Spanish Criminal Code by Article

An English-language guide to the Spanish Criminal Code, article by article, prepared by Société Juridique for foreign nationals involved in criminal proceedings in Spain. Each entry sets out a working translation of the provision as currently in force, the sentencing range, the elements the prosecution must prove and the defence arguments the firm advances in practice.

The English guide is complete and covers all 168 provisions available in Spanish. The complete Spanish repertory, which reproduces the authoritative text verbatim, is at Código Penal por artículos.

The general part: criminal liability and sentencing

• Article 5. The culpability principle
• Article 11. Commission by Omission
• Article 14. Mistake of Fact and Mistake of Law
• Article 16. Attempt and Voluntary Withdrawal
• Article 20. Grounds excluding criminal liability
• Article 21. Mitigating circumstances
• Article 22. Aggravating circumstances
• Article 28. Principals, Inducers and Necessary Cooperators
• Article 29. Accomplices
• Article 31. Acting on behalf of another
• Article 31 bis. Criminal liability of legal persons
• Article 33. Classification of penalties
• Article 48. Restraining orders
• Article 57. Court-ordered bans
• Article 62. Sentencing for attempts
• Article 66. Rules for the application of the penalty
• Article 74. Continuing Offence
• Article 76. Maximum effective term of accumulated sentences
• Article 77. Single Act Constituting Several Offences
• Article 80. Suspension of the execution of custodial sentences
• Article 87. Remission of suspended sentences
• Article 89. Expulsion in substitution for imprisonment
• Article 90. Suspension of the remainder of the sentence and release on licence
• Article 95. Requirements for the imposition of security measures
• Article 109. Compensation for harm
• Article 116. Civil Liability Arising from an Offence
• Article 117. Insurers’ direct liability
• Article 120. Subsidiary civil liability
• Article 127. Confiscation of Proceeds and Instrumentalities
• Article 130. Extinction of criminal liability
• Article 131. Limitation Periods for Offences
• Article 132. Running of limitation periods
• Article 136. Cancellation of Criminal Records

Homicide, bodily harm and moral integrity

• Article 138. Homicide
• Article 139. Murder
• Article 142. Death by Negligence and Fatal Road Accidents
• Article 143. Assisted suicide and euthanasia
• Article 147. Bodily harm
• Article 148. Aggravated Bodily Harm
• Article 149. Serious Bodily Harm: Loss of an Organ or Function
• Article 152. Bodily Harm Caused by Negligence
• Article 153. Assault and minor injury in the domestic context
• Article 173. Degrading Treatment and Habitual Domestic Violence
• Article 174. Torture by public officials
• Article 195. Failure to Render Assistance

Liberty, sexual freedom and the protection of minors

• Article 163. Unlawful Detention
• Article 164. Kidnapping
• Article 167. Unlawful detention by public officials and enforced disappearance
• Article 169. Threats
• Article 171. Conditional threats, blackmail and threats within the family
• Article 172 ter. Stalking and the use of the image of another
• Article 172. Coercion
• Article 177 bis. Trafficking in human beings
• Article 178. Sexual Assault and the Consent Standard
• Article 179. Rape and Sexual Assault with Penetration
• Article 180. Aggravated sexual assault
• Article 181. Sexual acts with a child under sixteen years of age
• Article 187. Coercive determination to prostitution and profiting from its exploitation
• Article 189. Child pornography and exhibitionist shows involving minors

Privacy, reputation and unlawful entry

• Article 197. Disclosure of secrets and offences against privacy
• Article 197 bis. Unlawful access to information systems and interception of data
• Article 199. Breach of Professional Secrecy
• Article 202. Unlawful Entry into a Dwelling
• Article 203. Breaking into business premises
• Article 204. Unlawful entry by officials
• Article 205. Calumny
• Article 208. Insult
• Article 211. Publicity in libel and slander
• Article 245. Squatting and Unlawful Occupation of Property

Family relations

• Article 223. Failure to hand over a minor in custody
• Article 225 bis. Parental Child Abduction
• Article 226. Abandonment of Family
• Article 227. Non-Payment of Maintenance

Property and the socio-economic order

• Article 234. Theft
• Article 235. Aggravated theft
• Article 237. Robbery: the concept
• Article 238. Robbery with Force in Things
• Article 240. Penalty for robbery with force
• Article 241. Robbery in an inhabited house or premises open to the public
• Article 242. Robbery with Violence or Intimidation
• Article 243. Extortion
• Article 244. Taking a motor vehicle for use
• Article 248. Fraud: the Basic Offence
• Article 249. Computer Fraud and Fraudulent Use of Payment Instruments
• Article 250. Aggravated Fraud
• Article 251. Fraudulent disposal of property and simulated contracts
• Article 252. Unfair Administration
• Article 253. Misappropriation
• Article 255. Fraudulent use of electricity, gas, water and telecommunications
• Article 257. Frustration of Enforcement and Asset Stripping
• Article 258. False or incomplete statement of assets in enforcement proceedings
• Article 263. Criminal Damage to Property
• Article 264. Damage to Computer Data and Systems
• Article 267. Criminal damage by negligence
• Article 268. Family Exemption for Property Offences
• Article 270. Offences against intellectual property
• Article 274. Counterfeit Goods and Trade Mark Offences
• Article 278. Discovery of trade secrets
• Article 282. False advertising
• Article 286 bis. Bribery in the private sector
• Article 290. False Company Accounts
• Article 293. Denial of a Shareholder’s Rights
• Article 298. Handling stolen goods
• Article 301. Money Laundering
• Article 302. Aggravated money laundering and liability of legal persons

