Can anybody tell me how I go about denoucing someone. Do I go to the local police or guardia. What happens once this has been done. Do the police actually follow anything up.

a denuncia is simply a complaint to the police

in my area you go to the Guardia, though I have heard that in some places the local police do it, but I don't know how true that is



it will be followed up - the Guardia will interview the 'denounced', but quite what happens after that depends to an extent upon the nature of the complaint

Try this

http://www.policia.es/index.htm

When we formally denounced our builder (for fraud etc.), we had to go to the national police. We then went to the courts and filed it more formally there.

I did say - in my area

possibly it does vary area to area or maybe it depends upon the alleged crime


I have accompanied people to the Guardia to make denuncias as varied as missing passports & lost handbags to being threatened with a gun

I do seem to remember a friend reportng a stolen bag - therefore essentially making a denuncia - to the national police, but only because that was the nearest 'police station'

Thank you for the replies. I have been to the Guardia this afternoon, they were very nice and most helpful.

Denuncias are simply reports of crimes and can be made to any branch of the police or judicial system. Anyone can file a report - the victim, the police themselves or a witness - but the police are only obliged to investigate denuncias made by the aggrieved party. They are taken very seriously and you have to be a bit careful denouncing someone - filing false reports is a criminal offence and as you are basically accusing someone of a crime you may need to back it up giving evidence in court under oath.

I need to denounce a lawyer who has failed to give me money owed to me (SNIP) who do I contact to denounce her or is there something else I should do to get my money back?

to denounce them, go to the police / guardia & make a report, although I'm not sure that's the right route for money issues

there is a spanish version of the Trading Standards people who I think would be more appropriate - but what they're called escapes me at the moment - hopefully someone else will know

OMIC is what you're thinking of.
You also have the route of complaining to the Colegio de Abogados to which the lawyer is registered.

yep that's it

never had dealings with them so it just didn't stick in my mind

thanks for the info - have contacted the Colegio of Abogados several times but no response. Someone has said does spain have small claims court process? Do you know if they do and what they are called?