Someone is at a police station. Call, don't read.
A person detained in Spain has the right to a lawyer of their own choosing and to an interpreter, from the moment of detention. We attend detentions across the Costa del Sol in English, oppose internment orders, and deal with whatever file has been opened behind the arrest.
Have ready: full name as on the passport, nationality, and which station. That is enough for us to start.
What actually happens, and where we come in
Two different things get called “arrested”. Telling them apart is the first useful act of the night.
Attendance at the station
A person detained in Spain has the right to be assisted by a lawyer, and to a lawyer of their own choosing rather than whoever is on the duty rota — that is article 520 of the Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal, and it applies from the moment of detention. We attend, we are present at the statement, and we make sure the rights on that list were actually given rather than merely printed.
Working out what this actually is
Two very different things happen at police stations to foreign nationals, and they get confused constantly. One is a criminal detention. The other is an immigration detention that opens an expulsion file, sometimes with a request for internment. They have different rights, different clocks and different defences, and the paperwork tells us which one you are in.
The internment hearing
Internment in a CIE is not a police decision: it has to be authorised by a judge, and there is a hearing at which it can be opposed. It is also capped — the maximum period of internment is sixty days under article 62 of the Ley Orgánica 4/2000. Alternatives to internment exist and are regularly granted where there are ties, an address and no flight risk. Somebody has to argue for them.
The 72 hours, and what happens after
Police custody is not open-ended: the detainee must be released or brought before a judge, as a general rule within seventy-two hours. What matters is what has been set in motion by then — an expulsion file, a criminal case, or nothing at all. We deal with the emergency first and then with whatever it started, because an immigration file opened during a detention does not close when the detainee walks out.
Rights on detention are set by article 520 of the Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal; immigration internment and its sixty-day maximum by article 62 of the Ley Orgánica 4/2000.
From your call to the file that outlives it
Call. Do not email.
This is the one page on this site where email is the wrong tool. Tell us the name, the nationality, and which police station or Guardia Civil post they are in. If you do not know the station, we can usually find it.
We identify ourselves as their lawyer
We notify the station that the detainee has designated counsel, which stops the duty-rota clock and gets us into the process before the statement is taken rather than after. Then we attend.
The statement, and the file behind it
We are present when the statement is taken, we advise on whether to answer, and we read what has been opened alongside it. You get told in plain English what is actually happening — which is normally the thing nobody in the building has explained.
Whatever it turns into
Opposing internment at the hearing, defending an expulsion file within its 48-hour window, or the criminal defence if that is what this is. The detention ends; the file does not end with it, and that is where most of the damage happens.
What families ask us first
A family member has been detained. What do I do in the next ten minutes?
Call us, and have three things ready: their full name as it appears on their passport, their nationality, and the police station they were taken to. You do not need to know the legal situation — that is what we are for — and you should not wait until you understand it. Detention in Spain has a rhythm set by hours, and the useful interventions happen early. If you genuinely cannot reach us by phone, send a WhatsApp with those three details and we will call you back.
Do they have the right to a lawyer of their own choosing?
Yes. Under article 520 of the Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal a detainee is entitled to legal assistance and may designate their own lawyer rather than accept the duty solicitor assigned by the bar association. They are also entitled to an interpreter if they do not speak Spanish, to have a family member or their consulate informed of the detention, and to be told the reasons for it in a language they understand. These rights are read out; whether they are honoured in practice is a different question, and it is one of the reasons attendance matters.
How long can they be held?
Police custody is limited: as a general rule a detainee must be released or brought before a judge within seventy-two hours. Immigration internment in a CIE is a separate matter, ordered by a judge rather than the police, and its statutory maximum is sixty days under article 62 of the Ley Orgánica 4/2000 — but that is a ceiling, not a default, and internment can be opposed at the hearing. Ties in Spain, a fixed address and an ongoing residence application all weigh against it.
They were detained because of their immigration status, not a crime. Is that different?
Very. An immigration detention is administrative: what it typically produces is an expulsion file opened under the Ley Orgánica 4/2000, often through the preferential procedure with a 48-hour period to file allegations. There may be no criminal case at all. The danger is that families relax when they hear "it is not criminal" and then lose the expulsion case on the deadline. If a file has been opened, read our page on deportation and expulsion orders — and do it today, not next week.
Do you cover the whole Costa del Sol?
We are based in Fuengirola and work across Málaga province — Marbella, Torremolinos, Benalmádena, Mijas, Estepona and the city itself. For detentions further afield we will tell you honestly whether we can attend in time or whether you are better served by someone local, and if it is the latter we will say so rather than take the case and arrive late.
What does it cost, and can I sort it out afterwards?
We quote before we act, including out of hours, and we would rather have that conversation in two minutes on the phone than leave someone in a cell while a payment is arranged. Nobody is left unattended over an invoice. What we will not do is give you a figure on a web page for a situation we have not seen yet — the honest answer is that it depends on what has actually been opened.
Reviewed by a lawyer
Reviewed by Alberto García López
Immigration lawyer · ICA Málaga, reg. no. 11.441
We check every page against current Spanish law. This is general information, not advice on your individual case.
Globalium is an independent law firm, not a government agency, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any public administration. Visas, permits and identification numbers are granted solely by the Spanish authorities, and you are free to apply to them directly yourself. Our fees pay for legal advice and representation, and are separate from any official fee or tax.
Name, nationality, station. That's all we need.
We will tell you on the call whether this is criminal or immigration, what happens next, and whether we can get there in time. Nobody is left unattended while a fee is discussed.
+34 667 77 02 19 · +34 667 78 20 85
P.S. — the phrase to remember, and to repeat to the officer, is that the detainee designates their own lawyer. It is a right, not a favour.