What to do when an agency does not pay for a translation

Scope

This guide is for freelance translators with their tax residence in Spain working for agencies or businesses, not private individuals. It sets out what the rules say about payment terms, interest and claims, with the article behind each statement. It is not legal advice: for a large debt or a client who disputes it, see a lawyer.

1. When a payment is late

• If the contract or the order sets no deadline, the client must pay within 30 calendar days of receiving the translation, even if they got the invoice earlier (Act 3/2004, art. 4.1).
• Your invoice must reach the client within 15 calendar days of delivery (art. 4.1).
• The parties may agree a longer term, but never more than 60 calendar days (art. 4.3).
• Terms count every calendar day of the year: an agreement that leaves holiday periods out of the count is void (art. 2.d).
• The Act applies to payments between businesses or professionals, and between them and public authorities. It does not apply when the client is a consumer (art. 3).

2. What is owed from that day, without asking for it

• Late payment interest. It is owed automatically, simply because the payment is late, with no notice or demand needed (art. 5), as long as you have done your part of the job and have not been paid on time, unless the client proves they are not responsible for the delay (art. 6).
• At what rate. The one in the contract; if it says nothing, the statutory rate: the rate of the European Central Bank's most recent main refinancing operation plus eight percentage points. It is set for each half-year and published every six months in the Spanish Official Gazette, the BOE (art. 7).
• A fixed €40 for recovery costs. It is added to the debt "in all cases and without an express request". If chasing the payment cost you more and you can prove it, you can claim the difference too (art. 8.1). The client does not owe it if they are not responsible for the delay (art. 8.2).
• They cannot be contracted out. A clause excluding late payment interest or the €40 is void (art. 9.1).

3. Claiming in writing, and why trying to negotiate is now mandatory

Since 3 April 2025, for a Spanish court to admit a civil claim you must, as a general rule, first have tried an "appropriate dispute resolution method" (Organic Act 1/2025, art. 5.1). Direct negotiation between the parties, with no mediator, counts.

• It also applies to the Spanish order for payment procedure (proceso monitorio). The Act requires it in all declaratory proceedings and in the special proceedings of Book IV of the Civil Procedure Act (art. 5.2). The order for payment is one of them (Civil Procedure Act, Book IV, Title III). The matters the same article leaves out do not include it (they do include bill-of-exchange proceedings, which sit in the same title).
• How to prove it. A document signed by both parties will do if it records who you are, the date, the subject of the claim and that both of you negotiated in good faith; failing that, any document proving that the client received your request or proposal to negotiate, on what date, and that they could access its full content (art. 10.2). So send it by a means that leaves proof of receipt.
• When it counts as ended without agreement. If within 30 calendar days of the client receiving it there is no meeting, no contact aimed at an agreement and no written reply (art. 10.4.a).
• A useful side effect. The request to negotiate, if it properly defines what is claimed, interrupts the limitation period from the date there is record of the attempt to deliver it to the client (art. 7.1).

It is worth including in that request the invoice number and date, the amount, the due date, the interest and the €40 already owed, and a clear invitation to pay or negotiate, with a deadline to reply.

4. The order for payment procedure, without a lawyer

• What it is for. Claiming a money debt of any amount that is liquid, determined, due and payable. It can be proved with invoices or other documents that usually record debts in that kind of relationship, even if you created them yourself (Civil Procedure Act, art. 812.1). It helps to add whatever proves the job was ordered: the purchase order, the work order or your emails with the agency.
• Where. At the Court of First Instance of the debtor's domicile (art. 813).
• How. With a petition stating who owes, the addresses and the origin and amount of the debt; it can be done on a form, on paper or through the courts' electronic office. You need neither a lawyer nor a court representative (procurador) to file it (art. 814; arts. 23.2.1 and 31.2.1).
• What happens next. The court orders the debtor to pay or to file a reasoned objection within 20 days (art. 815.1). If they neither pay nor object, you can apply for enforcement (art. 816.1).
• If they object. The matter goes to trial (art. 818). Up to €2,000 you can still go without a lawyer or court representative (arts. 23.2.1 and 31.2.1); above that, both are needed. If the amount exceeds €15,000, it is not dealt with as a verbal trial (juicio verbal) (art. 250.2) and you have one month to file the claim; if you do not, the proceedings are closed and you are ordered to pay the costs (art. 818.2).

5. If the agency is in another EU country

There are two European procedures for cross-border cases, meaning cases where at least one party is domiciled or habitually resident in a Member State other than that of the court:

• European order for payment procedure: for money debts of a specific amount that are due and payable. It is applied for on a standard form and needs no lawyer. The debtor has 30 days from service to object (Regulation 1896/2006, arts. 3, 4, 7, 16 and 24).
• European Small Claims Procedure: for claims of up to €5,000, excluding interest, expenses and costs. It is a written procedure, started on a standard form, and needs no lawyer (Regulation 861/2007, arts. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10).
• Neither requires the prior negotiation from section 3: Organic Act 1/2025 expressly excludes them (art. 5.3).

This guide does not go into which court has jurisdiction in each case: both regulations are linked in the sources.

What this guide does not cover

• Private clients (consumers): Act 3/2004 does not apply to them.
• Clients outside the European Union.
• Enforcing what the court orders, the debtor's insolvency, and the tax treatment of an invoice that goes unpaid.

Sources and currency

Every article was read in its consolidated text in force on 2026-10-22: the Spanish ones in the BOE and the European ones in EUR-Lex. The texts are in Spanish; the English wording above is a description, not an official translation.