Creditors litigating against Spain over the cut in premiums for renewable energies have intensified their pressure measures to collect compensation recognized in international arbitrations. Opportunistic funds that have acquired the rights of representation and collection in these lawsuits have obtained the green light from the U.S. justice system to track more Spanish assets and goods susceptible to seizure throughout the United States, according to legal sources familiar with these proceedings. Thus, within the framework of the threat to block payments and collections linked to the participation of the Spanish national team in the Football World Cup to be held in the United States, the plaintiffs have warned that they will extend seizure requests to all territories where the national team travels during the tournament.
During the last half of 2025, the District Court of Columbia ―the competent body in the United States to resolve international commercial law disputes― adopted the criterion of the Court of Appeals of that federal district, which a year earlier rejected that Spain enjoyed sovereign immunity to avoid paying the compensations recognized by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) to several renewable investors. The court agreed to initiate the recognition and enforcement proceedings of seven of the 27 awards issued by the World Bank arbitration court, considering that they have the character of a final judgment.
This decision opened the door for the plaintiffs to request the seizure of Spanish assets and goods as a precautionary measure to guarantee the collection of compensations derived from the retroactive cut of premiums to renewables after the 2013 electricity reform.
Faced with the Spanish State’s refusal to satisfy these compensations ―the Spanish defense argues that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has limited the validity of arbitrations between community investors and member states, and that the European Commission must authorize such payments―, investors and opportunistic funds, led by Blasket Renewable Investments, requested the seizure of Spanish assets in several countries, such as the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the Netherlands, to try to secure a debt that currently amounts to more than 1.8 billion euros (2.3 billion if litigation costs and legal and late interests are added).
In this context, the plaintiffs also requested in the United States the judicial requirement of various banking information and contracts (including invoices, receipts, transaction records, account statements, and confirmations of bank transfers) from suppliers of the Spanish national team during the World Cup, which will be held between June 11 and July 19. Among the companies are Adidas, the hotel chains Vision Hospitality and Hilton, or the Baylor School in Chattanooga (Tennessee), whose sports facilities have been chosen as the base camp. In this way, the creditors seek any source of funding susceptible to seizure, such as public subsidies, FIFA funds, and television contracts.
Now, asset tracking can be carried out more broadly after the Columbia justice authorized actions throughout the U.S. territory, and not only in Washington, as stated in a resolution from April 10 consulted by this newspaper. In that ruling, Judge Beryl A. Howell accepted that the Blasket fund register in other U.S. districts the judgment that validates one of the seven registered cases, the one related to the claim of Watkins Holdings and other investors, whose compensation was estimated at 77 million euros.
Sources from the Ministry of Ecological Transition emphasize that these asset location procedures (which in U.S. legal jargon are called the discovery phase) “do not affect Spain’s operations and even less so the Spanish Football Federation, through the Spanish national team, as it is an entity independent of the State.”
Blockades in a dozen districts
Thus, the creditors’ lawyers have already requested the registration of that case in a dozen districts to initiate possible seizure actions in those territories, according to the consulted legal sources. This includes the states where the Spanish national team is scheduled to play or train during the football championship, as well as any other place where Spain has economic or contractual activity. A potential asset to be seized or immobilized as a precautionary measure, the same sources point out, could be the means of transport used by Spanish institutions on official trips to the United States, such as official planes.
In addition to the movements of the Spanish national team, the creditors have focused on an air defense contract signed with the American Raytheon, a subsidiary of RTX, for the supply of four Patriot missile systems, valued at 1.44 billion euros (1.7 billion dollars, at the exchange rate). Sources indicate that the plaintiffs’ legal teams are studying different ways to try to block this operation, announced in December 2025, or intervene in possible advance payments.
Also, with the latest judicial backing in Columbia, opportunistic funds have activated new search orders through organizations such as the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) or The Clearing House Payments Company, the banking association and clearing and settlement company for dollar payments among large financial entities (owned by the largest commercial banks in the country). The creditors seek to access more information about accounts, deposits, transfers, and financial flows processed by the U.S. banking system since November 2021, when the first judicial recognitions of debt against Spain began in the United States.
Spain has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to take on this matter and remove jurisdiction from Columbia in processing the seven renewable awards condemning Spain, whose recognized compensations total more than 600 million euros. Meanwhile, the Spanish State’s defense has requested to halt the seizure requests, but without success. The consulted legal sources point out that they expect the Solicitor General (a figure similar to the Spanish State attorney) to issue his opinion on whether the high court should address this case on May 21. From there, the Supreme Court may request new pleadings from Spain. If that happens, the ruling is expected to be issued after the summer.
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