How to send a burofax in Spain to get your deposit back

If you have been reading about how to claim your deposit in Spain, one word keeps coming up: burofax. It sounds like a fax machine from 1994, and understandably nobody outside Spain has heard of it. But it is the single most useful tool you have when a landlord is refusing to return your money, and this guide explains exactly what it is and how to send one without getting it wrong.

What is a burofax, exactly?

A burofax is a certified letter sent through the Spanish postal service that legally proves two things: what you sent, and that it was delivered. That combination is what gives it teeth.

A normal email or WhatsApp can be ignored and later denied. A burofax cannot. Once it is sent and delivered, there is an official record that your landlord received a formal demand for your deposit on a specific date, containing specific words. That record is accepted in Spanish courts, which is why a burofax is the standard, expected first formal step in almost any dispute here, not just deposits.

Why it works so well for deposit disputes

Two reasons, one legal and one psychological.

The legal reason: it creates the paper trail you will need if the case ever goes to court. Judges expect to see that you formally demanded the money before escalating. The burofax is that demand.

The psychological reason, which is honestly the one that gets most deposits paid: it changes how the landlord sees you. A tenant sending informal messages is easy to ignore. A tenant sending a properly drafted burofax is clearly someone who understands the Spanish system and is prepared to use it. Landlords who happily ghost a WhatsApp tend to pay up fast when a certified legal demand lands, because the game they were counting on just stopped working.

How to send one yourself, step by step

1. Choose your sending service

The classic route is Correos, the Spanish post office, which offers burofax both in branch and online. There are also private certified services. What matters is that the service provides certified proof of content and delivery. A standard courier like DHL or MRW does not count for this.

2. Write it in Spanish

This is not optional. The document must be in Spanish. A landlord can plausibly claim they did not understand a letter written in English, which weakens the whole thing. It also needs to read like a proper formal demand, with the correct structure and legal register, not a translated complaint.

3. Include the right content

A deposit burofax should clearly identify you and the landlord, reference the tenancy and the property, state the deposit amount, demand its return in full, cite the relevant law, and give a firm deadline (typically around ten days). Vague or emotional wording undercuts it.

4. Request the certificación de texto

5. Send it to the correct address and keep everything

Send it to the landlord's or agency's valid postal address. Keep every receipt and certificate you get back. That paperwork is your proof.

The mistakes that make a burofax useless

Plenty of people spend the money and still end up with a letter that does nothing. The usual reasons:

• Writing it in English. Gives the landlord an easy out.
• Skipping the certificación de texto. You prove delivery but not contents.
• Using a normal courier instead of a certified service. No legal proof.
• Sending it to the wrong address, so it never counts as delivered.
• A weak or vague demand that reads like a complaint rather than a formal legal request.

Any one of these can quietly sink an otherwise strong case.

What does a burofax cost?

Sending one yourself through Correos online typically runs in the region of €25, and sometimes less depending on the options you choose. That is the sending cost only. It does not include knowing what to write, how to write it in correct legal Spanish, or what to do when the deadline passes and the landlord still stalls.

The done-for-you option

If reading the list of ways to get this wrong made you slightly nervous, that is the honest reality of it. The burofax is powerful, but only if it is drafted correctly, in Spanish, with the right content, sent the right way. That is precisely the part most expats cannot safely do alone.