Defence in English before the courts of La Vila Joiosa, which heads its own judicial district in the Marina Baixa and is not an annexe of Benidorm or of Alicante.
Most people summoned here assume their case belongs somewhere else. Filing in the wrong building, or waiting for a hearing that was never listed there, costs time a criminal file will not give back.
In brief. English-speaking defence before the courts of the Villajoyosa judicial district: roadside stops, break-ins, letting fraud and domestic files.
La Vila Joiosa heads its own judicial district — a partido judicial — within the Marina Baixa. A great many matters that residents assume will be dealt with in Benidorm or in Alicante are in fact filed, listed and heard by its own bodies, which since the reform of 2025 form part of the single first-instance court structure created for each district.
For anyone living in the surrounding urbanisations, or in Altea and the other municipalities that fall within the district, this is not a technicality. It determines where a defence pleading must be lodged, where a summons will send you and which duty rota will be operating on the night of an arrest. The most serious offences are tried before the Audiencia Provincial of Alicante, but the investigation stays here.
The pattern of work is what you would expect of a coastal town with a large permanent foreign population and a heavy seasonal one: road traffic offences, property offences in residential areas, disputes over lettings and sales that end up reported as fraud, assaults arising out of an evening that went wrong, and domestic files that arrive at court through the police rather than through a solicitor. A file opened in December against a resident and one opened in August against a visitor look similar on paper and behave very differently in practice, because one defendant will still be here when the case is listed and the other will not.
We act in English from Alicante and Madrid and attend throughout the district. Our page on criminal defence in Benidorm covers the neighbouring district, which is a different court and a different rota. Book a consultation→ Speak to a lawyer now
The article numbers are those of the Spanish Criminal Code and the brackets are the statutory ranges. They describe what the law allows, not what any individual case will attract.
The great majority of files opened against foreign residents here start at a roadside check. Above the statutory reading the offence is complete without any evidence of poor driving; refusing the test is charged separately and more heavily than failing it.
A disqualification imposed by a Spanish court applies to you, not to the plastic in your wallet. Continuing to drive on a British or Irish licence after a ban is a criminal offence in its own right.
Houses left empty for part of the year attract a particular kind of file. The band depends on the value taken and on whether entry to a dwelling was forced, and a great deal turns on how the property was secured and recorded.
Deposits taken for holiday lets that do not exist, deeds that do not match what was agreed, and payments made on the strength of a promise are all reported here as fraud. The defence usually turns on whether there was deceit at the outset or a deal that failed later. Documents almost always decide these cases: what was advertised, what was paid, and what was said in writing at the time.
A blow that needs no treatment is a delito leve and can be listed within days. Once a medical report records stitches or a fracture, the file changes character entirely and the report, not the witnesses, becomes the centre of the case.
The police open these on their own initiative and the court can impose protective measures within 72 hours. Withdrawal by the complainant does not end the case, and a measure that separates a couple will often survive their reconciliation.
Persistent contact, repeated messages or following someone can amount to an offence even where nothing violent has happened. Community disputes in residential developments reach the court in this form more often than people expect.
Taking possession of a dwelling that is not your home, without violence, is an offence, and the owner may also join the proceedings to seek recovery and compensation rather than waiting on a civil claim.
Refusing to identify yourself, pulling away or arguing physically during an arrest produces a second charge. It is very often the one that remains when the original allegation has fallen away.
Statutory brackets and the ordinary procedural route. Where a sentence falls inside a bracket depends on the facts, on record and on mitigation, and no one can promise an outcome in advance.
| Offence | Article | Statutory penalty | Usual route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Driving over the statutory alcohol limit | Art. 379.2 CP | 3 to 6 months, fine or community work, plus a ban | Fast-track trial |
| Refusing a breath or blood test | Art. 383 CP | 6 months to 1 year, plus a ban of 1 to 4 years | Fast-track trial |
| Driving after disqualification | Art. 384 CP | 3 to 6 months, fine or community work | Fast-track trial |
| Burglary of a dwelling | Art. 241.1 CP | 2 to 5 years | Investigation then trial |
| Fraud on a letting or a sale | Art. 249 CP | 6 months to 3 years | Investigation then trial |
| Assault causing no treatable injury | Art. 147.3 CP | Fine of 1 to 2 months | Minor-offence hearing |
| Harassment of a neighbour | Art. 172 ter CP | 3 months to 2 years, or a fine | Investigation then trial |
| Occupying an empty dwelling | Art. 245.2 CP | Fine of 3 to 6 months | Minor investigation then trial |
Two provisions matter more than any other to foreign residents. A custodial sentence of up to two years, imposed on someone with no previous convictions in Spain, may be suspended under Article 80 on conditions that usually include payment of compensation. And repairing the harm before trial is a recognised mitigating circumstance, which is one of the few things a defendant can still influence once the facts are fixed.
