Type of refusal
Non-payment with a counterparty in Spain
The party that stopped paying is usually a company, a fund vehicle, or an individual acting through one. Without describing a national procedure here, it is already possible to check how the counterparty is registered, what it appears to own, and whether a judgment against it could travel to where those assets sit. This sits within the wider category of non-payment cases.
Who is actually on the other side
A counterparty that has stopped paying is rarely one person acting alone. Private investment vehicles in Spain are commonly a sociedad limitada or sociedad anónima, and both file basic information with the commercial registry, including registered directors, share capital, registered address, and annual accounts where filed. That filing shows who is formally in control, not whether the entity still holds the money that was invested.
Where the counterparty is an individual, no equivalent public record exists, and the trail runs through whatever contract, transfer, or corporate vehicle received the funds. Establishing which situation applies comes before anything else.
What to secure before the counterparty reacts
Before any formal step, fix the file so its contents cannot later be disputed. Keep the original agreement, every amendment, and any message where the counterparty acknowledged the debt or promised a date, as covered in what to do when a counterparty stops replying.
Record where the money went, including bank references, transfer confirmations, and receipt statements. If revised terms are offered instead of payment, treat that as a separate issue, see how a change of terms is used as a defence, and note what the counterparty visibly owns before they learn a claim is coming. That groundwork sits within payment and redemption default work.
Where a judgment would have to be enforced
If the claim is decided within the EU, recognition between member states does not require a separate exequatur procedure. That removes one layer of friction, and how the judgment itself is obtained depends on the file rather than on anything described on this page.
Spain is bound by the 2019 Hague Convention on recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, in force for the EU since 1 September 2023. This matters both for enforcement into Spain and for the reverse route at enforcement from Spain to the UK. Documents crossing the border generally need an apostille, since Spain is party to that Convention with a declared reservation, in force since 25 September 1978.
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