De Castro placed the airline’s case in context by beginning his talk with a discussion of the key aspects of insolvency proceedings. “In terms of basic objectives, the first is to enable the company to continue operating, and the second is to service the debts of all the creditors”, he said. 

“However, the problem with insolvency proceedings is that when a company finds itself in such a situation, the banks refuse to lend them money and suppliers refuse to deal with them because they don't pay on time", the judge continued. “That’s why, in my opinion, businesses shouldn’t wait so long before declaring themselves bankrupt. It’s too risky to think that future investments will make the company solvent again or sort out its problems”.   

After he had discussed the key aspects of insolvency proceedings, de Castro moved on to the specific case of the Spanish airline Spanair. “The Spanair case involved battles on many fronts”, he said, indicating that the company declared itself bankrupt in 2012 and that he himself had presided over the case in Commercial Court No. 10 in Barcelona. 

De Castro then explained how the case progressed and how the decision was made to declare the airline bankrupt. “In short, the company should have declared itself bankrupt on 30 June 2011", he concluded. 

The talk was held in the UIC Barcelona’s Graduate Hall and formed part of the framework of the continuous education lecture series organized throughout the school year by the Faculty of Law. The aim of the series is to enable students to gain firsthand knowledge from renowned professionals about new trends and requirements in the legal sector.