Local Courts
The first level court “Juzgados de Primera” is the local court it can take 6 to 18 months for a case to be heard. In the first pretrial “Audencia Previa” the barristers discuss points of law. It can take another 12 to 18 months for the main hearing date, known as “Jucio”.
After the first hearing, you have to wait for a resolution or sentence from the court this could be 6 weeks but it could be 6 months. After the resolution, there are 20 working days to appeal to the next level of Court. The Court of Appeal is based in the capital of the local main city of each province. It is important to understand that the appeal or “Audiences Provinciales” does not have an open hearing.
Spanish Appeal Process
A legal case that goes to appeal is reviewed by three judges this can take a further 6 months to reach a decision sometimes longer. If there has been no real investigation or evidence submitted to the first-level courts then there is no real point in raising any appeal as this closed hearing will only look at the court documents and the statements that were presented at the main hearing “Jucio”
Verbal Hearing for Precarious Eviction
As in my case with the verbal hearing for precarious eviction that took place on June 10th 2022. I was shocked that I was not allowed to speak. There seemed to be no point in asking me to be present in the court at all. I was a witness to the proceedings that I did not understand as everything was in Spanish. The two lawyers were allowed to speak and in what was no more than 5 minutes the proceedings were closed. Here is my take on the process, watch my video, One Year On From The Spanish Civil Court Verbal Hearing For Precarious Eviction June 10th 2022.
Most cases stop at the appeal stage very few go to the highest level of court “Tribunal Supremo de Espana” or Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is in Madrid. Not many cases are accepted for example a case with a value of over 600,000 can be heard or in cases where the law is not clear or precise. Judgments from the Supreme Court can be very important.
Did I want to go to the Supreme Court?
I was informed by a Spanish solicitor that the next court after the appeal was the Supreme Court but what use would it have been when the evidence that I had in my possession was not considered from the start of the proceedings and the plaintiff was using the legal process to cause me further emotional and psychological damage as well as financial devastation.
He was using his power and money to cause conflict and he had fabricated the statements to his solicitor and the court. Even though I had tried to communicate this to the free public defence lawyer that I had been appointed through the College of Solicitors she did not take any of my allegations seriously. Below are just a few of the statements spoken by that solicitor that she made to me, that I had to translate from Spanish or that were repeated to me by an interpreter.
“the judge will order your eviction”
“he just wants his house back”
“go back to the UK”
“go back to your family”
Re-Traumatised
These statements alone caused me further trauma and anxiety. All the while I was trying to explain that the ex-partner was using the court process to destroy me. He did not just want his house back. My ex-partner started the conflict because he would not agree to negotiate in any circumstances.
You Can Not Negotiate With Me
He told me over and over that I could not negotiate with him. I even have this in a recording where we were meant to discuss the financial proposal that I had written to him on the 12th of September. This was the day before the transformational therapy that was taking place over Zoom with Dr Bella the NLP hypnotherapist that the Ex had offered me and paid for. He had already done that “Breakthrough Transformation Therapy” in the UK the weekend before he flew back to Spain on the 25th of August.
He had even told me it would help me to have the “success in business” that I always wanted, I sent that email at 3:30 a.m. I was not sleeping well after all that had happened in the nearly 3 weeks he had been in Spain with me.
Here is one small clip of the 26-minute face-to-face meeting that we had at our home on the 15th of September 2020.
He Set the Deadline of Four Months – the 15th of January 2021
A Long And Costly Process
The court process in Spain can be very slow I was informed by the criminal lawyer that I had to appoint in my defence against the ongoing onslaught of litigations from the Ex that five to seven years from action being presented in the lower court to a settlement in the Supreme Tribunal is not unusual. The advice of the Spanish solicitors in the gender violence charity CAVI to not file any further gender violence complaints and to negotiate did not take account of the power imbalance of the Ex with his money and specialist lawyers from Barcelona and me with no job, no income, and no legal representation, and fully traumatised by the whole experience.
Many articles written by Spanish solicitors advocate that individuals should attempt strong negotiation before taking steps to go down the costly and lengthy process of litigation.
I tried My Best To Offer Him A Way Forward
Well I tried. He would not cooperate with the negotiations and just kept offering different amounts and different deadlines which in my opinion amounted to unreasonable behaviour from a high-conflict personality. Here are my attempts at negotiations since his offer letter was made to me on August 29th 2020.
