What to do when a member
doesn’t pay their fee

1. Before claiming: talk

• Call or write on day one. A returned direct debit is usually an expired card, an account with no funds that day, or a member who wants to leave and hasn’t said so. All three are better solved by talking than by claiming.
• If they don’t pay, in writing. An email or a burofax (a certified letter with proof of content) with what they owe, for which months, and a payment proposal. Keep the proof that they received it: it counts as an attempt to reach an agreement before going to court, which Spanish law requires in many cases since 2025 (Organic Law 1/2025, art. 5).

2. Time limits

• Five years to claim. It’s the period for payments made yearly or at shorter intervals, such as membership fees (Spanish Civil Code, art. 1966). If you don’t claim it in that time, the debt becomes time-barred.
• Interest. If the contract doesn’t set a different rate, the statutory interest rate is owed from when you claim (Spanish Civil Code, art. 1108). The late-payment interest between businesses, which is much higher, does not apply to your members: that law excludes consumers (Law 3/2004, art. 3).

3. Claiming in court, without a lawyer

• The payment order procedure (proceso monitorio). It works for documented debts of any amount, and the gym’s own receipts or invoices are valid (Spanish Civil Procedure Act, art. 812). The application is filed without a lawyer or court representative (art. 814.2). If the member neither responds nor pays, the court accepts the claim and you can ask for it to be enforced.
• If they object. Up to €15,000 it continues as oral proceedings (art. 818.2), and up to €2,000 it can also be handled without a lawyer or court representative (arts. 23 and 31).

4. Debtor files

You can report the debt to a credit information file only if it is certain, due and payable, the member hasn’t disputed it before a court or the authorities, and you warned them, in the contract or when asking for payment, that it could end up in that file and which one. For five years at most from the due date, and you are responsible for the debt being real (Spanish Data Protection Act (LOPDGDD), art. 20). And never for less than €50 of principal (sixth additional provision).

5. What you can’t do

• Block the cancellation. The member can cancel through the same channel they used to sign up (consolidated text of the Spanish consumer protection law, art. 62.3). You claim the debt separately, but cancelling can’t depend on paying it.
• Disproportionate surcharges. Disproportionate penalties, and surcharges that don’t correspond to a service the member can accept or refuse, are unfair (arts. 85.6 and 89.5). If you charge the cost of the return, it should be the real one and be in the contract.
• Exposing them. No debtor lists on display and no debts on a public screen: it’s personal data.

And refusing them entry while they owe? There is no official criterion from Spain’s consumer authorities. It depends on what your contract says: if it clearly provides for it, it’s your most effective tool. Check with your adviser before applying it.

Frequently asked questions