THOUSANDS of homeowners in Spain may still be entitled to recover significant compensation due to the controversial ‘clausula suelo’ (floor clause), a mortgage term that prevented borrowers from benefiting when interest rates fell.
Diego Echevarria from Fairway Lawyers explains how this works.
These clauses were widely included in variable-rate mortgage agreements sold between 2003 and 2013, particularly by major lenders including Banco Sabadell, Solbank, Unicaja, La Caixa, Banco Popular, Cajasur and Caja España.
A floor clause sets a minimum interest rate on a variable mortgage.
This means that even when benchmark rates such as Euribor dropped sharply, many borrowers saw little or no reduction in their monthly mortgage repayments.
In many cases, banks never properly informed homeowners that they included this clause in their mortgage contracts.
In 2013, the Spanish Supreme Court ruled that many of these clauses were unfair because banks failed to explain them clearly to customers.
This was reinforced in 2016 when the European Court of Justice confirmed that affected borrowers could claim full reimbursement of overpaid interest, often dating back to the beginning of the mortgage.
How to Claim Your Money Back: 3 Conditions
Not everyone affected can automatically claim a refund. According to legal experts, three conditions must be met to make a successful floor clause claim:
- Mortgage taken out between 2002 and 2012 – Only loans within this period are eligible for retroactive claims.
- Existence of a floor clause – The mortgage contract must include a clause that sets a minimum interest rate.
- Lack of transparency and overpayment – The bank must have failed to clearly explain the clause, and the borrower must have paid more than they would have if the interest rate had fallen below the floor.
If all three conditions are met, customers can claim back all overpaid amounts – in some cases going back many years, even if they already sold their property.
In addition to claiming compensation for floor clauses, many borrowers may also be entitled to reclaim mortgage set-up costs (gastos de constitucion de hipoteca), including notary fees, land registry charges, gestoría costs and valuation fees that were unfairly passed on to consumers by the banks.
You may have a valid claim if you took out a Spanish mortgage between 2003 and 2013, your loan was linked to a variable interest rate, or if you paid the mortgage arrangement and registration costs when the loan was first formalised.
Most of the mortgages from the following: SOLBANK, BANCO SABADELL, BANCO POPULAR, UNICAJA, ELMONTE, CAJADUERO, CAJAESPAÑA, CAJASUR,
Both Spanish and foreign homeowners – including thousands of British property owners in Spain – may be eligible to recover substantial sums, often between €5,000 and €30,000 or more, plus legal interest.
At Fairway Lawyers, our specialist legal team has extensive experience helping clients recover unfairly charged mortgage payments and reclaim mortgage set-up costs.
We assess all claims on a no win, no fee basis, meaning there is no financial risk in finding out whether you are entitled to compensation.
Our team can review your mortgage documentation, identify whether unfair clauses or reclaimable costs exist, negotiate directly with your bank, and if necessary pursue legal action to recover the money owed to you.
Reclaiming these overpayments is not only about recovering money – it is about correcting one of Spain’s most significant banking injustices and ensuring homeowners receive the compensation they are legally entitled to.
If you believe you may have been affected and would like a free initial assessment, contact: Diego at diego@fairwaylawyers.com or whatsapp: +34 606 307 885
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