The short answer: if you have won a flat at a Spanish court auction and it is occupied, you can ask the enforcement court to evict anyone with no right to stay, without starting a new case (article 675 of the Civil Procedure Act). You have one year from the acquisition to use this route. A tenant with a lease may be entitled to stay, and if the auction comes from a mortgage enforcement over the family home of a vulnerable debtor, the eviction may be suspended until 15 May 2028 (article 1 of Law 1/2013).
This is about what comes after. The decision before bidding is covered in buying an occupied flat.
In this article
Ownership and possession are two different things
Once you pay the rest of the price, the court issues the award decree, the decreto de adjudicación (article 670.8). With it and the order cancelling the charges (article 674), you register the flat in your name. You are the owner, but that does not give you the keys.
If the flat is empty, you simply ask and the court puts you in possession (article 675.1). If it is occupied, check the court file. The creditor may have asked the judge, before the auction, to declare that the occupants had no right to stay (article 661.2). If that declaration exists, eviction is ordered straight away, with a date and time (article 675.2).
Who is inside changes everything
The former owner
The most common case. After the award they have no right to stay. You ask the enforcement court for possession; it sets a date and time for the eviction and informs social services (article 150.4). If the auction comes from a mortgage over their family home, check the suspension for vulnerable debtors first.
Someone with no title
A relative, someone living there as a favour, or a squatter: occupants "de facto or without sufficient title" (article 675.2). They are served with your request and the court clerk sets a hearing within ten days, where they can argue and prove whatever they wish (article 675.3). The judge decides by an order that cannot be appealed, and if they fail to appear without good reason, eviction is ordered regardless. The order sets an exact date and time (article 675.4).
A tenant with a lease
If the landlord loses the flat through enforcement during the first five years of the lease (seven if the landlord was a company), the tenant can stay until those years are up (article 13.1 of the Urban Leases Act). After that the lease ends, unless it was registered in the Land Registry before the mortgage or attachment that led to the auction. While it lasts, you step into the landlord's shoes and collect the rent. Leases signed before 6 March 2019 follow their own rules. And if the lease looks staged, signed at the last minute? That is argued at the hearing, and the judge decides whether it counts as sufficient title.
Vulnerability and large landlords
Law 1/2013. In a mortgage enforcement, through the courts or a notary, the family home of especially vulnerable households cannot be repossessed until 15 May 2028, fifteen years after the law came into force. It applies even when a third party wins the flat: the law says "or any other natural or legal person" (article 1.1). It requires a vulnerability situation, such as a large family, a minor in the home, or a debtor who is unemployed or over 60 (article 1.2), plus financial conditions: income that, as a rule, does not exceed three times the annual IPREM (Spain's public income index) over fourteen payments, a mortgage payment above 50% of net income, and the flat being their only home, bought with that loan (article 1.3). The debtor proves this before the eviction (article 2). If the auction came from an ordinary attachment, it does not apply.
Law 12/2023 (the Housing Act). Stating whether the flat is a family home and whether the claimant is a large landlord (gran tenedor) is required in the mortgage enforcement claim, filed by the lender (article 685.2), and in claims to recover possession (article 439.6). The latter affects you if you let the year pass and have to go to court: if it is a family home, the court informs social services and may suspend the case for up to two months if you sue as an individual and four if you are a company (article 441.6).
The latest change. Since 8 October 2026, Royal Decree-law 29/2026 has been in force. It provides for suspending evictions of vulnerable people with no alternative housing until 31 December 2030 in the proceedings it describes (article 2). Parliament still has to ratify it (its predecessor, 26/2026, was voted down on 2 October). How it applies to an auction must be checked case by case.
How long does it take?
There is no official timeframe. The judiciary's council (CGPJ) publishes average durations by type of court, only as a rough guide and with no figure for this step. It depends on:
- Whether there was a declaration before the auction. With one, eviction is immediate.
- Who is inside. With the former owner or an occupant with no title, the procedure is short. A tenant may have years left.
- Serving the documents and each court's workload, in Valencia as anywhere else.
- Suspensions for vulnerability.
- How fast you act. After the year, you need a full lawsuit and, before filing, an attempt to negotiate (article 5 of Organic Law 1/2025). Use the date of the award decree as your reference and do not cut it fine.
What you must not do
- Change the lock or walk in. The flat is yours, but it is the home of whoever lives there. Entering against their will can be unlawful entry into a dwelling (article 202 of the Criminal Code), and taking the law into your own hands with force on things is another offence (article 455).
- Cut off electricity or water. This can be coercion, with a higher penalty when the aim is to stop someone enjoying their home (article 172.1).
- Let the year run out waiting for them to leave on their own.
- Agree things verbally. A verbal "I'll be out next month" may be binding, but it is very hard to prove or enforce later.
The negotiated route: often the fastest
Talk to whoever is inside while the court case moves. A written handover agreement sets the moving out date, the condition of the flat and, where it fits, help with moving costs paid the day the flat is left empty. The former owner gets time, some money and a way out without a court eviction team at the door. You save months and often get a flat in better shape. Do not withdraw your court request: if the deal falls through, you have lost nothing.
When to get help
When you do not know who is inside or on what basis, when an unknown lease turns up, when the debtor claims vulnerability or when the year is running out.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to evict the former owner of a flat bought at auction in Spain?
There is no official timeframe. It depends on whether a declaration was made before the auction that they had no right to stay, on serving the documents, on the court and on whether they claim the vulnerability suspension. If you apply for possession within the year, the hearing is set within ten days (article 675.3 of the Civil Procedure Act).
Do I need to file an eviction lawsuit to remove the former owner?
No. You apply to the same enforcement court (article 675 of the Civil Procedure Act). If the auction comes from a mortgage enforcement, the Supreme Court has held that the former owner's eviction is sought there even after the year has passed (judgment 771/2022). The one-year limit applies to other occupants without title. In other enforcements, it is safer not to let the year run out.
Can I change the lock if the flat is already mine?
No. While someone lives there, it is their home. Changing the lock, walking in or cutting off utilities can amount to unlawful entry, coercion or taking the law into your own hands (articles 202, 172 and 455 of the Criminal Code).
If there is a tenant, do I have to honour the lease?
Yes, often. If the enforcement happens in the first five years of the lease (seven if the landlord was a company), the tenant can stay until they are up and you collect the rent (article 13.1 of the Urban Leases Act).
Can the eviction be suspended if the debtor is vulnerable?
Yes. Until 15 May 2028, in mortgage enforcements over the family home of especially vulnerable households that meet the financial conditions, even when the flat is awarded to a third party (article 1 of Law 1/2013).