A distressed sixty two year old man arrived at the Offices of Costa Advice Bureau with signs of injuries incurred in an argument over what will be a familiar episode to many in Spain. And this is the constant barking of dogs. He approached the dog owner, a Spanish citizen to make a further plea and suggest that three years tolerating the dog which barked from seven am till seven at night had been intolerable and now with his wife diagnosed and operated on for a cancer, repose for her well being was imperative. This was not to be. The response to this appeal from the twenty eight year old Spaniard who was not going to discuss this matter instead hit the expatriate over the head with his motorcycle helmet causing him to fall to the floor leaving an open and bleeding wound on his head and two wounded knees. I posed the relevant questions to the wounded party. Did you go to have your wounds tended too and obtain a report and furthermore did you make a statement to police? His response was that the police had arrived at the scene and as it was Easter Thursday they advised him that all emergency health centres were closed. This of course was complete nonsense. The aggressor who did receive a punch in the mouth as retaliation (This should never have occurred) managed to get to a centre and obtained a report about a small injury to his lip. He also reported the matter to the police. The now defendant had to answer these complaints and was left to believe that he too had reported the aggressor. Again he was incorrectly advised by the police. There was not complaint against his aggressor just a response to the accusations made against him.
There was not much time to contact a lawyer as the Spanish take the holidays seriously. Eventually making contact with the lawyer I was advised and as I suspected that the defendant would be found guilty as he had not obtained a medical report or reported the matter to the police. He would be fined and have to pay damages and paying the lawyer would be a waste of time. I did not accept this unfair conclusion and insisted both with the lawyer and with the defendant that we fight this case. I assisted my client to obtain the necessary documentation and with seconds to go before the case we presented a counter complaint. What was achieved? The Spaniard dropped his complaint. Why? Because there was now the obvious possibility that the court would find both parties guilty which meant that the first complainant would and the defendant now turned complainant, could both be found guilty and each would have to pay a fine and damages. The young Spaniard did not now have an open and closed case in his favour. For every Expatriate in Spain please take note of this case as this is not northern Europe or Britain where a defendant is just that. There you would have the possibility of defense. The translation for denounced in Spain, is ?accused ?seen in the eyes of the Spanish judicial system as the guilty party
Come on Spain you have been a democracy for thirty five years now. Please change the judicial system for a fairer system and away from the archaic and unfair system that Spain still adheres too.
Myra Azzopardi
http://www.costaadvicebureau.com
