Getting a foreign divorce recognised in Spain: EU decrees, British divorces after Brexit and the exequátur

She filed for divorce in Manchester in 2022, had her final order the following spring and moved to Costa Adeje. He divorced in Hamburg in 2019 and is now selling the flat in Tenerife that he bought while he was married. Sooner or later both are asked the same thing at a Spanish counter — where is your divorce? — and their answers could hardly be more different. His German decree counts in Spain as it stands, with one certificate from the court that granted it. Her English one has to be recognised here first, by a registrar or by a judge. The difference has nothing to do with the quality of either judgment. It comes from a map with three tracks and two dates on it, and this guide follows that map: divorces from another EU country, British divorces before and after Brexit, and everything else, which in Spain goes through the Civil Registry or through the court procedure called exequátur. Quotations are in Spanish with the reading in English.

The question that comes first: is the marriage in the Spanish Civil Registry?

A divorce is valid where it was granted, and nobody in Spain will hear the case again. What Spain decides is narrower: whether its own authorities — a registrar, a notary, a judge — may treat the marriage as ended, and on what papers. So the first thing to establish is whether the marriage itself is written down here. The Civil Registry records what affects Spaniards and what happens to foreigners on Spanish soil (Ley 20/2011, article 9): if one of you is Spanish, or you married in Spain, the marriage has, or ought to have, an entry, and the divorce has to be noted on it. Until it is, the Civil Code protects whoever relied on the register: the divorce No perjudicará a terceros de buena fe sino a partir de su respectiva inscripción en el Registro Civil, will not affect third parties in good faith until it is entered in the Civil Registry (article 89).

Two foreigners who married abroad usually have no entry in Spain and nothing to update. For them recognition comes up on the day something depends on their being divorced: marrying again here, selling or mortgaging a home, an inheritance, or asking a Spanish court to change what the foreign judgment ordered. Which papers each authority will accept is the subject of the rest of this guide.

A divorce from another EU country: no procedure, one certificate

Between the Member States of the European Union the rule is recognition without formalities. Las resoluciones dictadas en un Estado miembro han de ser reconocidas en los demás Estados miembros sin necesidad de recurrir a procedimiento especial alguno, decisions given in one Member State are to be recognised in the others without any special procedure (Regulation (EU) 2019/1111, article 30). The same article deals with the register: no se requerirá ningún procedimiento especial para la actualización de los datos del registro civil de un Estado miembro, no special procedure is required to update the civil-status records of a Member State, once the divorce can no longer be appealed where it was granted.

What Spain asks for is two documents: a copy of the decision and the certificate that the court of origin issues, at the request of either spouse, on the form in Annex II of the Regulation (articles 31 and 36). The certificate is the piece people forget to ask for before they move. No apostille is needed, because No se exigirá legalización ni formalidad análoga alguna en el contexto del presente Reglamento, no legalisation or similar formality is required under the Regulation (article 90), and a translation only if the Spanish authority cannot proceed without one.

The date of the proceedings decides which regulation applies. The current one solo será aplicable a los procedimientos incoados, a los documentos públicos formalizados o registrados y a los acuerdos registrados el 1 de agosto de 2022 o después de esa fecha, applies only to proceedings instituted, and to instruments and agreements drawn up or registered, on or after 1 August 2022 (article 100). A divorce from earlier proceedings is recognised under its predecessor, Regulation (EC) 2201/2003, on the same principle: its decisions serán reconocidas en los demás Estados miembros sin necesidad de recurrir a procedimiento alguno, are recognised in the other Member States without any procedure, with a certificate of their own, the form in Annex I of that regulation (articles 21 and 39). That is the track of the Hamburg divorce of 2019.

One Member State is outside the system: Dinamarca no participa en la adopción del presente Reglamento y no queda vinculada por el mismo ni sujeta a su aplicación, Denmark takes no part in the Regulation and is neither bound by it nor subject to it (recital 96), so a Danish divorce is treated like one from outside the Union. And recognition can be refused, on a short list that never includes the judge's reasoning: a result manifestly contrary to public policy, a decree given in default against a spouse who was never properly served and has not accepted it, or a decision irreconcilable with another between the same spouses (article 38). A spouse who expects that argument can ask a court to declare that none of those grounds applies.

Divorces signed before a notary or at a registry

More and more divorces in Europe never reach a judge; Spain's own Civil Code lets spouses divorce by agreement before a notary (article 87), and other countries have their equivalents. Since 1 August 2022 the Regulation covers them: authentic instruments and registered agreements on divorce that are binding where they were made se reconocerán en otros Estados miembros sin que se requiera ningún procedimiento especial, are recognised in other Member States without any special procedure (article 65). The price is a certificate of their own, on the form in Annex VIII, and here the Regulation is blunt: Si no se presenta el certificado, los documentos públicos o acuerdos no se reconocerán o ejecutarán en otro Estado miembro, if the certificate is not produced, the instruments or agreements will not be recognised or enforced in another Member State (article 66). Ask for it on the day you sign.

