Help! Spanish-German lawsuit on alimony

Hello all,

I am facing the following situation, and I will be more than greatful about any information or advise oand any information on reliable legal counselors.

Thanks
Manfred

situation

Lawsuit in Andalusia on the claim for maintenance (alimony) and right of custody.
Contracting parties: An Ecuadorian Spanish mother M and a German father F.

Judgement ordered that maintenance (child support) is to be paid by father.
Father lives in Berlin, Germany. The father asks his Spanish lawyer L to appeal against the verdict. L tells F that no alimony payment needs to be paid until the appeals procedure is not terminated. This was told by telephone, in presence of witnesses, from L to F. Due to this, F did not transfer any alimony payments to M.
Around 1 year later, F is informed that a lawsuit was filed (against F), suing F for alimony payments. F is cited to a cross-examination in front of Andalusian authorities.
F suspects that lawyer L might not have appealed, as requested.

Question:
Is it common in Andalusia to discuss such matters in advance with the federal prosecutor? Is it recommendable to do that?

Question: Is it advisable to engage a lawyer in the specific city where the lawsuit is taking place? Or is it better to engage a lawyer from Madrid?
Question:
In Germany, this situation would probably be covered by the mistake of law principle, as in F’s understanding he did not do anything while he assuming that his appeal procedure was not terminated yet. And apparently F’s lawyer L made a mistake.
Question:
How is the situation if the lawyer L admits that he did not inform his client F that a legal lawsuit was taking place against him?
Question:
How is the situation if F did not receive the verdict resulting from the lawsuit?