1. Two Forms of Exclusion in Spain

A. Access Exclusion - Geographical and Digital
After 2008 crisis, Spain lost 56% of bank branches - from 46,000 in 2008 to ∼19,000 in 2023. Banco de España Occasional Paper 2215 (July 2022) found:

Population in sparsely populated rural inland municipalities in Castile-Leon, Aragon and Castile-La Mancha has the lowest coverage in terms of in-person access to banking services, whether through branches, ATMs or alternative arrangements. This has resulted in increase in risk of financial exclusion.

Second form: digital exclusion of elderly. In 2022, 78-year-old Carlos San Juan launched campaign "Soy mayor, no idiota - I'm old, not stupid" with 600k signatures. It forced banks to act.

B. Product Exclusion - Abusive Terms pushing people out of financial system

2. Legal Framework Against Exclusion

EU Level:

• Directive 2014/92/EU - Payment Accounts Directive (PAD) Art 16: Right to access payment account with basic features. Guarantees all EU consumers, irrespective of credit record, access to basic account
• Directive 93/13/EEC on Unfair Terms
• Commission Recommendation 2011/442/EU - intended to respond where potential customers unable to open account because denied possibility

Spanish Transposition:

• Real Decreto-ley 19/2017, 24 Noviembre on basic payment accounts. All consumers who do not have another payment account in Spain are entitled to access a basic payment account. Banks cannot refuse based on employment status, income, credit history.
• Price capped: max 3€/month, free for vulnerable persons defined by IPREM income threshold.
• Ley 4/2022 de protección de consumidores vulnerables: forces coordination with banks to favour inclusion of most vulnerable, especially elderly. Seeks to improve accessibility of ATMs, prevent closure of ATMs when branch closes
• Protocolo Estratégico 21 Feb 2022 signed by AEB, CECA, UNACC at Ministry of Economy with VP Nadia Calviño: commitment to guarantee face-to-face services in all municipalities, via mobile branches, Correos Cash - postmen deliver cash in rural areas, extended cashier hours.

Ethical principle: Banco de España says banks are obliged to offer basic account and inform about it - it is a way of promoting financial inclusion.

3. Landmark Case Laws

A. Foundation Case - Access to Justice for Excluded Debtors

CJEU C-415/11 - Mohamed Aziz v Caixa d'Estalvis de Catalunya (2013) - The most cited Spanish financial exclusion case in EU law

Facts: Moroccan-born construction worker in Martorell (Barcelona) took €138,000 mortgage in 2007. Clause 6: annual default interest 18.75%, unilateral early maturity, unilateral quantification of debt. After default, bank claimed €139,674 + €41,902 default interest. Spanish procedural law at that time did NOT allow judge in enforcement (ejecución hipotecaria) to stop eviction to examine unfair terms.

Ruling: CJEU held Spanish law breached Directive 93/13. National court must be able to assess unfair terms and grant interim relief - stay eviction.

Impact: Led to Ley 1/2013 reforming Civil Procedure to protect mortgage debtors, with attention to vulnerable categories. This created the doctrine that procedural exclusion = substantive exclusion.

B. Abusive Terms that Create Economic Exclusion

These cases are litigated as financial exclusion because they push consumers into over-indebtedness:

1. Tribunal Supremo STS 241/2013 (9 May 2013) - Cláusula Suelo

Floor clauses in variable mortgages. Supreme Court declared them abusive when lack of transparency, despite being legal. Banks hid that even if Euribor falls, client never benefits. ∼1.5 million families affected. Ordered retroactive restitution after CJEU C-154/15, C-307/19.

Ethical breach: Information asymmetry excluding low-financial-literacy consumers from market benefits.

2. TJUE 5 Feb 2015 - Late-payment interest clause as abusive

Spanish Act 1/2013 provided that if late-payment interest > 3x legal interest, it must be capped. CJEU held that exclusion without reduction of late-payment interest clause qualified as abusive.

3. Tribunal Supremo STS 149/2020 - Tarjetas Revolving y Usura

Revolving cards with TAE 24-27%. Supreme Court applied Ley de Represión de la Usura 1908: interest notably higher than normal market = usury. Null contract. Protects low-income consumers trapped in perpetual debt.

C. Right to Basic Account - Refusal Cases

Juzgado de Primera Instancia litigation under RD 19/2017:
Banks refusing account to migrants, asylum seekers, homeless, arguing no fixed address or lack of NIE. Courts in Barcelona and Madrid (e.g., JPI Madrid 2020) ruled refusal based on "commercial policy" illegal - must offer Cuenta de Pago Básica. Only legal grounds for refusal: already has account in Spain, non-compliance with AML/KYC, or prior fraud.

EU Commission infringed Spain in 2017 for not transposing PAD on time: AGENCE EUROPE - Spain still not guaranteeing access to basic bank account... Spain will have to explain to CJEU why not implemented directive 2014/92, in force since Sept 2016, which authorises any person residing legally in EU to hold basic account at reasonable cost

D. Discrimination Cases

CJEU C-389/20 - CJ v TGSS (2022) and C-113/22 - TGSS (Refusal of maternity supplement):
While about Social Security, used to challenge financial exclusion of domestic workers (90% women) excluded from unemployment protection. Court found indirect discrimination. Same logic applied to bank refusal to open accounts for domestic workers without indefinite contract.

4. Ethical Framework - Why Spanish Courts Treat This as Ethics

Spanish Constitutional Court (STC 124/2021) links Art 51 CE (consumer protection) + Art 14 equality + EU Charter Art 38. Financial exclusion violates:

1. Principle of Universal Service: Like electricity, access to cash and basic account is essential service in 2022 Protocol.
2. Non-discrimination: Refusal based on age (digital-only), residence (rural), income = indirect discrimination under Ley 4/2022.
3. Duty of Responsible Lending: Art 29 Ley 5/2019 (LCCI) - bank must assess solvency; lending to exclude from start (knowing they cannot pay) is unethical and void.

5. Remedies Today in Spain

If excluded:

• Reclamación to Banco de España - Servicio de Reclamaciones: Must respond in 1 month for basic account denial.
• Demand for Cuenta de Pago Básica: Any entity designated (banks must inform), cap €3.
• Acción de nulidad por cláusula abusiva: No prescription for unfair terms.
• Colectivo: Associations like ADICAE litigate collective actions.

In short, Spain moved from "banking is a privilege" to "basic banking is a right" after 2013 Aziz and 2022 elderly movement. The case law is the strongest in EU on abusive mortgages, and is now expanding to rural/age discrimination.