Multigestión Iberia: 20 years of calls over an unpaid debt

Multigestión Iberia is chasing a 20-year-old debt it may no longer be able to claim

A small loan, deliberately left unpaid two decades ago, comes back every few months in the form of a call from different numbers and an email asking to "get in touch urgently to avoid worse consequences." The debtor already warned them he has no intention of paying a single euro and encouraged them to take him to court. They haven't. They keep calling. And that's where the question that really matters begins: when does debt collection turn into phone harassment?

The story has all the ingredients of modern debt collection: an original lender, a debt that changes hands, and a company, **Multigestión Iberia**, that shows up years later demanding what others had written off. The affected man blocks numbers, they rotate them. He answers once and invites them to sue him. They insist by email. It's the script of a standoff played out more on the ground of psychological pressure than in the courts.

Why do they call if the debt can no longer be claimed in court?

The most frequently repeated argument is the **statute of limitations**. To claim a debt through the courts there is a time limit, and once it has passed the creditor can keep asking for the money for years, but can no longer seize assets or take the case to court with any guarantee. The key lies in when and how that period was interrupted: a formal written demand restarts it, a generic email probably doesn't.

Hence the interest of vulture funds. They buy bundles of hard-to-collect debts —precisely because the debtor is insolvent or because the deadline has run out— for a fraction of their face value. Recovering just a part means profit. That's why they offer discounts that look like a bargain and why they insist: the cost of a phone call is negligible compared to the chance of scraping something together.

What can you do against phone harassment from a debt collection company

The most commonly cited route is data protection. A transfer of personal data without the holder's consent falls under the remit of the **AEPD** (Spain's data protection agency), and a revocation letter sent by burofax (a certified fax service) can cut off the flow. Warning that the conversation is being recorded and that GDPR rights will be exercised also works. Several affected people agree that, after that warning, the calls stop.

Blocking entire number ranges —not just the number calling— is another practical measure, as are specific apps to identify and filter collection calls. Some people simply change their number or cancel their landline. And some opt for trolling: pretending to be someone else, saying the account holder died, or forwarding the calls to a third party. Fun, not very effective.

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The underlying question is not whether the debt exists, but whether a company can turn it into an endless call machine. The debtor says he won't pay even if they reduce it to one euro. They, apparently, have no intention of hanging up either.