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What is a Denuncia, when would I make one and how would I do this ? ....
If you believe that you have been the victim of a crime in Spain or you believe that you have witnessed a crime, you are required to make a Denunica (or 'denouncement' in English), which is basically a formal statement made to the police. you are able to do this at any office of the Policia Local or Guardia Civil. It is better to make this statement in person, but if your level of spoken Spanish is not competent then you should take somebody with you to translate on your behalf. You should also take with you your NIE and passport, and any other documentation or evidence that may support your statement.
There is provision to make a denuncia by telephone if needs be - in English - and one can be made by calling 902-102-112 before you make the call you should have your NIE (or passport number) available, together with your address, for identification purposes.
It is likely that the first person to answer the phone may not speak or understand English so you should at the very least be able to ask to be transferred to an English speaking operator in Spanish.
The operator will then take you through a series of questions to determine the nature of the crime and take down a few basic questions to try and arrive at an understanding at what has occurred. It is recommended that you go through the sequence of events in your mind beforehand so you can be clear on this, making notes if necessary. Once all the information has been taken down you should be given a reference number – you have now made a denunica. The operator will then enter the details of your statement into the system and the denuncia report will be despatched to your nearest police station. You should confirm where exactly this is, as you will be required to report there with your documents, and quoting the reference number that you have been given, within 48 hours.
If you believe that you have been the victim of a theft or crime that is likely to result in a claim with your insurance provider, you will be required to present a copy of this, similar to a crime report in the uk, so it is always a good idea to take multiple copies of this.
Once your statement has been filed, the police force in question is obliged to investigate to find out if a crime has actually taken place, and if so the nature of the crime, together with the identity of the person(s) committing the crime and their guilt. Once this investigation has been completed the details may be passed over to a public prosecutor who will decide whether to proceed with any legal case or not, and if so, in what manner.
Thanks for your reply, do I have to go through a lawyer or can I do it via the police. I have a tenant who has not paid rent since January and has no intention of doing so. Things are getting desperate and can't afford a lawyer really.
Graham : Yes, you can - but you would probably see your "complaint" be taken more seriously if you notified the Tax Authorities rather than the Police.
Jan : yes, you can
can i make a denuncia on someone in the canaries if i am living on mainland spain
I am aware of someone who is working but is not submitting tax forms can they be reported ?
Well my phone was in it and up until now I thought I'd just be able to cancel the contract (naive I know) but now I think they need to see proof of the theft. But then I thought I might have left it too late to file the report. It also happened in a different city to where I live and thought they might tell me I had to go back there to report it....?
Sarah : You can certainly make the Denuncia, but given that you do not wish to make an insurance claim (and assuming you were not injured or attacked in any way), the Guardia are not really in a position to act so long after event. They will probably be a little bemused as to why you are making the Denuncia and what you expect them to do about it.
Is there a time limit on making a denuncia after the crime? I had my purse stolen but didn't report it because I didn't see the point, nothing was insured. But now I think I should have and it happened 3 weeks ago. Is it too late to report it?
Emma : You can't. This is so that reprisals are not taken against the person who has filed the Denuncia, or that similar "Tit for Tat" Denuncias are made. Unfair, as it leaves the system wide open to abuse, I know, which is possibly one of the reasons why the Police don't seem to take them too seriously in the majority of cases.
Does anyone know where you can find out who made the denuncia against you ?
Thomas : From what you have said it sounds like your Caravan had not been legally imported and re-registered here in Spain ? (Click the link HERE to read
How to legally Import your Caravan to Spain ) - That being the case, the Insurers will clearly do all they can to wriggle out of any kind of payout and you "may" be better advised taking private legal action against the site owner for negligence.
A tree fell on our caravan new years day 2009 the camp site owner admited liability when we bought the caravan there was no log book my insurance told me to get a solicitors letter stating we were the owners now my insurance are saying this will not stand up in court is there any thing we can do ?
Veronica : As you would probably expect me to say - it is always better to try and resolve this situation amicably wherever possible. If speaking to them and asking them politely to put a stop t this behaviour then I would suggest you tried writing to them or e mailing them formally (keep a copy for your records). If you have a community of residents, or other neighbours being effected by this then get them involved aswell. Finally, keep a diary of the unsociable behaviour before you go to make such a denuncia as this proves that this is simply not a case of one exasperated neighbour lashing out against another in the heat of the moment. It is also worth noting that Rottweilers are classed as Dangerous Dogs in Spain and the owners require a special permit to be able to keep them. Whilst I am not advocating Blackmail in any way it may be worth remembering incase you need to "remind" your neighbour of this fact.