Letter From The Ex.
Attempts To Negotiate
12th September my email of my financial proposal
15th September 26-minute meeting to discuss the financial proposals
On 26th October I spoke to a UK solicitor for mediation. Paid £200 for the first Zoom meeting. Ex would not engage.
16th of November I spoke to a Spanish solicitor who was to speak with his solicitor. The other solicitor would not return his calls.
14th of January 2021 a UK mediation consultancy. Again I paid a small fee in the hope that this company would be able to help me.
Below are all the attempts the amounts and the deadlines from March 2021.
Financial Offers and Demands
- £13,000 March 2021 – I said it was derisory.
- £40,000 April 2021.
£3,000 to be paid as soon as the MG is moved to storage.
£1,000 per month until November. giving me time to find somewhere else.
The balance after I leave. less whatever he wanted to deduct for cleaning and repairs
That is not what I was advised by the solicitors in the gender violence charity, I was told it should be money first then leave. - £25,000 18th JUNE: in an email to the Mediation Company
My offer is £25,000 UKP as follows:
Payment A: £5,000 to be paid the next day once she agrees to leave by 23 July 2021
Payment B: £10,000 to be paid as soon as she leaves the property.
Payment C: £10,000 (minus costs of cleaning & repairs etc to property) to be paid 3 months later (October). - £30,000 6th July Email The offer I am making you is on the table for two weeks (until 19 July)
I stand by my offer. You still have until 19 July to listen to your inner voice of reason and walk away with £30,000. - £40,000 24th July The Handwritten signed agreement – When a potential buyer was found
£10,000 by 7th August
£30,000 to be paid on sale agreed
Ex moved the goalposts before the buyers were due to pay the deposit. He was not going to pay the £30,000 until vacant possession. - £60,000 – I told him I had somewhere to go if he would pay the money first he could have vacant possession. (He refused to communicate any further.
The Start Of Another Year 2022
7. January 2022 Happy New Year – He writes, would I accommodate a viewing?
I reply Yes, I would accommodate a viewing if he would honour his first financial proposal €115,000 which included the money to redeem my UK mortgage.
This was then replied to with, I am now at risk of the Guardia Civil turning up at the property unexpectedly and I would leave with just my personal possessions. He was sending the eviction court documents in a separate email. Wow, it was like a punch in the gut. At first I felt sick to the pit of my stomach. This was the moment that I realised that he wanted me to be in fear again. I sought legal advice and was told no that can not happen. The Court has to deliver the documents to me. The solicitor suggested I go to the court and collect the documents myself.
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
Ex seems to go from Mr Nice to Mr Nasty in his communication. This is how he was in the relationship. He loves me He loves me not, the man or the monster.
8. February 2022 – Email sent to him “without prejudice”
“Without Prejudice”
RE Court Case.
The parties by common agreement may also request the suspension of the process in accordance with the provisions of the section 4 of article 19 of the Civil Procedure Law, to submit to mediation.
( No response )
Later in May, a similar request was made by the free public defence solicitor, request was denied.
9. December 2022 after the court hearing an email that I sent before the end of another year. Drafted with help from a friend of his family.
10. May 2023. Due to the Justice and Court strike in Spain. As he was cooperating with the repair of the mains water leak. I asked if he would consider some resolution or settlement. Again he refused citing that he didn’t trust me. When all along I didn’t trust him.
Why I could not trust him.
He had cheated on me, he lied to me, he led a double life that I knew nothing about. And confessed to seeing another women. He referred to her as his Wednesday Girl, he told me he had met up with her again in November 2017. This was a lie, the woman from Sheffield sent me a message post-separation after I made contact with her, she told me she had met him in August of 2009, he played the both of us, I met him in March 2009. Why did he confess to seeing this woman when he clearly was not going to end the relationship with her. Here is another article I wrote Verbal Abuse in Relationships
This article is an excerpt from my next book titled “Deceptions and Illusions. Embroidered with Truth.”
At this point, I am still stuck in the process of three overlapping litigations from an Ex-partner. He seems determined to pursue me through the Spanish courts to leave me financially devastated.
I’m not staying silent.
