What the law says about your loan or card
What the APR (TAE) is, what your contract has to state, how long you have to withdraw (desistir) and what you can be charged if you repay early, with the law each point comes from. And what the Banco de España average rate your interest is compared with is.
Reviewed on 11 October 2026Sources: Ley 16/2011 · Banco de España, table 19.4Who is behind this
What the APR (TAE) is and what goes into it
The APR (TAE, tasa anual equivalente) expresses the total cost of the credit as an annual percentage: the interest, the fees and costs you pay for it, and the premium of an insurance policy when it is required to obtain the credit. The law sets how it is calculated, with a formula and some assumptions (art. 32 and annex I of Ley 16/2011).
The review recalculates it with the figures from your contract and compares it with the one your contract states, both rounded to one decimal place with the rule in annex I. If a cost or insurance is missing from what you enter, the figure changes: that is why a different APR is shown as something to review.
If your contract does not state the APR, the law says that your obligation is reduced to paying the statutory interest (interés legal) in the agreed instalments (art. 21.2). If it states an APR lower than the one that comes from its figures, the law says that its consequences will be adjusted (se modularán) (art. 21.4). In neither case is an amount calculated here.
Laws and interpretations
What your contract has to state
The law lists what a consumer credit contract has to state, such as the interest rate, the APR (TAE), the total amount or the right of withdrawal (art. 16.2). What happens if any of those items is missing is set out in art. 21.
If you finance a purchase, such as a car, the contract has to state the goods and their cash price. And you can choose not to finance the purchase and pay for it as you agreed with the seller (art. 26.3).
Laws and interpretations
Withdrawing from the credit within 14 days
You have 14 calendar days to withdraw (desistir) from the credit without having to give a reason. They are counted from the day you took it out or, if you received the contract and its information later, from that day, not counting the first day (art. 28 of Ley 16/2011 and art. 5 of the Código Civil, the Civil Code).
It is enough to send your notice by the last day at the latest, on paper or on another durable medium (art. 28.2). If you withdraw, you repay the capital and the interest for the days you had it within 30 days at most, and ancillary services linked to the credit, such as insurance, cease to have effect.
Laws and interpretations
Repaying early: the cap on the compensation
You can repay the credit early, in full or in part (art. 30.1). The lender may charge you a compensation, with a cap: 1 % of what you repay if more than a year was left until the agreed end date, and 0,5 % if a year or less was left (art. 30.2). Never more than the interest that was still to be paid (art. 30.5).
No compensation is possible if the repayment is paid by an insurance policy intended for that purpose, nor in a period with a variable interest rate (art. 30.3). The lender can only charge more than the cap if it proves that the repayment caused it a greater loss (art. 30.4).
If you had insurance linked to the credit, art. 30.6 deals with the part of the premium that has not been used up. What a car dealer charges for losing a discount given for financing is not the lender's compensation: the review does not compare it with the cap: it depends on what your contract says.
Laws and interpretations
The Banco de España average rate
Every month the Banco de España publishes the average rate of consumer credit, by the period for which the rate is fixed at the start, and that of revolving cards, whose series starts in June 2010 (Boletín Estadístico, the statistical bulletin, table 19.4). They are rates without fees. The review compares your APR (TAE) with the rate for the month you took out the credit and, if that month has not been published yet, it says so: it never uses the previous month.
The Ley de 23 de julio de 1908 sobre nulidad de los contratos de préstamos usurarios does not set any figure. For revolving cards, the Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court) takes as a reference a difference of more than 6 percentage points above the average rate and, for cards from before June 2010, 19,32 % (STS 258/2023, of 15 February, of the full court). It is the court's interpretation, not a rule of law.
For cards compared with the 19,32 % of 2010, between 6 and 6,30 points the result is borderline: that rate does not include fees, and STS 258/2023 estimates that the APR would be 20 to 30 hundredths higher. For personal and car loans, the Tribunal Supremo says that this threshold does not apply directly, but may be taken into account; in the case it ruled on, with a difference of 8,51 points, it considered it notably higher than the normal price of money (notablemente superior al normal del dinero) (STS 366/2026). That is why the review gives the difference in points without comparing it with any threshold.
It is a reference, not a conclusion: a judge also weighs the circumstances of the case. The review does not calculate any amount for this difference.
Laws and interpretations
- Ley de 23 de julio de 1908, art. 1
- STS 258/2023, de 15 de febrero (Pleno) · interpretation of the Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court)
- STS 366/2026, de 9 de marzo · interpretation of the Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court)
- Banco de España, Boletín Estadístico, cuadro 19.4 · official data
Revolving cards
With a revolving card you repay what you spend in monthly instalments, fixed or as a percentage of the debt, and what you repay becomes available again. Interest is charged on what you owe: with a low instalment, the debt can take years to go down, or not go down at all. The review tells you how many months it would take you to pay it off without new purchases.
