Article 257 [source]

Spanish Criminal Code
English translation

1. The following shall be punished with imprisonment for one to four years and a fine of twelve to twenty-four months:

1. Anyone who absconds with their assets to the detriment of their creditors.

2. Anyone who, with the same aim, carries out any act of asset disposal or creates obligations that delays, hinders, or prevents the effectiveness of an attachment or an enforcement or collection proceeding, whether judicial, extrajudicial, or administrative, initiated or foreseeably to be initiated.

2. The same penalty shall be imposed on anyone who carries out acts of disposal, incurs obligations that diminish their assets, or conceals by any means elements of their assets against which enforcement could be carried out, with the aim of evading the payment of civil liabilities arising from a crime they have committed or for which they are liable.

3. The provisions of this article shall apply regardless of the nature or origin of the obligation or debt whose satisfaction or payment is being evaded, including workers' economic rights, and regardless of whether the creditor is a private individual or any legal entity, public or private.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the debt or obligation to be evaded is governed by public law and the creditor is a public legal entity, or if it involves pecuniary obligations arising from the commission of an offense against the Public Treasury or Social Security, the penalty shall be imprisonment for one to six years and a fine of twelve to twenty-four months.

4. The penalties provided for in this article shall be increased by half in the cases provided for in paragraphs 5 or 6 of section 1 of Article 250.

5. This offense shall be prosecuted even if insolvency proceedings are initiated after its commission.