Santamaría Baeza Abogados is a law firm in Alicante. We work in Spanish law across civil, commercial, employment, criminal and administrative matters, and a substantial part of our practice is with people who do not speak Spanish and own property or live on the Costa Blanca.
This page tells you who we are, how the firm is organised and how you can check that for yourself before instructing us.
How to verify a Spanish lawyer before you instruct them
In Spain, only a lawyer registered with a bar association (Colegio de Abogados) may represent you in court. Registration is public and searchable. Anyone can call themselves a «legal adviser» or a gestor; only a registered abogado can litigate.
Every lawyer at this firm is registered with the Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Alicante, and we publish the bar numbers so you can check them:
| Lawyer | Area | Alicante Bar number |
|---|---|---|
| Vicente José Santamaría Baeza | Civil, commercial and real estate | 8,150 |
| Laura Cano Gálvez | Employment and social security | 5,376 |
If you are dealing with any firm in Spain, ask for the bar number and the bar association. A firm that will not give you one is not a firm of lawyers.
The office
We work from a single office at Av. de Aguilera 39, Ent B, 03007 Alicante. There is no call centre and no case-handler layer: you deal directly with the lawyer running your matter.
Opening hours are Monday to Thursday 08:00 to 19:00 and Friday 08:00 to 15:00, Spanish time. If you are abroad, we work by email and video call, and most matters can be handled under a power of attorney so you do not need to fly out for each step.
What makes this firm different
Medical assessment in-house
In personal injury and traffic accident claims, the amount you receive is decided almost entirely by a medical report on your injuries and how they healed. In most claims that report is written by a doctor instructed by the insurance company: the same company that then has to pay you.
We have our own medical assessment and rehabilitation. It means the report your claim rests on is not produced by the party on the other side. This is the single most useful thing about the way we work, and it is unusual in a firm of this size.
Employment work led by a specialist
Employment cases run on short deadlines and their own procedure. Our employment department is led by Laura Cano Gálvez, with more than twenty-five years in practice, rather than being handled between other matters.
Fee arrangements in injury claims
In traffic accident and injury claims we work without a provision of funds: no payment on account for the lawyer, the medical expert or the court agent. If you do not recover, neither do we. In other areas we quote a fee in writing before we start, so you know the figure before you commit.
Areas we work in
- Wills and inheritance, including cross-border estates
- Property purchases, sales and disputes
- Traffic accidents and personal injury
- Employment and permanent disability
- Banking, mortgages and consumer claims
- Divorce, custody and maintenance
- Criminal defence and private prosecution
- Appeals against the administration
Where we act
We act throughout Alicante province, which covers the judicial districts of Alicante, Elche, Torrevieja, Orihuela, Benidorm and Dénia. We have pages in English for the areas where most of our foreign clients are: Torrevieja, Orihuela Costa and Jávea.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to speak Spanish to instruct you?
No. We conduct the matter in English: correspondence, explanations of the procedure and the advice itself. Documents filed at court and signed before a notary are in Spanish because that is what Spanish law requires, and we explain what each one says before you sign it.
Do I have to come to Spain?
Usually not. A power of attorney, signed at a Spanish consulate or before a notary in your own country with an apostille, lets us act for you. Inheritance, property sales and most litigation can be completed this way.
How do I check your bar registration?
The Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Alicante maintains a public register of its members. Ask them to confirm the numbers above, or ask us for a copy of the registration certificate.
What does an initial consultation cost?
We tell you the fee before you commit to anything, and we put it in writing. In traffic accident and injury claims we work without a provision of funds, so the fee comes out of what is recovered.
Talk to us
Tell us what happened and we will tell you where you stand, what the deadline is and what it would cost. Contact us here, or call 654 581 493.