My friend's neighbour in Tenerife has just rented out his house to a couple who have dogs that bark all the time. At least one of them is a rotweiller and apparently the owners work evenings and when they return home in the late night they are roudy too! What can we do about it? we can't sleep at nights! Neither can the neighbours! do we go ahead with a denuncia?
Veronica : Because so many people are quick to Denounce tradesmen, their neighbours etc... over seemingly trivial issues, the Police can view a Denuncia as nothing more than a statement of "Wrongdoing" having been committed against you or by you, and whilst they are obliged to look into the matter, they are not obliged to mount a full criminal / civil investigation. With this huge potential workload that they have, it quite often means that so many of the "less serious" issues just get left asaide, with them being treated as a 'Slap on the wrist' at best. Of course, the more serious allegations get more interest.
The Police are well used to these 'tit for tat' Denuncia's and should be able to recognise if it worth persuing or not.
This article has been most helpful, but can you tell me what happens if, when I denounce a Spanish person for harassment, she then denounces me for some reason, whether true or not ?
Mary, the 1st thing that you need to appreciate is that if you can not reason with the owner you are highly unlikely to succeed in getting any refund or compensation from them - unless you take out some kind of civil action against them, which can be costly if you lose the case and can sometimes be difficult to proove anything. As a first pass you might like to contact Perez Legal Group in Malaga who may be able to advise you if this is worth persuing financially.
Secondly, you may wish to read this article - Click HERE - to find out how an owner should comply with the Spanish Tax laws (many don't). If you are able to eventually communicate with the owner, it may be worth reminding them of these laws to see if they do comply, and what their stance were to be if you were to speak to the Tax authorities...
You are right thats Exactly what Owners Direct did. The said it was between us and the Owner. Unfortunately she will not reply to emails and we do not know her address in Northern Ireland. Do you mean Tax office here in Spain or in Northern Ireland. You have been most helpful so far and we appreciate it. We are also desperate as we cannot afford the loss of this money. I know nobody can.
Mary Lyons
Mary, whilst I am almost certain that Owners Direct will wash their hands of the issue and claim that the arranegment is between you and the owner, it is at least making them aware of the situation so they can remove the advert from the site. Secondly, I would try and reach an agreement with the owner amicably first of all as this route may at least see you recover some of your money - unless of course the property is listed and approved by the Tourist Assocaition, which I would seriously doubt. The final route for you to consider is making a Denuncia and maybe reporting the owner to the Tax office for listing an 'illegal let' (assuming of course that it is). Whilst this route will bring you no compensation it will ensure that owner gets the message that this kind of behaviour is not to be tolerated. A Lawyer will obviously come at a cost unless you can convince them to act on a 'no win no fee' basis.
Booked through Owners Direct on Internet.Northern Ireland resident.We paid cash into her account and have receipts by email from her.Yes all these details were outlined in the ad by Owners Direct. We have evidence that the infestation had happened before.We have photos to prove how filthy the place was, dirty pillows duvets etc. I could not photograph the smell which was overpowering. We have camera photos of some cockroaches but we had to run out of the place on 2 occasions.
Mary : Was this rental arranged through an agent, or did you book it directly with the owner ? Is the owner a Spanish or UK resident ? Was the rental arranged legally and with a contract or "cash" ? Do you have a copy of the contract that clearly outlines the fact that Aircon was offered ? Do you have photographs of the lack of Aircon and the state of infestation as evidence ?
My husband & I booked an apartment in Calahonda for 1 month. When we arrived we found that that it was infested with cockroaches, no air con even though we were told that there was. The apartment was unliveable in and we had to vacate it after 2 nights. We paid 2300 euros and cannot get any response from the owner. What can we do. We are still in Spain
Alexander : From what I understand you are asking 2 questions here : What is permitted in the eyes of the law, and what is permitted in the eyes of the insurance company. I would have thought that if there had been no accident reported, and no theft reported at the time of the incident, the the Insurance broker would not be interested so far after the event. I would imagine that it would still be worth persuing with the Police, though.
Thank you Mark for your reply. If you contact me on lacumbre45@hotmail.com I can fully appraise you of the facts in this case and you can draw your own conclusion. Surely driving any vehicle without the owners consent or permission is an offence ? Alexander
You can put the denuncia in as soon as you know all the facts. There will probably be other questions, such as; how long was the vehicle in the garage? Why was it not in your hands? What are you going denounce : a theft? It is probably worth considering just in case there are any traffic fines etc... To simply put the insurance in the name of someone else is not actually an offence.
