International creditors affected by the retroactive cuts to renewable energy premiums approved by the Government of Spain have put the Diana in Spain’s participation in the Soccer World Cup which starts next June 11 at the Azteca stadium in Mexico City.
“Any type of operation that you perform Spain in the framework of its participation in the World Cup will be followed and susceptible to possible seizure“, indicate sources close to the litigants, consulted by LA RAZÓN.
“Any operation by Spain in the World Cup will be subject to embargo”
The new favorable resolutions in different US jurisdictions have rearmed the legal strategy of the affected funds, which has now entered a new phase. The creditors have free way to move to the offensive in the United Stateswhere the record up seven awards and the recognition of them as fully enforceable sentences opens the door to procedural mechanisms aimed at identify, locate and seize, If necessary, assets of the Spanish State.
“Let’s monitor the entire operation to the centimeter (in the World Cup) because there are already seven sentences pending payment,” warn the same sources.
Spain will begin its participation in the World Cup organized by the three North American nations (Mexico, the United States and Canada) on June 15. It so happens that the first two matches of the National Team in the group stage – against Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia – were held in the United States, at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta (Georgia).
For this first phase, Spain will concentrate on the American city of Chattanoogain Tennessee. The seat of Hamilton County, it is a quiet town with a population of just 190,000 inhabitants and is located next to the Tennessee River and the mythical Lookout Mountain.
Luis de la Fuente’s team will stay at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Chattanooga Downtown and the Baylor School facilities will be used as a training center. High-performance sports facilities, ranked among the best in the United States.
The rest of Spain’s participation – which will play the third match against Uruguay in Guadalajara, capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco – will depend on the position it reaches, although the chances of it continuing playing in the United States are hugesince this venue will host the vast majority of the meetings.
In fact, if Spain is first in its group it will play in Los Angeles and Miamiif she comes second. If she finishes third in group H, the options are more open.
If they pass as first or second in the group and surpass the round of 32, the National Team would play in the round of 16 in Atlanta or Dallas. Kansas City and, again, Los Angeleswould be next if they reached the quarterfinals. The semifinals will be held in Dallas and Atlanta. And the final will be held on July 19 at the Stadium New York-New Jersey.
With these prospects, in which the National Team would play almost all the games in the United States, the possibilities that the threat of renewable creditors will be fulfilled increase.
Spain has accumulated seven cases in which the plaintiff companies have obtained favorable resolutions in the United States: 9REN (44 million euros), Cube (40.2 million), Watkins (79.5 million), Infrastructure Services/Antin (125.1 million), RREEF (74 million), InfraRed (35 million), NextEra (290.6 million).
In total, The debt with these companies amounts to 688.4 millionan amount that grows as late payment interest accumulates.
All these disputes were settled by the Federal Court of the D.C.. After asserting their criteria in court, the creditors are now in a position to communicate that they have requested judicial authorization to register the awards in other additional federal districts, including the Southern District of New Yorkwhere it is considered that there could be assets susceptible to seizure.
The objective is to facilitate enforcement measures aimed at compensating companies that continue to suffer losses as a result of Spain’s failure to comply with its obligations.
Within the framework of this new phase, formal asset discovery procedures (discovery orders) have been initiated and judicial requests (subpoenas) have been issued to various private entities that provide services to the Kingdom of Spain, as well as public organizations linked to the State. These actions seek to identify contractual relationships, payment flows, bank accounts and other assets located in the United States jurisdiction that may be seized.
The creditors warn that the requirements have been directed not only at financial institutions, companies in which the Spanish State has a stake, public entities of the Kingdom with operations in the United States or even societies involved in participation in the World Cup.
The proceedings seek to locate whether there are rights of the Spanish State located in the United States that may be subject to enforcement, common measures in international enforcement procedures when a debtor continues to ignore an arbitration award that has already been recognized by competent courts.
The debt exceeds 2,302 million euros
In mid-March 2026, the accumulated debt of the Kingdom of Spain with its creditors around the world already exceeded 2,302 million euros, of which 1,754.7 million correspond to compensation pending payment and 538.3 million to judicial and financial extra costs associated with execution procedures.
Given this situation, execution initiatives are taking place on all continents, from Europe to Asia-Pacific. In Belgium, The courts have authorized several seizure proceedings related to the non-payment of the award in the OperaFund case, which has caused the blockage of 482 million of euros in payment flows that the European air navigation body Eurocontrol had to transfer to Enairits Spanish counterpart.
For its part, the British Supreme Court issued a harsh ruling a few weeks ago that rejects the latest arguments presented by Spain and settles once and for all the dispute in the Infrastructure Services case (101 million euros of pending compensation, to which almost 27 million must be added in late payment interest). It is important to emphasize that, after the publication of the ruling, the British judiciary has set a 8% interest rate for the calculation of the late payment interest that can accumulate in the event that non-payments persist.
This can mean an annual extra cost of 150 million euros, if Spain fails to block the executions or reach an agreement with creditors.
In Asia, the High Court of Singapore last February it registered the award corresponding to the NextEra case, formally recognizing a debt of 290 million euros from Spain to the American company.
Likewise, in August 2025 the Federal Court of Australia ordered the execution of four awards – RREEF, 9REN, Watkins and NextEra – for a combined value of €469 million.