Spain's mortgage Code of Good Practice and payment holidays: who qualifies and what it offers

The Code of Good Practice (Código de Buenas Prácticas) is a protection scheme for mortgage borrowers in difficulty, created by Royal Decree-law 6/2012, which banks join voluntarily but with binding effect. Its central measure is a five-year grace period on capital repayments within a debt restructuring plan.

What is the Code of Good Practice and who is bound by it?

The Code of Good Practice (CBP) is the set of measures in Royal Decree-law 6/2012 of 9 March for mortgage borrowers "without resources" who fall within the so-called exclusion threshold. Joining is voluntary for lenders, but once a lender has signed up, applying the Code to anyone who proves the requirements is mandatory.

Article 5.1 provides that the Code is of voluntary adhesion for credit institutions and other professional mortgage lenders. The key is article 5.4: once the institution has notified its adhesion and the borrower proves they are within the exclusion threshold, the Code's provisions are of mandatory application. It is not, therefore, a recommendation: for the signed-up lender it is an enforceable commitment.

Three reinforcements complete the system. First, the Code's content is incorporated into the signed-up lender's entire portfolio of agreements and is enforceable against third parties, so that if the bank assigns or sells your loan it must safeguard your rights (art. 5.7). Second, an alleged breach of the Code can be raised with the Banco de España, which handles it as an ordinary complaint (art. 6.6). Third, adhesion is notified to the General Secretariat of the Treasury and International Financing, and the list of signed-up institutions is published in the BOE and on the Treasury's electronic site, with quarterly updates unless there are no changes; the Banco de España's Bank Customer Portal carries that list.

A note on credit records: in the technical reporting to the CIRBE credit register (Banco de España Circular 1/2013) there is a specific operation-status value, "operation restructured or consolidated under Royal Decree-law 6/2012", so a restructuring under the Code is reportable with that status.

Who falls within the exclusion threshold of Royal Decree-law 6/2012?

The exclusion threshold covers anyone who meets all the requirements of article 3.1 at the same time: a mortgage on the main home, family income within the IPREM-referenced limits, an economic change or special vulnerability in the previous four years, and a mortgage payment above the legal percentage of net income. The article itself requires that "all of the following circumstances" concur.

On income, this guide publishes no IPREM figures: its amount is set each year in the General State Budget Act (art. 2.2 of Royal Decree-law 3/2004), so check the IPREM value published in the BOE before running the numbers.

The family circumstances of special vulnerability in art. 3.1.b include large families, single-parent households with dependent children, households with a minor, disability, dependency or incapacitating illness, living with relatives up to the third degree in those situations, victims of gender violence or of trafficking or sexual exploitation, and borrowers over 60.

One important nuance since the 2022 reform: to enter the threshold it is no longer required that the mortgage effort has multiplied by 1.5; it is enough that the burden on income has increased. If the increase was below 1.5 and there is no special vulnerability, you are not excluded, but the Annex's reduced measures described below apply instead.

What measures does the Code include in its three phases?

The Annex to Royal Decree-law 6/2012 orders the measures in three successive phases: debt restructuring with a grace period on capital, an optional write-down, and, as the final exit, dación en pago (handing back the property in full settlement) with the option of staying on as a tenant.

The restructuring plan also carries three valuable pieces: floor clauses are disapplied indefinitely, the borrower's debts may be consolidated, and there are no compensation costs for early repayment during the 10 years following the plan's approval. The capital deferred during the grace period can be moved to a final instalment, spread across the remaining payments, or a combination of both. And if, when the grace period ends, you are still within the exclusion threshold and the end of the grace period itself is not the determining cause, you may request a second restructuring plan (Annex 1.d).

Two additional protections complete the picture. For anyone who requests measures under the Code and proves the threshold, default interest is capped at the agreed ordinary rate plus 2% on the outstanding capital (art. 4). And guarantors, sureties and non-debtor mortgagors who are within the exclusion threshold may require the lender to exhaust the main borrower's assets first, even if they had waived the benefit of prior exhaustion (art. 3 bis); if you signed, or are being asked to sign, as a guarantor, read more in the guide on mortgage guarantors.

There is also, in Annex 4, a rental right for borrowers whose eviction after enforcement is suspended under Law 1/2013: a maximum annual rent of 3% of the home's value at the time of the auction award, for annual terms renewable up to 5 years, extendable by another 5 by agreement.

What was the Code of Good Practice under Royal Decree-law 19/2022?

It was a temporary Code, approved in November 2022 as a short-term response to rising interest rates, aimed at middle-class households at risk of vulnerability. Its application window ended on 24 November 2025 in general and on 24 May 2026 for residents of municipalities affected by the DANA floods.

It was aimed at natural persons with a mortgage loan or credit on the main home, with a purchase price of up to €300,000 and constituted up to 31 December 2022. The Council of Ministers Agreement that implemented it, in its consolidated text after the December 2023 improvement, set the income limit at 4.5 times the annual IPREM in 14 instalments (5.5 and 6.5 times in the disability or serious-illness cases), required the mortgage effort to have multiplied by at least 1.2 — or a circumstance of special vulnerability — and required the payment to exceed 30% of net income.

Its measures differed from those of the 2012 Code: an extension of the total term by up to 7 years (without going beyond 40 years from constitution), the option to freeze the payment at its June 2022 amount for 12 months through a total or partial grace period on principal — with the unamortised principal accruing a rate that cut the loan's net present value by 0.5% — and the option to convert the loan from a variable to a fixed rate, at a rate the lender could offer freely.

What does remain are the improvements that Royal Decree-law 19/2022 made to the 2012 Code, which stay in its consolidated text: the graduated restructurings (a 5-year grace period at Euribor minus 0.10, or a 2-year grace period with an extension of up to 7 years in the reduced case), the extension from 12 to 24 months of the window to request dación en pago, the second restructuring plan after the grace period, and the Code's enforceability against third parties if the loan is assigned.

