Need to send a burofax in Spain?
Prepare the text, check the recipient, choose the right route and keep proof. A burofax is a certified communication with proof of content, date and delivery.
Will your claim be taken seriously?
A weak claim gets ignored. Check yours before sending.
What a burofax is
A burofax is a way to send a document so that you can later prove both that it was sent and what it contained.
It records exactly what you sent, when and to whom, as well as the outcome of the delivery attempt: whether the document was delivered, refused or could not be delivered.
In Spain, burofax is often associated with Correos because historically it was a postal service. But what matters is not the brand itself, but the evidence: certified content of the document, sending date, recipient details and proof of delivery or attempted delivery.
Today a burofax can be paper or electronic. It is used when an ordinary email or letter is not enough: for example, to send a formal complaint, demand payment, terminate a contract, record a breach or warn the other party before taking further steps.
Check your formal notice (burofax) before sending
Order an Expert Review: we will check the text, review any supporting documents and legal grounds you provide, revise the document where necessary, and send the final version to the recipient.
Order Expert Review →NAVICheck my document before I pay — what’s wrong and my risk
NAVI will explain the meaning and risk.
Why ordinary correspondence doesn't work for serious matters
A common misconception: "I have a WhatsApp thread, I have screenshots — that's enough." For most formal disputes, it isn't.
| Method | Proves content | Proves date | Proves delivery | Legal standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Email / WhatsApp | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Low |
| Ordinary letter | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | None |
| Carta certificada (registered post) | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | Partial |
| Burofax | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Full |
Registered post (carta certificada) is the most common mistake. It proves the envelope was delivered, but not what was inside. The other party can claim the envelope was empty — and there's no way to disprove it. Burofax closes that gap: the certified provider records the content and keeps proof.
When you need a burofax
A burofax is commonly used at the start of a dispute to formally record your position and give the other party an opportunity to resolve the matter before court proceedings.
How to send a burofax
Prefer to do it yourself?
That option always exists. You can send a burofax on your own at any Correos office (bring the printed document and ask for "un burofax con acuse de recibo") or online at correos.es (you'll need a Correos account and your document as a PDF). In either case, you must verify the recipient’s correct address yourself, because an incorrect address may affect the effectiveness of the notice, and pay the applicable Correos fee. Keep the receipt (resguardo) and the certificate of dispatch: that is your proof.
Step by step, if you send it yourself
- Prepare the document and any attachments: a printed copy for the counter, a PDF for the online route.
- Verify the recipient’s legally correct address. A wrong address may leave the notice ineffective against that recipient — this is the most common mistake.
- Choose the channel: any Correos office or correos.es (you need a Correos account and the document as a PDF).
- Ask for “un burofax con acuse de recibo”: with AR you get back the recipient’s signature or the record of their refusal to accept it.
- Pay the applicable fee and keep the receipt (resguardo) and the certificate of dispatch — that is your proof.
- Wait for the delivery outcome. If nobody is there, Correos leaves a notice and, if the item is not collected within the applicable period, returns it to you with proof of the attempted delivery — keep that document too.
Key details: AR and the correct address
Acuse de recibo (AR) — always include it
The acuse de recibo is the "with delivery confirmation" option: you get back a slip signed by the recipient. Without AR, the burofax still carries legal weight (Spanish law presumes notification if the letter is delivered to the address), but with AR you also have the signature or a certificate of refusal — eliminating any argument in court.
The correct address is critical
A burofax sent to the wrong address may fail to work as effective notice against the recipient. It is the most common mistake people make.
A real case: one detail changed the outcome
The claim was thrown out entirely — not on the merits, but over how one burofax was judged. A man sent his wife a burofax proposing terms on custody, contact, child maintenance and the family home — the compulsory pre-court attempt at agreement (MASC) required by Organic Law 1/2025. No reply came. The first-instance court held that this burofax did not satisfy the MASC requirement and refused to admit the divorce claim at all. The Murcia Provincial Court reversed that and let the claim proceed.
What was not obvious. What can sink a case is not the other side’s refusal but their silence — if the court treats your attempt at agreement as unproven. The appeal court said it plainly: a burofax proves the date of sending and receipt, the identity of both parties and the full content of the proposal, and “the effectiveness of a legal act cannot depend on the will of the person it is addressed to”. The practical lesson: what matters in a burofax is not the template but the whole of what it says — a concrete proposal on each disputed point, not “I suggest we talk”. After 30 days of silence the attempt counts as made.
Outcome: the divorce claim was admitted after the first-instance court had refused it. The main cost here was time: months were lost on an appeal simply to have the case admitted.
The rule is new and works like this. A claim is turned away not because you failed to send a burofax, but because you failed to try to settle — the attempt is the condition (art. 5 of Organic Law 1/2025; some categories are excluded). The burofax simply proves the attempt happened. The law asks you to show that the other side received your proposal, on what day, and could read all of it (art. 10.2). The thirty days after which the talks count as failed run from the day it was received (art. 10.4.a). If the envelope was never handed over, that proof does not exist. Sending the envelope does not by itself replace the requirement of art. 5, and it is not needed in the excluded categories of cases.
Murcia Provincial Court, Fourth Section (appeal RPL 1949/2025) · 06.02.2026
The guide above describes the standard sending process. What deserves checking is not the form but whether your burofax proves the exact fact you will need later.
Check my situationFrequently asked questions
Send a ready burofax online
RightNOW is not Correos. We organize the sending through a certified channel: we verify or locate the recipient, choose the electronic or physical channel, and return proof of content, sending and delivery/attempt. If you only order sending, we send your text and documents as uploaded; for a content check, order Expert Review.
If the recipient is a company or authority, we first look it up by name and try the electronic burofax route through a certified channel when available. If electronic delivery is not available or fails, we use a physical/postal channel when a verified postal address exists.
For an individual, enter the full name and postal address. Recipient email is optional; the postal address remains the main delivery address.
Need help writing the burofax?
Describe the problem. NAVI first checks whether it fits a covered route such as deposit, salary, consumer, bank or insurance. If not, it can offer a generic burofax draft.
Describe my situationInformation current as of June 2026. Correos pricing may change — check correos.es.
Prefer to handle it yourself?
You can also use the official channels directly, often at no cost: Banco de España for bank complaints, DGSFP for insurance, OMIC or consumer services for consumer claims and Defensor del Pueblo for problems with public administration. Or go through the claim with RightNOW: we prepare the text, evidence and action path, then accompany the case through to the result.
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Checked by the RightNOW team · Change history
- Guide expanded: new sections answering more real situations.
- Language review: wording and terms checked, corrections applied. Versions: RU, EN · Антон Белянский, QA review
- Real case reworked as a lesson: what was not obvious, how it ended, link to the decision.
- Guide expanded: new sections answering more real situations.
- Legal basis, deadlines and figures re-checked against official sources.
- Page published.
This guide is general information about Spanish law, not a legal opinion on your case. Rules change and outcomes depend on your own facts and documents — check your situation before you act on it.