accused: if you do not appoint one, a duty lawyer is assigned to you.
• In civil cases a lawyer and a court agent (procurador) are generally mandatory, except in small claims up to €2,000 and for the initial petition of a payment order (arts. 23 and 31 LEC).
• You are entitled to free legal aid (justicia gratuita) — a free court-appointed lawyer (abogado de oficio) — if your gross annual household income does not exceed roughly 2× IPREM (single person), 2.5× IPREM (family unit of fewer than 4) or 3× IPREM (4+ members or large family) (art. 3 Ley 1/1996).
• Being a foreigner does not exclude you: the law expressly covers foreigners who are in Spain (art. 2 Ley 1/1996).
• Apply at the bar association (Colegio de Abogados) of your province or its legal orientation service (SOJ); in criminal matters the duty-lawyer system works from your first statement.

Common mistakes

• Throwing the envelope away or refusing to collect it: the notification can be valid anyway, and the case continues without you.
• Confusing a witness summons with a lawsuit — paying for a defence where you only had to show up, or going without a lawyer where one was mandatory.
• Writing to the other party “to fix it” and admitting facts in writing before getting advice.
• Letting the 20 days of a payment order pass, assuming “the real trial will come later” — it does not; the seizure comes.
• Paying an unverified “lawyer” who appears when word gets around — always check the bar registration.
• Replying late or through the wrong channel: an email to the court is not an answer to a lawsuit.

Related guides

Frequently asked questions

Official sources