The 1985 LOPJ establishes the following points of connection in order for the Courts to have jurisdictional authority:
- Defendant is resident in Spain
- Both parties are residents in Spain
- Plaintiff is Spanish and resident in Spain
- Both parties are Spanish regardless of country of residence
If the defendant is non-resident, the Courts are more likely than not to order a stay of proceedings (save point of connection three). A Spanish Supreme Court ruling (auto TS 3 Feb.1.986) denied competence to Spanish tribunals where the defendant was a resident in the United States.
However, both parties are free to choose the Spanish jurisdiction to decide a matter of divorce, either by expressly agreeing the submission or one party filing for divorce and the other party tacitly accepting the competence of Spanish tribunals.
