Up to now if you couldn't pay your mortgage in Spain you had three months and then the bank would start proceedings to embargo (Repossess) your property. The process would usually take around a year and at the end of the year when nobody bought it at auction because of the debt on the property, original mortgage debt plus around 35% costs on top, the bank would adjudicate it to themselves at 50% of mortgage value, sell it onto an investor, usually another financial institution, and then start the process of recouping the money from you for the rest of time, they could embargo a percentage of your wages above 648 Euros per month.