Spanish banks reached a sectoral agreement last April, allowing customers economically affected by the health crisis to apply for a moratorium on their loan payments (sectoral moratorium).
Among the measures adopted to address the economic effects of the pandemic on particularly vulnerable groups, Royal Decree-Laws 8/2020 and 11/2020 established the possibility for individuals affected by the crisis, who meet certain requirements, to apply for a three-month moratorium on their mortgage and non-mortgage loan payments (legal moratorium).
The sectoral moratorium agreed upon by Spanish banks complements the legal moratorium established by the Government, extending the payment deferral period and broadening the group of potential beneficiaries.
The sectoral moratorium allows for the deferral of the capital portion of the loan payment for a period of up to 12 months for mortgage loans and up to 6 months for personal loans. It is available to individuals who are loan holders and have been economically affected by unemployment, a temporary employment regulation file (ERTE), a cessation or reduction of their economic activity, or other equivalent circumstances as a result of COVID-19.
As of April 30, banks associated with the AEB had received 113,058 moratorium applications under the sectoral moratorium framework, a significant portion of which are currently being processed. The number of moratoriums already granted under the sectoral agreements amounted to 51,626 loan operations on that date, with an outstanding principal of 3.355 billion euros. Of this figure, 26,346 are mortgage loans with an outstanding principal of 3.018 billion euros, and 25,280 are personal loans with an outstanding principal of 337 million euros.
