Over half of the civil proceedings reaching the Barcelona Court are linked to claims of abusive clauses, primarily concerning mortgages, loans, and credit cards, especially those known as "revolving cards." This situation has resulted in waiting times for trial dates extending beyond three years.
According to projections from the General Council of the Judiciary, each civil section magistrate should handle approximately 200 cases annually. However, at the Barcelona Court, this figure rose to 556 cases per judge last year, nearly triple the expected workload. In total, 27,869 new cases were registered in 2025, bringing the total number of pending proceedings to 40,135.
“"We need many more judicial positions. I estimate around 50 new magistrates would be necessary."
The Court's president, Antonio Recio, has lamented the lack of a unified doctrine from higher courts, such as the Supreme Court or European tribunals, which leads to divergent criteria among lower courts. Recio has also proposed measures to alleviate the backlog, such as limiting appeals for cases under 6,000 euros or restricting appeal length to 20 pages.
The Ministry of Justice recently launched a bill to create 91 judicial positions in Catalonia, with eight designated for the civil division of the Barcelona Court. However, the court's president deems this figure insufficient, estimating that around 50 new magistrates are needed to adequately handle the demand.
This overload affects not only abusive clause litigation but also other civil proceedings like inheritance cases, evictions, and traffic accidents, which can also take over three years to get a trial date at the Barcelona Court, not including the accumulated delays in the first instance, which are around two years.