To calculate its APR (TAE), the law assumes that you draw down the whole limit and repay it in one year, in 12 instalments (annex I, part II). The banking transparency order (orden de transparencia bancaria) provides that a revolving card must report at least every quarter on what is owed, the rate, the instalment, and when and for how much you would finish paying it off (art. 33 quinquies), and that, if you ask, you must be given within 5 working days what has been paid and what is owed, broken down, and a repayment schedule (art. 33 sexies); it has not been checked which lenders and earlier contracts it covers.
Laws and interpretations
The law is going to change
Directive (EU) 2023/2225 on consumer credit will apply from 20-11-2026, and the law transposing it in Spain is still going through parliament: there is a draft bill (anteproyecto) of 7 January 2026. Until it is published, the review applies Ley 16/2011 to contracts entered into from 25-09-2011, when it came into force (seventh final provision and transitional provision), and nothing in the draft bill changes a result.
Laws and interpretations
- Ley de contratos de crédito al consumo, art. 2
- Directiva (UE) 2023/2225, relativa a los contratos de crédito al consumo · going through parliament: does not apply
- Anteproyecto de Ley de contratos de crédito al consumo, de 7 de enero de 2026 · going through parliament: does not apply
Where to find free information
Only official, free channels: this page does not link to law firms or to companies that handle cases.
- The Banco de España's Bank Customer Portal (Portal del Cliente Bancario), which explains your rights as a customer.
- The Banco de España's complaints service (Servicio de Reclamaciones).
- The municipal consumer information offices (OMIC) and the consumer services of your region (comunidad autónoma).
What the review does not look at
- Whether the clauses in your contract are clear and valid
- Whether an insurance policy was really required
- Fees for missed payments
- Changes to a card's limit
- What changes with the new consumer credit law
Frequently asked questions
What is the APR (TAE)?
It is the total cost of the credit expressed as an annual percentage: it includes the interest, the fees and costs you pay for the credit, and the premium of an insurance policy when it is required to obtain the credit. The law sets how it is calculated (art. 32 and annex I of Ley 16/2011). This page recalculates it with the figures from your contract and compares it with the one the contract states, both rounded to one decimal place with the rule in annex I.
What is a revolving card?
A card on which you repay what you spend in monthly instalments, fixed or as a percentage of the debt, and what you repay becomes available again. Interest is charged on what you owe, so with a low instalment the debt can take years to go down. The review calculates its APR (TAE) with the law's assumptions and how many months it would take you to pay it off without new purchases.
What is the Banco de España average rate?
It is the average interest rate the Banco de España publishes every month for consumer credit, by the period for which the rate is fixed at the start, and for revolving cards, without fees (table 19.4 of its Boletín Estadístico, the statistical bulletin). For revolving cards, the Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court) takes as a reference a difference of more than 6 percentage points above that rate (STS 258/2023); it is the court's interpretation, not a rule of law. For loans, the review gives only the difference in points. In no case does it calculate an amount: a judge also weighs the circumstances of the case.
How much can I be charged for repaying the loan early?
At most, 1 % of what you repay if more than a year was left until the agreed end date, and 0,5 % if a year or less was left (art. 30.2 of Ley 16/2011), and never more than the interest that was still to be paid (art. 30.5). Nothing if it is paid by an insurance policy intended for that purpose or in a period with a variable interest rate (art. 30.3). The lender can only charge more if it proves that the repayment caused it a greater loss (art. 30.4).
How many days do I have to withdraw from a credit?
14 calendar days from when you took it out or, if you received the contract and its information later, from that day, not counting the first day (art. 28 of Ley 16/2011). It is enough to send your notice by the last day at the latest, on paper or on another durable medium. You then repay the capital and the interest for the days you had it within 30 days at most.
And if my contract is from before 2011?
Ley 16/2011 applies to contracts entered into from 25-09-2011; earlier ones were governed by other rules, which are not calculated here. For an earlier revolving card the APR (TAE) is still compared with the average rate, because the Tribunal Supremo's interpretation does not depend on the date of the contract; if it is from before June 2010, with the 19,32 % the court took for those contracts.
Is the consumer credit law going to change?
Yes. Directive (EU) 2023/2225 will apply from 20-11-2026 and the law transposing it in Spain is still going through parliament. Until it is published, the review applies Ley 16/2011.
What happens to the data I enter?
Everything is calculated on your device: what you enter does not leave it and is not stored. The review does not ask for your name, your DNI or your account number. Of your visit, only which sheets you go through and the result, as codes from a closed list, are measured, without cookies; never your figures, your dates or the lender's name.