Elda is the head of its own judicial district inland from the Costa Blanca, and it is a working town rather than a resort. We defend British and Irish clients before its courts in English, from the first hours in custody through to trial and appeal.
Most of the criminal work here comes out of the footwear industry and the firms that supply it, out of the roads between the industrial estates, and out of the ordinary life of people who live here all year round. Very little of it involves holidaymakers.
In brief. English-speaking criminal defence in the Elda judicial district: arrest, custody, fast-track trials, company, tax and road traffic cases in Spain.
Elda is the head of its own judicial district (partido judicial) within the province of Alicante. A person arrested in the town or in the surrounding Alto y Medio Vinalopó area is not taken to the coast: the file is opened, the investigation run and, in most cases, the trial held within the district itself. The distance between an arrest and the first judicial decision is measured in hours, not weeks.
Following Organic Law 1/2025 the former investigating and criminal courts of the district have been brought together in a single Court of First Instance (Tribunal de Instancia), organised into an Investigation Section and a Criminal Section. Serious offences are tried by the Provincial Court of Alicante (Audiencia Provincial), which also hears appeals, with further appeal to the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community and, where the law allows, to the Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo).
What British clients face here is rarely a night out that went wrong. It is usually a company matter: a former partner who has brought a private prosecution, an inspection that has become a criminal file, a director summoned over the accounts of a small family firm, a payment diverted by an email fraud.
A police report (atestado) is not a settled account of what happened. Our first task is to establish how each piece of evidence was obtained and whether the arrest respected Article 520 of the Criminal Procedure Act. Our offices are in Alicante and Madrid and we travel to Elda for police stations, hearings and trials. Elsewhere in the province we act in Elche, Benidorm and Torrevieja.
Each is defined in the Criminal Code and each takes a different route through the courts. The mix here is markedly different from that of the coastal towns.
Where a person entrusted with the management of another’s property exceeds his powers and causes loss, the offence is breach of trust rather than fraud. In small family companies it is the charge that most often follows a falling-out between partners, long after the money moved.
Article 290 covers the falsification of annual accounts or other company documents in a way capable of causing economic harm. Articles 291 to 294 deal with abusive resolutions and the obstruction of a shareholder’s rights.
Putting assets beyond the reach of creditors, before or during an insolvency, is an offence in its own right. Prosecutions often follow the collapse of a supplier whose creditors go to the criminal courts rather than wait.
A tax offence arises where the sum evaded in a single tax and tax year exceeds 120,000 euros. Below that figure the matter stays with the tax authorities. Article 305 bis raises the penalty where the sum is especially large.
A Spanish company can be prosecuted in its own name for offences committed by its directors, or by employees under their authority. It needs its own defence, a specially appointed representative and a compliance model assessed on whether it operated in practice.
Article 248 defines fraud as deception sufficient to make another part with property to his own detriment. Invoicing that matches no supply, orders placed with no intention of paying and payments redirected by a spoofed supplier email all fall here.
Driving with more than 0.60 mg of alcohol per litre of exhaled air, or 1.2 g per litre in blood, is a criminal offence and not an administrative fine. Refusing a specimen is prosecuted even where the reading would have been under the limit.
Theft turns on a threshold of 400 euros: below it a minor offence (delito leve) punished by a fine, above it a full offence with a custodial range. Breaking into a warehouse makes it robbery with force against property.
Possession for your own use is not a criminal offence, and genuine shared consumption among users, in private and without profit, falls outside Article 368. Supply does not. These cases turn on the lawfulness of the search and the chain of custody.
These are the statutory ranges. The sentence imposed depends on participation, whether the offence was completed, and the circumstances found in the case.
| Offence | Article | Statutory penalty | Usual route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breach of trust by a director | Art. 252 CP | 6 months to 3 years; 1 to 6 years aggravated | Ordinary proceedings |
| Falsification of annual accounts | Art. 290 CP | 1 to 3 years and a fine of 6 to 12 months | Ordinary proceedings |
| Asset stripping to defeat creditors | Art. 257 CP | 1 to 4 years and a fine of 12 to 24 months | Ordinary proceedings |
| Tax offence above 120,000 euros | Art. 305 CP | 1 to 5 years and a fine | Ordinary proceedings |
| Aggravated fraud | Art. 250 CP | 1 to 6 years and a fine | Ordinary proceedings |
| Driving above 0.60 mg/l of alcohol in exhaled air | Art. 379.2 CP | 3 to 6 months, a fine of 6 to 12 months or 31 to 90 days of community work, plus a ban of 1 to 4 years | Fast-track trial (juicio rápido) |
| Theft | Art. 234 CP | A fine of 1 to 3 months below 400 euros; 6 to 18 months above it | Minor-offence or fast-track trial |
| Supply of substances seriously harmful to health | Art. 368 CP | 3 to 6 years and a fine | Ordinary proceedings |
Two provisions matter to defendants who have never been before a Spanish court. A custodial sentence of up to two years imposed on a person with no previous convictions in Spain may be suspended under Article 80, normally on conditions. Under Article 89 a sentence of more than one year imposed on a foreign national not lawfully resident may be replaced by expulsion. Neither is automatic.
A person arrested must be released or brought before a judge as soon as the urgent enquiries are complete, and within seventy-two hours at the latest. In a district of this size it is usually shorter: most people held overnight go before the duty court the following morning.
