Property offencesEnglish-speaking theft and burglary lawyer in Spain

Three offences, three very different sentences

Spanish law separates hurto (taking without force or violence), robo con fuerza (with breaking in or climbing) and robo con violencia o intimidación (with violence or threats). The sentencing brackets rise sharply from one to the next, and the classification turns on small material facts: a forced door, an object carried, a gesture read as a threat.

The value of the goods and any previous convictions also move the case.

What we work on

• Challenging the classification and the valuation placed on the goods.
• Testing the identification: photo line-ups, CCTV, fingerprints.
• Repairing the damage, which is a statutory mitigating factor and frequently decisive on sentence.

We also act for owners of holiday homes who have been burgled, joining the proceedings as private prosecutors and handling everything remotely.

See also

Squatters and illegal occupation and criminal defence in Alicante.

Three offences, three very different outcomes

Spanish law separates hurto (taking without force or violence), robo con fuerza (breaking in, climbing, using false keys) and robo con violencia o intimidación (violence or threats against a person). The sentencing brackets rise steeply from one to the next, and prison becomes a real prospect at the third.

What decides which label applies is often a small material fact: a door that was already ajar, an object carried in a pocket, a gesture read by a witness as a threat. Those details are worth fighting over, because they are the difference between a fine and a custodial sentence.

The value of the goods and any previous convictions also shift the outcome, and the valuation attributed by the police is frequently generous to the prosecution.

Identification evidence is weaker than it looks

These cases usually rest on identification: a photo line-up, CCTV footage, fingerprints. Each of those has known weaknesses. Photo identifications carried out suggestively are unreliable and can be excluded. CCTV of poor quality proves presence, not authorship. Fingerprints prove contact, not the moment of contact.

We test all of it before accepting any account of the facts.

Repairing the damage changes the sentence

Returning the goods or compensating the victim before trial is a statutory mitigating factor and, in practice, one of the most effective tools available. Timed correctly, it can bring a sentence below the custodial threshold.

We also act for owners of holiday homes who have been burgled, joining the proceedings as private prosecutors and running the case remotely so you do not have to travel. See also squatters and illegal occupation.