You may be held for up to 72 hours before release or production before a judge. In a district of this size the file usually moves quicker than that, and a road traffic case can be charged, listed and tried inside a week.
That speed is not in itself a bad thing. It becomes a problem when the defendant treats the police station as an informal conversation, gives an account that fits badly with the documents, and then meets a lawyer only once the account is on the file and signed. By then the useful decisions have already been taken, and taken by someone who had no idea what was in the file.
If a remand application is being made, or bail conditions are proposed, our guide to bail and pre-trial detention sets out what the court is actually weighing.
Article 520 entitles you to speak to your own lawyer in confidence before you are interviewed. It is a right, and asking for it does not make you look guilty.
Your lawyer may see what the arrest is based on. Answering before that has been read is how a defensible case becomes an admission.
You are entitled to interpretation into English at every stage. If the interpretation is poor, the objection has to be recorded at the time; raising it months later rarely helps.
Silence carries no adverse inference in Spanish proceedings. Whether to answer, and how far, depends entirely on what the file already contains.
Four stages, with the Spanish names given where English practice has no true equivalent.
Roadside checks, calls to a property or an incident in the town centre. The police compile the atestado, which will frame everything that follows.
An investigating court — the juzgado de instrucción — takes the file, decides whether there is a case to answer, orders any further enquiries and rules on protective and custodial measures. There is no separate charging authority as in England and Wales.
Straightforward matters are tried under the fast-track procedure or as a minor-offence hearing. Serious charges go to the Audiencia Provincial of Alicante, with formal written accusation and defence pleadings first.
Judgment usually follows quickly. Appeal periods are short and are strictly enforced, and suspension, driving bans and compensation are all decided at the enforcement stage, where argument is still possible. A conviction here also has consequences outside the courtroom, for residence applications, for firearms and hunting permits and for some employment, which are worth understanding before any plea is entered.
People who live here all year, who have been stopped on the way home or who have had an argument with a neighbour that has reached the court.
Owners who arrive to find their house occupied, or who have been reported by a tenant, and who need to know whether the answer is criminal, civil or both.
In Spain the injured party may take an active role in the prosecution. We act for people who have been defrauded on a letting or a sale and want to be heard rather than watch from the public seats. It is a real advantage of Spanish procedure and it is regularly wasted by people who assume the system will look after their interests without being asked.
Holidaymakers arrested during a short stay, who need the case dealt with, or properly arranged for their absence, before they leave.
Where the criminal threshold sits, why refusing the test is treated more seriously than failing it, and what a Spanish ban means for a British licence.
What the court weighs when it decides between release, conditions and remand, and how a foreign address is treated in that assessment.
The neighbouring district, its own courts and the cases that dominate them — useful if you are unsure which court your summons refers to.
The court named on the summons is the one that has your file, and La Vila Joiosa heads its own judicial district. Where you were arrested does not decide where the case is heard; the place where the offence is alleged to have occurred generally does. Attending the wrong building counts as a non-appearance, so the document itself should be checked before anything else.
Yes. We attend throughout the Villajoyosa judicial district as well as before the Audiencia Provincial of Alicante for the serious matters that are tried there. Attendance at a police station is arranged from our Alicante office.
Yes. Spanish procedure allows the injured party to take an active part in the prosecution, with your own lawyer presenting evidence and making submissions rather than leaving everything to the public prosecutor. It has to be done early, before the investigation closes, and it also governs how any compensation is claimed.
A ban imposed here prohibits you from driving in Spain for its duration, and it binds you personally whatever licence you hold. How it is recognised at home depends on the arrangements in force between the two states, which is a separate question from the criminal case and should not be assumed either way. Our guide to drink driving offences in Spain sets out how the readings are taken and challenged.
It depends on how you entered and on what agreement, if any, existed. Occupation of a dwelling without title is dealt with under Article 245, while a dispute about an expired or broken tenancy is usually a civil matter. Files of this kind are frequently opened on one side of the story only, and the documents decide them.
For minor matters, and where the sentence sought is limited, the court can proceed in your absence provided you have been properly summoned and are represented. For anything more serious your attendance will be required. What causes real damage is disappearing without arranging representation, because that turns a manageable file into a warrant.
If you have been stopped, arrested or summoned anywhere in the Villajoyosa district, the conversation worth having is the one before you give your account.
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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