Anger at Spanish court’s u-turn favoring banks over customers in mortgage tax case

Spain’s Supreme Court is under fire over a major u-turn in which judges decided that clients and not banks should pay a tax on new mortgages, thus overriding a series of crucial rulings tipping the scales in favor of customers in recent weeks.

Catalan president Quim Torra deemed the decision a "scandal" and called on the president of Spain’s General Council of the Judiciary, Carlos Lesmes, to step down. Judges for Democracy, encompassing left-leaning judges from across Spain, also demanded Lesmes’ resignation.

Spanish banks rose in the stock markets on Wednesday, with Banco Santander growing by 3.7%, BBVA by 3%, CaixaBank by 5.3%, and Banc Sabadell by 5.7%.

The 28 judges of the Supreme Court debated the issue for two days. And they decided against favoring clients by a slim majority: 15 voted for customers to pay, while 13 said banks should be the ones to shoulder the duty.