Fortnightly Legal Radar

Fortnightly Legal Radar – Report No. 1 — March 16, 2026

1. LEGISLATION

Royal Decree 180/2026: Universal access to public healthcare for foreign nationals without legal residence
Royal Decree 180/2026 of March 11 regulates the procedure for recognising the right to health protection and publicly funded healthcare for foreign nationals without legal residence in Spain. The regulation harmonises procedures across autonomous communities, simplifies the process through a sworn declaration, and guarantees immediate access for especially protected groups: minors, pregnant women, gender violence victims, and international protection applicants.

Professional relevance: 3/5 — Recommended follow-up.
Practical use: Impact on family matters with international elements. Mixed marriages and families with an irregular-status foreign member will benefit from simplified NHS access. Relevant for advising non-European clients residing in Catalonia.

Selection process opened for Spanish ECHR judge candidate
Orders PJC/205/2026 and PJC/207/2026 published in the BOE, opening the selection process for Spain’s candidate for the European Court of Human Rights. This signals the upcoming renewal of Spain’s seat in Strasbourg.

Professional relevance: 2/5 — Contextual interest.
Practical use: The ECHR’s composition may influence case law on family rights and child protection in the medium term.

2. CASE LAW

Supreme Court Judgment 59/2026, January 22: Visitation rights in gender violence contexts
The Supreme Court upholds the visitation regime set by the Provincial Court of A Coruña despite pending criminal proceedings for gender violence, finding no direct risk to the children. It reiterates the individualised risk assessment doctrine: the existence of pending criminal proceedings does not automatically trigger suspension of visitation rights.

Professional relevance: 5/5 — Immediate direct impact.
Practical use: Essential for litigation involving gender violence allegations. Confirms that visitation suspension requires individualised motivation of actual risk to the children, not automatic application based solely on a complaint.

Supreme Court establishes doctrine on minimum vital income and shared custody
The Supreme Court rules that a parent with shared custody cannot include children in their household unit for minimum vital income purposes if the children are registered at the other parent’s address. It consolidates a strict interpretation linked to municipal registration and effective residence.

Professional relevance: 4/5 — Clear short-term impact.
Practical use: Directly affects advisory work on shared custody and its administrativeeconomic consequences. Clients should be informed about the implications of municipal registration on access to social benefits.

Reiterated Supreme Court doctrine: the child’s right to be heard in family proceedings
Recent Supreme Court rulings continue to annul Provincial Court judgments that failed to guarantee direct hearing of the child in custody proceedings. Consolidated doctrine requires that children with sufficient maturity (always those over 12) be heard, even ex officio. Unjustified omission results in nullity of proceedings.

Professional relevance: 5/5 — Immediate direct impact.
Practical use: Fundamental for procedural strategy. Always verify that the child’s hearing has been conducted or that the court has provided reasons for not doing so. Its omission is grounds for nullity on appeal or cassation.

3. TAXATION

Expanded IHT reliefs for collateral relatives in several autonomous communities
In 2026, significant reliefs on Inheritance and Gift Tax are consolidated. Madrid increased the relief for siblings, aunts/uncles, and nephews/nieces to 50%. Valencia will apply a 25% relief for Group III (collaterals) from June 2026. Galicia has limited cumulative application of kinship reductions in succession agreements. Catalonia maintains its specific regime with differentiated reductions by degree of kinship.

Professional relevance: 4/5 — Clear short-term impact.
Practical use: Essential for succession planning with clients holding assets across different autonomous communities. Territorial differences require case-by-case comparative analysis.

4. CIVIL PROCEDURE AND ADR

Consolidation of judicial criteria on the ADR procedural prerequisite
Since Organic Law 1/2025 entered into force on April 3, 2025, judges’ assemblies and initial Provincial Court rulings have been defining the criteria for evidencing prior ADR attempts. Registered mail and notarial certificates are widely accepted; email generates more variation, being accepted only with certified sending and receipt guarantees. Provincial Courts are beginning to apply the pro actione principle where the claimant has demonstrated reasonable diligence.

Professional relevance: 5/5 — Immediate direct impact.
Practical use: Essential for filing claims. The choice of communication channel for the ADR attempt and the quality of supporting documentation are decisive for claim admissibility.

Binding confidential offer: doctrinal analysis of practical application
Initial doctrinal analyses have been published on the binding confidential offer regulated under Article 17 of Organic Law 1/2025. Scholars agree that it is not the most suitable instrument for family or relational disputes, given the absence of a neutral third party and dialogue space. Mediation, conciliation, or expert opinion are recommended for such cases.

Professional relevance: 3/5 — Recommended follow-up.
Practical use: Confirms that in family law the most suitable ADR method remains mediation or private conciliation, not the binding confidential offer.

5. EU AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

RDL 9/2025: Birth and childcare leave extended to 19 weeks
The regulatory development of the Families Act consolidates the extension of birth and childcare leave to 19 weeks (32 for single-parent families), with flexible arrangements. This 7 implements EU Directive 2019/1158. Registered partnerships are also granted equal rights to marriage, including the 15-day registration leave.

Professional relevance: 3/5 — Recommended follow-up.
Practical use: Relevant for advising on work-life balance during negotiation of regulatory agreements and parenting plans.

6. POLITICS, ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

Government announces intention to harmonise IHT at national level
The Government has expressed its intention to establish a common minimum taxation threshold for Inheritance and Gift Tax that would limit autonomous community reliefs. If materialised, this reform could significantly alter succession planning in communities such as Madrid, Andalusia, or Galicia, which currently offer near-total exemptions.

Professional relevance: 4/5 — Clear short-term impact.
Practical use: Clients with ongoing succession operations should be alerted to the risk of regulatory change. Anticipating gifts or succession agreements may be strategically advisable.

7. DOCTRINE AND PUBLICATIONS

Publication of practical guides on ADR (General Council of the Bar and legal publishers)
The Spanish General Council of the Bar has published a guide on ADR regulation under Organic Law 1/2025. Additionally, Lefebvre has released a dedicated monograph. Both works address the practical issues surrounding the procedural prerequisite, means of evidence, exceptions, and agreement effects.

Professional relevance: 3/5 — Recommended follow-up.
Practical use: Useful reference material for adapting the firm to the new civil procedural framework.

STRATEGIC ALERTS

1. Potential national IHT harmonisation. If the Government succeeds in limiting autonomous community reliefs, succession planning will need comprehensive review. Clients with ongoing transactions should be informed of the risk.
2. Evolving judicial criteria on ADR requirements. The disparity in criteria between judicial districts regarding valid means of evidencing the ADR attempt creates legal uncertainty. Provincial Courts are expected to unify doctrine in the coming months.
3. Supreme Court and gender violence in family proceedings. A trend is observed requiring individualised assessment of actual risk to children before suspending visitation, rejecting automatic application. This jurisprudential line may be consolidated through future rulings.

MONITORING

Reform of the CCCat on legal capacity. The bill to amend the Catalan Civil Code as committed after Decree Law 19/2021, which provisionally adapted guardianship institutions to Law 8/2021, remains pending. The definitive reform has no scheduled date.

Possible constitutional challenges to mandatory ADR. The mandatory nature of the ADR procedural prerequisite continues generating doctrinal debate on its compatibility with the 8 right of access to courts (Art. 24 Spanish Constitution). No formal challenges have been filed yet.

Families Act: full regulatory development. The Act continues to generate regulatory effects, but its complete parliamentary process has not yet concluded. The creation of the National Registry of Registered Partnerships remains pending.
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Documentalistas Azuara&Baviera Abogados
Analysis period: March 1 – 16, 2026