Basque Court Cancels €11,300 Debt Over Bilbao Registry Error

The Basque Superior Court of Justice has annulled the claim for €11,326.81 that Lanbide (the Basque Public Employment Service) made against a Bilbao shopkeeper for receiving Guaranteed Income (RGI) during a period when, according to data cross-checks, she was not registered as a resident. The woman proved with rent receipts, self-employed contributions, and bank documents that she lived continuously in the capital of Biscay.

The problem started with a municipal procedure. The Bilbao City Council removed this shopkeeper from the municipal register ex officio in June 2022 for failing to confirm her registration, a step she argued did not apply to her due to her Romanian nationality. This administrative removal created a gap in residency records that lasted until March 2024.

## The data cross-check that triggered the claim

In December 2024, the Basque Employment Service detected this gap through telematic data cross-checks with local administration. Lanbide then informed the beneficiary and asked for residence certificates in case she had lived in another municipality in the Basque Country. She submitted objections with bank receipts for rent payments to prove she had lived uninterruptedly at the same address in Bilbao.

Lanbide decided to maintain her Guaranteed Income but demanded repayment of **€11,326.81**. The woman filed an appeal arguing that the registry removal responded to a non-compliance not attributable to her due to her nationality. The agency dismissed her arguments and agreed to deduct **€398.20** per month from her benefit until the debt was settled.

## What the court considered proven

The affected party took the case to court, where she provided documentation proving her effective residence. She had been registered in the business census since **2019**, engaged in retail trade of seeds and fertilizers, and had paid self-employed contributions throughout the disputed period. She also presented the postal certificate for the notification of the registry removal, which did not show as delivered on the receipt.

Both the Social Court ruling and the Basque Superior Court of Justice decision, where Lanbide appealed, recognize that the affected party carried out sufficient evidentiary activity regarding her residency in the Basque Country through rent payments, self-employed contributions, and business census registration. The courts understand there was no participation by the beneficiary in the error nor any malicious or fraudulent conduct.

## Why ex officio registry removal matters

Ex officio removal from the municipal register is a municipal action taken when registration is not confirmed or update requests are ignored. For RGI beneficiaries, this procedure has direct consequences: Lanbide verifies residency in the Basque Country through the register, and a removal can be interpreted as moving outside the community.

This case shows that effective residence can be proven through other means when the registry fails. Rent receipts, self-employed contributions, census registrations, and bank movements served to dismantle a claim exceeding **€11,000**. The ruling does not question the obligation to be registered, but rather establishes that proof of real life in the municipality prevails over erroneous administrative data.