Criminal Defence Lawyer in Madrid: Representation Before Plaza de Castilla Courts and the Audiencia Nacional

Alonso Sala is a criminal defense law firm specializing exclusively in criminal law. Located at Calle Velázquez 27, in the Salamanca District, our team provides technical defense before the criminal judicial bodies of the capital: investigating and criminal courts at Plaza de Castilla, the Provincial Court of Madrid, and — in matters where it has jurisdiction — the Audiencia Nacional.

At Alonso Sala we dedicate ourselves exclusively to criminal law. This exclusive specialisation allows us to offer technical depth and jurisprudential currency focused on resolving complex criminal cases.

Our continued dedication to the Madrid forum allows us to maintain up-to-date knowledge of how the investigating courts, the different sections of the Provincial Court, and proceedings before the Audiencia Nacional operate.

Our criminal defense firm covers the full spectrum of Spanish criminal law, with particular recognition in the following practice areas:

• White-collar crime: tax offenses, money laundering, corporate fraud, punishable insolvency, criminal compliance, and corporate criminal liability.
• Sexual offenses: sexual assault, sexual harassment, child pornography, human trafficking. Defense under Spain's consent-based law.
• Crimes against persons: homicide, murder, serious injury, domestic violence, threats, and coercion.
• Property crimes: robbery, theft, misappropriation, criminal damage, receiving stolen goods.
• Drug trafficking: domestic trafficking, international trafficking, cannabis cultivation, criminal organizations.
• Document forgery: public, private, and commercial documents, use of forged documents.
• Road safety offenses: DUI, drug driving, reckless driving, test refusal, unlicensed driving.
• Cybercrime: hacking, phishing, ransomware, digital secrets disclosure, online child pornography.

As criminal lawyers based in Madrid, we appear regularly before the criminal jurisdictional bodies in the capital and the Community of Madrid:

Madrid Investigating Courts (Plaza de Castilla): 51 courts that investigate crimes committed in the capital. Here initial hearings take place, pretrial detention decisions are made, and the entire investigation phase is conducted.

Madrid Criminal Courts: 30 courts that try crimes carrying sentences up to 5 years imprisonment. Here most trials for property crimes, road safety offenses, injuries, threats, and minor fraud take place.

Provincial Court of Madrid: 28 criminal sections that try crimes carrying sentences exceeding 5 years. Here homicides, serious sexual assaults, aggravated drug trafficking, and major white-collar crimes are tried.

Audiencia Nacional (Madrid): exclusive jurisdiction over terrorism, international drug trafficking, complex money laundering, and major corruption cases.

In criminal law, the first hours after arrest are the most critical. A poorly oriented statement at the police station can irredeemably compromise all subsequent defense.

When a client (or their family) calls 91 078 65 74, an Alonso Sala criminal lawyer will travel to the relevant Madrid police station as promptly as possible, depending on traffic, location and availability. If the initial assistance is provided by a Madrid Bar Association duty lawyer, we formally take over the defense as soon as we are contacted.

Detained person assistance includes:

• Private consultation before the police statement to understand the facts and design the declaratory strategy.
• Right to remain silent advice: in many cases, the best initial defense is not to declare at the police station and reserve the statement for the court.
• Presence during the police statement to ensure the detainee's rights are upheld.
• Judicial hearing preparation: if the detainee is brought before a judge (generally within 24-48h), we prepare the defense for the first hearing where liberty, bail conditions, or pretrial detention will be decided.