How does a payment holiday agreed outside the Code work?

Outside the Code, a payment holiday or grace period (carencia) is an arrangement with your bank under which, for a period, you pay a reduced instalment — interest only — or even nothing. It is not a free-standing legal right: the lender may agree or not after analysing viability and the security, as the Banco de España's Bank Customer Portal describes.

The arithmetic matters more than the immediate relief. If you pay only interest, the borrowed capital does not fall during the grace period; if you pay neither interest nor capital, interest accumulates and the debt grows. Either way you amortise later and, depending on the format, pay more accumulated interest or face higher payments afterwards: the Banco de España confirms that the instalments will change when the grace period ends.

Formally, an agreed grace period is set up as a modification or novation of the loan's conditions, which must be formalised in a public deed and registered at the Land Registry, within the framework of Law 2/1994. The changes you can negotiate, their fees and their tax treatment are explained in the guide on mortgage novation; and for the opposite move — paying ahead when your finances improve — review how early mortgage repayment works. When comparing scenarios, look at the APRC (TAE; commonly APR) and the total cost, not just the monthly figure.

One reason to negotiate early rather than wait for arrears: article 24 of Law 5/2019 (LCCI) governs the early termination of property loans to natural persons, which occurs where arrears, a prior demand and quantitative thresholds concur: non-payment of 3% of the capital or 12 monthly instalments in the first half of the term, and of 7% or 15 monthly instalments in the second. Agreeing a payment holiday or applying under the Code before reaching that point avoids that scenario.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Code of Good Practice still open?

The Code under Royal Decree-law 6/2012 continues to apply to borrowers within the exclusion threshold whose lenders have signed up, with no expiry date in its consolidated text. The Code under Royal Decree-law 19/2022 was temporary: its general application window ended on 24 November 2025 and the window for DANA-affected municipalities on 24 May 2026. Check the status in the BOE.

Is the bank obliged to accept dación en pago?

Yes, within the Royal Decree-law 6/2012 Code and if the conditions are met: restructuring and the debt write-down must have proved unviable, the additional requirements of article 3.2 must be satisfied, and the request must come within 24 months of the restructuring application. In that case the signed-up lender is obliged to accept the handover of the home, with the debt definitively cancelled. The write-down, by contrast, is optional for the lender.

What interest is paid during the Code's grace period?

During the 5-year grace period of the Royal Decree-law 6/2012 restructuring, variable loans move to Euribor minus 0.10 and fixed-rate loans keep their fixed rate. In the reduced case (a 2-year grace period), the rate applied must produce a reduction of 0.5% in the net present value of the loan. In addition, floor clauses are disapplied indefinitely.

Can I agree a payment holiday outside the Code of Good Practice?

Yes, as a novation agreed with your lender, which may accept or refuse it after analysing viability and the security. It is formalised in a public deed and registered at the Land Registry. If you pay only interest, the capital does not fall during the grace period; if you pay nothing, interest accumulates and the debt grows, and the payments change when the period ends.

Summary

• The Code of Good Practice under RDL 6/2012 protects borrowers within the exclusion threshold: the bank's adhesion is voluntary, but once signed up its application is mandatory and enforceable through the Banco de España.
• Main requirements: income of up to 3 times the IPREM (4 or 5 in special cases), a payment above 50% of net income (40% in reinforced cases) and a home capped at €300,000 (€250,000 for dación en pago).
• Three phases: restructuring with a 5-year grace period on capital (2 in the reduced case) at Euribor minus 0.10; an optional write-down; and a mandatory dación en pago within 24 months, with an optional 2-year tenancy at 3% a year.
• The RDL 19/2022 Code was temporary: its application windows ended on 24/11/2025 (general) and 24/05/2026 (DANA municipalities); its permanent improvements to the 2012 Code remain in the consolidated text.
• Outside the Code, a payment holiday is a negotiated novation: it eases the instalment for a while, but the capital does not fall (or the debt grows) and the loan's total cost increases.

Compare your mortgage with and without a grace period in the calculator

Official sources

• Royal Decree-law 6/2012 — exclusion threshold (art. 3), default interest (art. 4), adhesion and scope (art. 5), complaints (art. 6.6) and the Annex with the three phases (BOE, consolidated text).
• Royal Decree-law 19/2022 — new temporary Code and improvements to the 2012 Code (art. 10, second additional provision) (BOE, consolidated text).
• Council of Ministers Agreement of 22 November 2022 — text of the new Code of Good Practice (BOE, consolidated text).
• Council of Ministers Agreement of 27 December 2023 — raising of the income limit to 4.5 times the IPREM (BOE).
• Royal Decree-law 7/2024 — extension of the new Code's duration to 36 months (42 for DANA municipalities) (BOE).
• Council of Ministers Agreement of 11 November 2024 — adaptation of the application windows (BOE).
• Royal Decree-law 3/2004 — creation of the IPREM and annual setting of its amount in the Budget (BOE, consolidated text).
• Law 5/2019 (LCCI) — art. 24, early termination (BOE, consolidated text).
• Banco de España — Grace period (Periodo de carencia) (Bank Customer Portal).
• Banco de España — Institutions signed up to the Code of Good Practice (Bank Customer Portal).

Notice: this guide and the calculator are for information and educational purposes. They are not financial, tax or legal advice, nor a loan offer. Access to the Code of Good Practice depends on proving the legal requirements to your lender; always verify the consolidated text in the BOE, the list of signed-up institutions with the Banco de España and, if you need it, consult a professional. The lender's FEIN sets out the binding offer and the figures calculated under its conditions and assumptions.