Studying Law in Spain (in Spanish)

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Dear colleague,

Thank you for your kind words.

You've been well-informed. As per my prior posts, it's the Ministry of Education the competent public body in Spain to homologate a foreign degree:

Homologate your degree in Spain

In reply to your question, I do know many lawyers who attained their degrees in Common Law countries i.e. England & Wales, and homologated them sucessfully. As you've been advised, always the red tape, homologation typically takes on average between one year and half and three years and it's discretionary.

I doubt you will be expected to take any exams. The practical problem you will find on practising law in Spain once you've successfully homologated your Law degree is that lawyers who come from the Common Law System are at a loss when it comes to our national laws. Basically you will be a layman requiring years upon years to learn and master your particular area of expertise.

Which explains why most of these lawyers don't really practice law in Spain and act more as high-profile PR's for their law firms organising focus seminars and conferences in hotels aimed to solicit fellow countrymen. The grunt work is actually carried out normally by their Spanish counterparts as it's normal. It's really not their fawlt as the legal systems differ so greatly. They are just practical about it and bridge the gap between Spanish laws and their countrymen.

There are lawyers who are exceptions to the above general rule, of course. There are areas of expertise, i.e International Law, International Arbitration, that can easily bypass this problem and you will probably even have more of a competitive edge than a Spanish lawyer.

Lawyers who really do practise law in Spain on day-to-day basis after having homologated their degrees are normally all those who have a Continental Law academical background i.e. German lawyers. Their Bürgeliches Gesetzbuch and our Civil Code (backbone of our legal system) for example are similar of sorts; they are already well-acquainted with grasping the core concepts of our laws and can perform admirably well in Spain.


Yours faithfully,