Article 520 of the Criminal Procedure Act sets out what you are entitled to from the moment of detention. You must be told in writing, in a language you understand, what you are accused of and why. You have the right to silence, the right to have someone informed of your detention, the right to be examined by a doctor, and the right to appoint a lawyer of your own.
Two of those rights decide most cases: a confidential interview with your lawyer before you say anything, and a free interpreter throughout, including during that interview. A statement given in the small hours, through a tired interpreter, is the commonest single reason a defensible case stops being one. Our guide to arrest and police custody rights in Spain sets out the position in full.
Article 520 gives you a private consultation with your lawyer before questioning. It is the one moment, before the file hardens, in which you can explain what happened without it being written down against you.
Interpretation, and translation of the essential documents, are free and are not a courtesy. If the interpretation is poor, that must be recorded at the time.
You may ask for the British or Irish consular authorities to be told that you have been detained and where you are held, and you may communicate with them. Ask expressly; it is not automatic.
Declining to answer questions in police custody is not evidence of guilt and cannot be treated as such. Preparing a statement for the court, once the file has been read, is usually better.
Every stage has its own competent body, its own time limit and its own opportunity for the defence, and the opportunities missed are rarely recovered.
You are held while the urgent enquiries are carried out, with your Article 520 rights applying from the first minute. The file that reaches the court is assembled here: the officers’ report, the medical report, witness accounts and the custody record.
You are brought before the Investigation Section of the Court of First Instance for the district, sitting as the duty court. The judge takes the urgent steps required, hears your statement if you choose to give one, rules on bail and decides whether the case suits the fast-track procedure (juicio rápido).
In a business case this is where the work is done: expert accountancy evidence, document requests, defence witnesses and close attention to the time limits on the investigation. At the intermediate stage we ask for dismissal and file the defence pleading.
If there is no agreed plea (conformidad) the case is tried by the Criminal Section of the Court of First Instance, or by the Provincial Court of Alicante where the offence is serious enough. Appeal lies to the Provincial Court, then to the High Court of Justice and, where the law allows, to the Supreme Court.
A shareholder dispute that has crossed into the criminal courts, or a director summoned over accounts he did not personally keep. The company and the individual need separate advice from the outset.
If you live here, a conviction outlasts the case: a driving ban that affects your work, an entry on the criminal record certificate, conditions attached to a suspended sentence. These are worth contesting properly rather than closing quickly.
You have days, not weeks. The priorities are a lawyer present before any statement, a proper reading of the file at the duty court, and an honest view of whether the fast-track plea serves you or merely suits everyone else.
Relatives are often the first to make contact, before the person detained has spoken to anyone. We can confirm where someone is held, arrange attendance and explain what happens next, within the limits of what may be disclosed.
How criminal defence fees are set in Spain and what a defence normally involves.
What happens after an arrest in Spain and the rights you can exercise in custody.
What to do in the first hours of a criminal matter anywhere in Spain.
Not for every step, but for some. A person under investigation is normally required to appear before the Investigation Section to give a statement, and a defendant is normally required to attend the trial. Between those points you may be represented by a lawyer and, where the procedure requires one, a court representative (procurador), and you must give an address for service. Ignoring a summons risks a warrant and a declaration of default.
Nothing should be handed over before the scope of the request has been established. Identify exactly what is sought, decide what is protected by the rights of the defence and what correspondence is privileged, and preserve the integrity of the electronic media. Decide at the same time whether the company and its directors can share a defence at all.
Yes. Under Article 31 bis a company may be prosecuted in its own name for certain offences committed by its directors, or by employees under their authority where proper supervision was lacking. It becomes a party in its own right, appoints a specially designated representative and needs its own lawyer. Whether a compliance model existed, and whether it was actually operating, is central to both liability and mitigation.
Only after the file has been read, and never in a corridor. Spanish procedure allows an agreed plea (conformidad) and, in the fast-track procedure, a reduction of one third within the limits the law sets. Where the evidence is overwhelming and the sentence can be suspended it may be the best outcome available. But judgment follows immediately and is effectively irrevocable.
It depends on the type of procedure and the workload of the court, and nobody honest will guarantee a date. As a general indication, fast-track trials are resolved in days or a few weeks; an ordinary abridged procedure is measured in months; and a complex business case with accountancy evidence runs considerably longer.
At any point, without giving a reason and without prejudice to your position. The incoming lawyer asks the outgoing one for the customary professional authority (venia), a formality that exists so the file passes across in an orderly way, and the court is notified. The earlier the change the better. Our page on criminal defence fees in Spain explains how instructing privately works.
If you have been arrested in Elda, summoned to its courts, or told that your company is under criminal investigation, the conversation that helps is the one before a statement is given or a document handed over. We attend police stations and courts in the Elda judicial district from our offices in Alicante and Madrid.
Société de Conseil Juridique et Expert es un despacho de abogados con sedes en Madrid, Alicante, Londres y París, especializado en defensa y acusación penal, delitos económicos y corporativos y derecho tecnológico. Trabajamos con orientación estratégica en procedimientos penales complejos, propiedad intelectual y análisis forense avanzado, y prestamos consultoría jurídica, compliance y escudos de protección a particulares y empresas. Atendemos desde Alicante y Madrid, con consulta online en toda España y asistencia al detenido 24 horas. Resuelva sus dudas en las preguntas frecuentes o solicite una primera consulta.
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