The CIRBE threshold is €1,000 per institution
Risk reports include transactions from institutions declaring accumulated exposure of €1,000 or more. For periods before January 2021 the threshold was €9,000, so a small old debt may not appear.
Services · CIRBE
CIRBE: everything the banks know about your debts, in a single document
The CIRBE is the Bank of Spain register where every lender declares how much credit you hold. It is free, it is yours, and almost nobody asks for it until a bank says no. We help you obtain it, understand it and correct it if something is wrong.
Administrative assistance service. General information, not individualised legal advice.
What it actually is
The Bank of Spain’s Central Credit Register (CIR, known as CIRBE) records the loans, credit lines, cards, guarantees and other exposures that financial institutions declare in your name. It is governed by Bank of Spain Circular 1/2013 of 24 May.
And what it is NOT: it is not a defaulters’ list
This is the most widespread confusion. The CIRBE is not a defaulters’ file: it does not record missed payments, it records debt. Appearing on it is entirely normal — if you have a mortgage, you are on it. What a bank reads there is not “this client does not pay” but “this client already owes this much”. That is why it matters to know what it says before applying for credit.
What appears in your report
1
Transactions from €1,000 of accumulated exposure per institution. That threshold applies from January 2021; in reports for earlier periods it was €9,000, so a small old debt may not appear.
2
Direct and indirect exposure. Indirect is the one nobody expects: if you guaranteed someone else’s loan, your name is there. Many people discover in their CIRBE a guarantee they had forgotten — or never understood they had signed.
3
Two formats: the detailed report, identifying every institution and transaction, and the aggregate one, giving balances by product type without naming banks. For working on your case, the detailed one is what serves.
When you will need it
- Before applying for a mortgage or loan, to know what the bank will see before it sees it.
- If you have been refused credit without being told why.
- To rebuild your full list of creditors — the first document of any fresh-start insolvency file.
- To check whether you are still recorded as someone’s guarantor.
- After paying off a debt, to verify the lender has actually reported it.
How to request it (and the cost: none)
1
Online, with a digital certificate or Cl@ve, through the Bank of Spain’s electronic office: the answer arrives in about fifteen minutes on a working day.
2
By post, with the official form FDU-031 signed and a copy of your identity document.
3
In person, by appointment at a Bank of Spain office.
The maximum resolution period is ten working days. A representative holding a notarial power of attorney and the heirs of a deceased person may also request it, providing evidence of their status.
See the full guide: how to get your CIRBE report step by step
If there is an error, it can be corrected
Here is the nuance that decides the outcome: the claim is not addressed to your bank — it goes to the Bank of Spain. It is free, filed on form FDU-030 stating which data is inaccurate or incomplete, and the Bank forwards it immediately to the institution that declared it. The institution has fifteen working days to reply and report the correction — or justify its refusal — to you and to the register itself. If it stays silent or refuses, an individual can complain to the Spanish Data Protection Agency; for companies, rectification through the institution takes twenty working days. Drafting that claim properly is half the work.
Guide: how to correct an error in your CIRBE report, step by step
How we help
- Obtaining the detailed report, electronically or as your authorised representative if you would rather not wrestle with the digital certificate.
- Translating it into plain language: what each code means, which institution declared what, and what you actually still owe.
- Preparing the rectification claim when something does not add up, and following it until the record changes.
- Using it as the starting point if your situation points towards Spain’s fresh-start insolvency law. See the fresh-start insolvency law · Get a digital certificate
CIRBE: frequently asked questions
What is the CIRBE and who appears on it?
It is the Bank of Spain’s Central Credit Register: a public service where lenders declare each person’s loans, credit lines, cards and guarantees from €1,000 of accumulated exposure per institution. It is not a defaulters’ list: you are on it for holding credit, not for owing overdue debt — if you have a mortgage, you are on it, and that is normal.
How much does the CIRBE report cost and how long does it take?
Nothing — it is free by law. Online, with a Spanish digital certificate or Cl@ve, it usually arrives within about fifteen minutes on a working day; whichever channel you use, the Bank of Spain must deliver it within ten working days at most.
What if I cannot request it online, or the system will not let me?
There are three ways out. By post, sending the official FDU-031 form signed together with a copy of your ID. In person, by appointment at a Bank of Spain office. Or through a representative with a notarial power of attorney who requests it for you — that is part of our service, designed precisely for people without a Spanish digital certificate or living abroad.
Who can see my CIRBE file?
Only declaring institutions and mortgage credit intermediaries, and only in two cases: if you already hold a risk with them or if you have applied to them for credit — and in that case they must inform you in writing that they are going to consult it. The information is confidential and cannot be passed on; the only public exposures are those of public administrations.
How do I correct an error on my CIRBE report?
By writing to the Bank of Spain — not to your bank — using the free FDU-030 form. The Bank forwards it immediately to the institution that declared the data, which has fifteen working days to correct it or justify its refusal. If it stays silent or refuses, you can turn to the Spanish Data Protection Agency. We prepare and follow that claim until the record changes.
News and official notices
Updated daily from official sources (BOE, ministries and public bodies).
The Bank of Spain cannot amend the data on its own
The Central Credit Register does not own the debt: only the reporting institution can amend what it declared. The request is addressed in writing to the Bank of Spain (free form FDU-030), which forwards it immediately to the institution; the institution must reply to you and to the register itself within fifteen working days, justifying any refusal. If it stays silent or refuses, individuals can complain to the Spanish Data Protection Agency. Companies may also apply directly to the institution, which has twenty working days.