Does the “MASC” (appropriate dispute resolution method) interrupt the limitation period?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

Yes, according to the Spanish law that has regulated “MASC” (appropriate dispute resolution methods) since 2025. A request to the other party to negotiate through one of them interrupts the limitation period and suspends the time bar (“caducidad”) from the date on which there is a record that an attempt was made to communicate it to them. While the negotiation lasts, the time limit is paused and, if it ends without agreement, the limitation period starts again in full, whereas the time bar continues with the days it had left. In Catalonia it is not clear whether requesting mediation interrupts the time limit or only pauses it, so the prudent course is also to claim what is owed in the same letter. That claim interrupts the limitation period beyond dispute, according to the “Código Civil de Cataluña”, the Catalan Civil Code. What Spanish law says Limitation is the loss of the right to claim through failure to do so in time. A time bar is a stricter time limit, specific to certain actions, which as a general rule is not interrupted. Organic Law 1/2025 (“Ley Orgánica 1/2025”) gives the request to negotiate the following effects: The limitation period is interrupted and the time bar is suspended from the date on which there is a record that an attempt was made to communicate the request to the other party. The effect lasts until the agreement is signed or the negotiation ends without one. If the other party does not reply, it is deemed to have ended after thirty calendar days. Afterwards, the limitation period runs again in full, as if it were starting afresh. The time bar simply resumes. Since 2025, the Spanish mediation act has also provided that requesting mediation interrupts the limitation period. If there is no agreement, the claim must be brought within the following year for the attempt to count, but that year does not extend the limitation period or the time bar. In Catalonia If the debt or the right is governed by Catalan law, limitation is regulated by the Catalan Civil Code, with its own time limits and its own grounds for interruption. One of them is a claim made out of court, which must reach the other party before the time limit expires. An invitation to negotiate that also claims what is owed counts as such a claim too. The doubt concerns mediation. The Catalan code says that requesting it suspends the time limit, that is, it stops it running while the mediation lasts without sending it back to the start, whereas the Spanish law says that it interrupts it. As it is not clear which rule applies, the prudent course is also to claim the debt in writing. Under the Spanish Civil Code (“Código civil”), which applies in most of the rest of Spain, a claim made out of court also interrupts the limitation period. How to do it properly So that the interruption is not disputed later, it is advisable to follow these guidelines: Claim what is owed in the same letter, stating the amount and its origin, as well as inviting the other party to negotiate. Send it by a method that leaves a record of the date, the content and the delivery, such as a “burofax” (a certified letter with proof of content) with acknowledgement of receipt. Send it to all the debtors or liable parties, because claiming against one of them may not interrupt the time limit as against the others. If the time limit is a time bar, bear in mind that it is only paused while the negotiation lasts and that it then continues to run.