A British divorce: the day the proceedings began

For the United Kingdom the line was drawn by the date of the proceedings, not of the decree. Under the Withdrawal Agreement, the recognition rules of Regulation 2201/2003 go on applying to judgments given in proceedings instituted before the end of the transition period (article 67), and that period ended on 31 December 2020 (article 126). Proceedings are instituted when the application is lodged with the court (article 16 of the regulation). A divorce applied for in England in November 2020 is therefore recognised in Spain as an EU decision of its time, with the Annex I certificate from the English court, even if the final order — the «decree absolute» of older cases — came a year later.

For proceedings begun from 1 January 2021 no European rule applies. There is a convention on the subject, the Hague Convention of 1970 on the recognition of divorces, and the United Kingdom is a party to it; Spain is not, as the status table of the Hague Conference shows. So a British divorce of this second kind, the Manchester one, is treated in Spain like a divorce from any country outside the Union, under Spain's own Act.

Everything else: Spain's own Act, and what it will not do

That Act is Ley 29/2015 on international legal cooperation in civil matters, and it applies only where no European rule or treaty does (article 2). It covers foreign decisions that are final, those against which no appeal lies in the country of origin, and its starting point is generous: once recognised, la resolución extranjera podrá producir en España los mismos efectos que en el Estado de origen, the foreign decision can produce in Spain the same effects as in the State of origin (article 44). It also ties the Spanish court's hands: En ningún caso la resolución extranjera podrá ser objeto de una revisión en cuanto al fondo, in no case may the foreign decision be reviewed as to its substance (article 48). Nobody will ask again who was right.

Recognition is refused only on the grounds the Act lists (article 46), and two of them matter in practice. Foreign decisions are not recognised Cuando fueran contrarias al orden público, when they are contrary to public policy; and a decree given in default is refused si no se entregó al demandado cédula de emplazamiento o documento equivalente de forma regular y con tiempo suficiente para que pudiera defenderse, if the respondent was not served with the summons or an equivalent document properly and with enough time to defend himself. The others are rarer in a divorce: a decision irreconcilable with a Spanish one or with an earlier foreign one that Spain would recognise, a case already pending in Spain when the foreign one began, or a foreign court with no reasonable connection to the couple. The Act presumes the connection reasonable when the foreign court took the case on grounds similar to those of Spanish law, such as the spouses' habitual residence.

The short route: the Civil Registry

When the divorce has to be entered in the Spanish register — a Spanish spouse, a wedding in Spain — the Civil Registry Act offers a way without a court. The registrar in charge can enter a final foreign judgment himself, provided he verifies four things (Ley 20/2011, article 96):

• The papers are in order. The formal regularity and authenticity of the documents presented.
• The court had a proper connection. That the court of origin based its jurisdiction on criteria equivalent to those of Spanish law.
• Both spouses were heard. Que todas las partes fueron debidamente notificadas y con tiempo suficiente para preparar el procedimiento, that all the parties were duly notified and with enough time to prepare the proceedings.
• Nothing offends public policy. Que la inscripción de la resolución no resulta manifiestamente incompatible con el orden público español, that the entry is not manifestly incompatible with Spanish public policy.

The documents go in legalised — the apostille does that job between the countries that use it — and with a translation by a competent body or official (article 95). The registrar notifies his decision to everyone concerned. If he refuses, the Act leaves two doors open: an appeal to the Directorate-General that supervises the registries, or the exequátur.

The long route: the exequátur

The exequátur is the procedure that declares, once and for everyone, that a foreign decision is recognised in Spain (Ley 29/2015, article 42). It is filed at the first-instance court of the place where the other spouse lives, or where the person the decision's effects refer to lives, which in a divorce normally lets a spouse who lives in Tenerife file here even when the other stayed abroad (article 52). In it las partes deberán estar representadas por procurador y asistidas de letrado, the parties must be represented by a court agent, the procurador, and assisted by a lawyer (article 54). The claim goes in with four things:

• The decree. El original o copia auténtica de la resolución extranjera, debidamente legalizados o apostillados, the original or an authentic copy of the foreign decision, duly legalised or apostilled.
• Proof of service. If the decree was given in default, the document showing that the other spouse was served with the claim.
• Proof that it is final. A document showing that the decision can no longer be appealed in its country, unless the decree says so itself or it follows from the law the court applied.
• Translations. Into Spanish; a private translation is allowed, and an official one is ordered only if the other side disputes it (Civil Procedure Act, article 144).

The court sends the claim to the other spouse, who has thirty days to oppose it, and to the public prosecutor: El Ministerio Fiscal intervendrá siempre en estos procesos, the Public Prosecutor always takes part in these proceedings. Then the judge decides by order, in ten days on paper; in real life the calendar is set by how long it takes to serve a spouse who lives abroad. The order can be appealed (article 55).

Why go the long way when a shorter one exists? Because a divorce recognised in passing is recognised only for that occasion. A judge who needs it to decide another case rules for that case alone: La eficacia del reconocimiento incidental quedará limitada a lo resuelto en el proceso principal y no impedirá que se solicite el exequátur de la resolución extranjera, the effect of incidental recognition is limited to what is decided in the main proceedings and does not prevent the exequátur of the foreign decision from being applied for (article 44). An exequátur order settles the question for every later occasion, and it is the route that remains when a registrar says no.