I want to make a denuncia for an offence committed against me 15 months ago but unknown to me. My car was in a local garage for a period of time and unknown to me the garage owner insured my car in his girlfriends name and she was driving about in it without my permission. This only came to light when the insurance documents were found in the car. Is it too late to denounce her? Thank you !
Lois, it is possible you may find some useful answers to your predicament by clicking the link here.
Yes but retracted it because they didn't arrest him and I had to go home to a violent man who knew I had denounced him. He now threatens us and my eldest daughter in Barcelona Uni with all sorts of things. He is driving my car leaving fines everywhere & living with another woman who will be subjected to the same abuse as I was. Would just like to stop him doing it again to somone else. If he were a dog owner he would be banned from owning a dog. I also left my home and belongings to save my life and would like to be able to go back knowing he could not kill me.
Lois : Glad to hear you are both now safe and well, which is the main thing, but I can't really see how making a Denuncia against your husband would help you in any way. Did you ever make a report of Domestic Violence against him to the Police ?
I fled Ibiza in March 2010 returning to the UK as a victim of domestic abuse by my Spanish husband. We were together 25 years and he regularly beat me up. He does not know where we are in UK. I would like to make a denuncia against him now we are safe. Can I still do this after 2 years? I have residency order in my favour for my 9 year old.
It really winds me up when so many people (more often than not Brits) use the threat of a Denuncia for what are basically trivial and pointless disagreements, that could and should be sorted out calmly and rationally before getting to this stage. Because of this flood of Denuncias it seems that not just the threat, but even the very act of being handed a Denuncia, is meaningless. The courts and legal authorities seem to fail to act on all but the most serious of cases anyway, so what it the point of having such Denuncias if nothing is ever done about those receiving them ?
I had a call last month from my old landlady to say I still had mail going to that address from Europa and my bank, I phoned Europa and went into the bank to confirm my change of address and haven't heard anything since. On Friday night at 10pm the person renting my old place came round and said I still had mail going there, on Sat morning at 9am (less than 12 hours later) he came round again and said that he had spoken to his lawyer and if I do not redirect it in 7 days he will take out a denuncia on me. This is the first I had heard they were still receiving mail since and he gave me just 1 letter which was dated before I was told by my old landlady. Can he do that? I have sent an email to my lawyer as I am so worried. He was not a very nice man and I don't want to have to answer the door again to him.
Sylvia, when you are making any kind of small claim against a company, no matter how amicable things may seem to be at the early stage, you should keep as much evidence as possible from the start. Yes, I would suggest that you made an official denuncia as early as possible to ensure there is an official record of the incident. I would also suggest that you made sure that your injuries were wirtten into your medical notes. Lastly, get in touch with a Lawyer and explain the situation to them as soon as possible.
I had a accident on 30th April : I was going into the vets, the floor was wet and I slipped. I now have a fracture in my arm and been left with a bad back - the vets have told me to claim on their Insurance but i have to have a denuncia is this right ? - I live in tenerife.
This is a bit of a grey area as the problem that you describe is more down to negligence than any criminal intent. I would suggest that you would have more success by speaking with the Spanish equivalent of 'British Standards' - a consumer organisation. If you Google 'OMIC Tenerife' you should find an office near to you.
i have had a mobile mechanic fit a starter motor on my car,he has done more damage to my car causing an oil leak,i have been asking about and it seems other people have had same trouble with him,can i denounce this man for this sort of thing,thanks for your artical,its of great interest,i live in tenerife
The authority who you made the denuncia to - in this case the Guardia - are obliged to investigate to see if they believe that a crime has actually been commited. If the Administrator admits to the 'crime' a private prosecution may follow, whereas if he does not then a Public prosecution may follow . At the end of any investigation that follows a Judge will decide whether to try the case as a Civil cas or as a Criminal case. I would recommend that you keep the stamped copy of your denuncia to hand and kept in regular contact with the Guardia to see how the investigation was moving along. If the Association can afford the expense I would certainly recommend speaking with a Lawyer to ensure that the appropriate steps are taken and to see if any of your money can be recovered.
What happens once a denuncia is made against someone? We have sacked our Administrator due to suspected theft from the urbanisation account and for taking money from owners account and put into his personal account. Do the Guardia follow this up?
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