Government measures in key jurisdictions 4th edition - Flipbook - Page 125
Spain
Insolvency
Has the
government
made any
changes to
insolvency
legislation?
Contractual
Issues
What measures
have been taken
to reinforce
contracts?
125
•
Recoverable paid leave: There was a time window between March 30 and April 9, 2020, both inclusive, in
which workers involved in non-essential activities were not able to go to work as result of the Covid-19
crisis and subsequent State of Emergency. During that period, those affected workers benefited from a
mandatory recoverable paid leave (permiso retribuido recuperable). The recovery of the missing
working hours by the employees shall be carried out until December 31, 2020 under the conditions to be
collectively agreed with their employer.
•
Measures applicable after the end of the state of emergency: Royal Decree Law 21/2020 (“RD 21/2020”)
establishes the specific measures and obligations to be adopted at workplaces, related to ventilation and
cleaning, work shifts, workspaces or progressive return, among others, as well as the promotion of the
use of teleworking and with regard to workers who have symptoms compatible with COVID-19. See here
for more information.
•
For further information, please see: Royal Decree-Law 8/2020 of March 17, 2020 launches urgent and
extraordinary measures to confront the economic and social impact of Covid-19, Companies facing the
Covid-19 crisis, Key new legislation introduced, and Workers in non-essential services will be compelled
to take recoverable paid leave.
•
The duty to request a voluntary insolvency order has been disabled until December 31, 2020. In this
respect, no petitions for necessary insolvency orders filed by creditors against the debtor will be
admitted for consideration. However, directors should not lower their guard, since this measure does
not mean that they cannot incur liability for causing or aggravating insolvency for the company. For
further information about this matter please visit here.
•
The Official Spanish State Gazette (BOE) has published a new Spanish Revised Insolvency Law on May
7, 2020, introducing regulation that departs from the existing provisions on restructurings and
insolvencies and that will enter into force on
September 1, 2020. For further details please visit here.
•
For more information please see here and here.
•
There has not been any outstanding measure taken by the Spanish Government regarding the
specific reinforcement of contracts, therefore, normal rules would apply.
•
When it comes to contract suspensions and reductions in working hours that are directly caused by
losses in activity as a result of Covid-19, a legal provision has been included in Royal Decree-law
8/2020, of March 17 (RDL 8/2020) stating that those specific cases shall be considered as force
majeure, when duly verified.
•
It should be taken into account that the force majeure term relates with the impossibility of the
parties to perform their respective obligations due to the existence of an event that could not
have been foreseen or that, if foreseen, were inevitable. In this respect, the scope and
applicability of the force majeure would be subject to the specifics of each case, which shall be,
in last instance, examined and determined one by one by the judicial courts.
Government measures in key jurisdictions