The papers, track by track

Why it matters: marrying again, the home, the orders in the judgment

Marrying again is where most people meet the problem. The Civil Code bars from marriage Los que estén ligados con vínculo matrimonial, those who are bound by a marriage (article 46), and before any wedding in Spain a notary or the registry opens a file to check capacity and the absence of impediments (Ley 20/2011, article 58). In that file the earlier divorce has to be proved: with the European certificate if it has one; otherwise expect to be asked for the decree, legalised and translated, and, where the earlier marriage is entered in the Spanish register, for the divorce to be entered there first.

The home is the second place. When the divorce, or the settlement that came with it, has to appear on the title of a property in Spain, a final foreign judgment can reach the Land Registry without an exequátur: No se requerirá procedimiento especial para la inscripción en los Registros españoles de la Propiedad, Mercantil y de Bienes Muebles de las resoluciones judiciales extranjeras que no admitan recurso con arreglo a su legislación, no special procedure is required to enter in the Spanish property, companies and movable-property registries foreign judgments against which no appeal lies under their own law (Ley 29/2015, article 59). The registrar checks the same grounds of refusal himself and notifies both sides, who have twenty days to oppose; if he refuses, the road leads to the exequátur.

Then there is everything else the judgment ordered. Maintenance, the arrangements for the children and the division of the couple's property each travel under rules of their own, and recognising the divorce does not by itself make them enforceable here; what a relocation needs is in our guide to moving abroad with the children, and how a couple's property regime is fixed in the one on marital agreements. When life has moved to Spain and the orders need changing, the Spanish courts can do it, but only after recognition: Una resolución extranjera podrá ser modificada por los órganos jurisdiccionales españoles siempre que hubiera obtenido previamente su reconocimiento, a foreign decision may be modified by the Spanish courts provided it has first been recognised (article 45).

The same question returns at a bank, at the Social Security office deciding a survivor's pension or before the notary handling an inheritance. With a European certificate the answer is the certificate; without one, it is the registry entry or the exequátur order.

A foreign divorce does not need Spain's permission to exist. It needs the right paper for the Spanish authority in front of you, and which paper that is depends on where the proceedings took place and on the day they began.

What our family team does

Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments is part of our family practice, much of which is international: we handle the Spanish side and coordinate the rest. We start by reading the decree and placing it on its track; we tell you which certificate to ask the foreign court for while that is still easy, and whether the Civil Registry will do or the exequátur is the safer route; and we take the application to the registry or to the court. We agree a plan and a fee before any work begins, and nobody can promise how long a court will take. If the divorce has not been filed yet and you live in the Canary Islands, the first decision is where to file, and our guide to divorce in Spain starts there. The service is described on our family law page, and you can write to us in your own language.

Common questions

I divorced in another EU country. Do I have to do anything in Spain?

No procedure. Ask the court that granted the divorce for the certificate — Annex II of Regulation 2019/1111, or Annex I of the earlier regulation if your proceedings began before 1 August 2022 — and keep it with a copy of the decision. If your marriage is entered in the Spanish Civil Registry, present both there so that the divorce is noted.

I divorced in England after Brexit. Is my divorce valid in Spain?

It is valid, and it can be recognised, but not automatically. If the proceedings began on or before 31 December 2020, the European certificate still works. If they began later, recognition goes through Spain's own Act: the Civil Registry where the marriage is entered there, or the exequátur.

Can my former spouse stop the exequátur?

He or she is served with the claim and has thirty days to oppose it, but only on the grounds the Act lists: public policy, lack of proper service, a conflicting decision, an earlier case in Spain, a court with no reasonable connection. The Spanish court cannot go back into why the divorce was granted.

How long does an exequátur take?

The Act gives the other spouse thirty days and the judge ten. The real time is whatever it takes to serve the other spouse, especially abroad, plus the court's own workload; nobody can promise a date. With a European certificate there is nothing to wait for.

Does recognising the divorce also enforce the maintenance or the division of the property?

No. Those orders travel under their own rules and may need their own steps in Spain. For a decision from outside the European rules, it is the exequátur that opens the way to enforcing it here, and recognition that allows a Spanish court to change it.

General information on the law as it stands in October 2026 (Regulation (EU) 2019/1111, articles 30, 31, 36, 38, 65, 66, 90 and 100 and recital 96; Regulation (EC) 2201/2003, articles 16, 21 and 39; the Withdrawal Agreement, articles 67 and 126; Ley 29/2015, articles 2, 42, 44 to 46, 48, 52, 54, 55 and 59; Ley 20/2011, articles 9, 58, 95 and 96; Civil Code, articles 46, 87 and 89; Civil Procedure Act, article 144; the status table of the Hague Convention of 1970 on the recognition of divorces), not advice on any particular case: what a divorce needs depends on its decree, its dates and what you want to do with it.