Tag: Legal action in Spain

Is it viable to undertake legal action in Spain for construction disputes?

The question for any foreigner considering litigation in Spain is: can I take legal action in Spain effectively – without it costing a fortune and an age to resolve? Most foreigners know very little about the Spanish legal system and, as a consequence, it is not uncommon for potential litigants to throw their hands in the air and avoid legal action – even though they have a winnable case. Despite the commonly held fears of delay and expense, in reality, legal action in Spain is workable and the timings of major legal actions are generally not too far off those of the UK court system. In the latter, cases can take up to two or three years to bring to trial and this is, more or less, true of many court cases in Spain.  That said, timings can depend upon the individual court dealing with your case. Waiting lists and…

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Group court actions in Spain, for construction related problems

Over the past few years we have dealt with a number of major group court actions in Spain relating to building defects in Spain. In fact, some of the cases have been very high profile and have involved large estates, where many of the properties have suffered from serious structural problems.  One estate that we have dealt with, for example, was built upon a clay substrate that was unstable.  This has caused the total collapse of a number of properties and considerable movement in a lot of others.  As you can imagine, this has been very distressing for the property owners concerned, who have seen their dream properties crumble before their very eyes.  Worse still, for many, was the seemingly impossible task of taking successful legal action in Spain against a very large and powerful developer.  That is enough to test the strength of the hardiest property owner! Of course,…

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Suing builders in Spain, litigation or dispute resolution?

Building disputes in Spain are, sadly, not uncommon.  Indeed, hardly a day goes by when I do not receive a call or e-mail from someone who has some sort of construction problem in Spain. In fact, as I have stated before, the construction of new properties in Spain over the past few years has been very variable.  I have certainly seen fine work but, all too often, I come across defective buildings in Spain.  Quite frankly, the level of skill used in Spanish construction has not always been good and this has been made worse by lax (or sometimes no!) building control. Of course, it is not only new buildings that have suffered from poor work.  The same is frequently the case with reform projects.  The latter are notorious for going over-budget and it is far from unknown for property owners to end up with a quality of construction and…

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