Public revenue, social security and workers’ rights

• Article 305. Tax fraud
• Article 305 bis. Aggravated tax fraud
• Article 307. Social security fraud
• Article 308. Subsidy and public aid fraud
• Article 310. Accounting offences against the public revenue
• Article 311. Offences against the rights of workers
• Article 312. Unlawful trafficking in labour
• Article 316. Failure to Provide Workplace Safety Measures
• Article 317. Negligent offences against workplace safety
• Article 318. Labour offences: who answers
• Article 318 bis. Facilitating Illegal Immigration

Planning and the environment

• Article 319. Unlawful Building and Planning Offences
• Article 320. Planning Offences by Public Officials
• Article 325. Environmental Offences
• Article 331. Negligent offences against protected flora and fauna
• Article 340 bis. Animal cruelty

Public safety and road traffic

• Article 351. Arson endangering life or physical integrity
• Article 352. Forest fires
• Article 368. Drug trafficking
• Article 369. Aggravated Drug Trafficking
• Article 370. Extreme gravity in drug trafficking offences
• Article 379. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• Article 380. Reckless Driving Endangering Life
• Article 381. Driving with Manifest Disregard for Life
• Article 382. Concurrence of Road Safety Offences with Injury or Death
• Article 382 bis. Leaving the Scene of an Accident
• Article 383. Refusal to submit to breath or drug testing
• Article 384. Driving Without a Valid Licence

Forgery and false documents

• Article 390. Forgery of public documents by officials
• Article 392. Forgery of Documents by a Private Individual
• Article 395. Forgery of a private document
• Article 399 bis. Forgery of payment instruments
• Article 401. Usurpation of Civil Status
• Article 402. Unlawful Exercise of Public Functions
• Article 403. Unlawful practice of a profession

Offences in public office

• Article 404. Prevarication by Public Officials
• Article 410. Refusal by Officials to Comply with Judicial Decisions
• Article 417. Disclosure of official secrets
• Article 419. Bribery: Acts Contrary to Official Duty
• Article 420. Bribery for a Proper Act of Office
• Article 422. Bribery: Gifts in Consideration of Office
• Article 424. Active bribery
• Article 428. Improper Influence by a Public Official
• Article 432. Misappropriation of public funds
• Article 436. Fraud in Public Procurement

Offences against the administration of justice

• Article 446. Judicial prevarication
• Article 451. Covering up an offence
• Article 455. Taking the Law into One’s Own Hands
• Article 456. False Accusation and Reporting an Offence Falsely
• Article 457. Simulating an Offence and False Reporting
• Article 458. False Testimony
• Article 464. Intimidation of Witnesses and Parties
• Article 467. Conflict of Interest and Professional Negligence by Lawyers
• Article 468. Breach of a Sentence or Restraining Order

The Constitution, public order and criminal organisations

• Article 510. Hate speech and incitement
• Article 550. Assault on Police and Public Officers
• Article 556. Resisting or Disobeying Police Officers
• Article 557. Public disorder
• Article 563. Possession of Prohibited Weapons
• Article 570 bis. Criminal Organisation
• Article 570 ter. Criminal groups
• Article 573. Definition of terrorism offences
• Article 577. Collaboration with terrorism

Recently added entries

Articles added to the repertory after its systematic arrangement; they will be placed under their corresponding title in the next revision.

• Article 23 Spanish Criminal Code: kinship as a mixed circumstance
• Article 67 Spanish Criminal Code: inherent circumstances
• Article 150 Spanish Criminal Code: disfigurement
• Article 155 Spanish Criminal Code: consent in bodily harm
• Article 172 bis of the Spanish Criminal Code: forced marriage
• Article 183 of the Spanish Criminal Code: online grooming of a child under sixteen
• Article 184 Spanish Criminal Code: sexual harassment
• Article 209 Spanish Criminal Code: penalties for serious insult
• Article 236 of the Spanish Criminal Code: taking one’s own property from a lawful ho
• Article 239 Spanish Criminal Code: false keys
• Article 254 of the Spanish Criminal Code: misappropriation of lost property or property re
• Article 266 of the Spanish Criminal Code: criminal damage by fire, explosion or danger to
• Article 376 of the Spanish Criminal Code: sentence reduction for cooperation and for compl
• Article 385 Spanish Criminal Code: creating serious road danger
• Article 393 of the Spanish Criminal Code: use of a forged official or commercial document
• Article 408 Spanish Criminal Code: failure to prosecute offences
• Article 434 of the Spanish Criminal Code: mitigation in embezzlement for full repayment or
• Article 450 Spanish Criminal Code: failure to prevent offences
• Article 454 of the Spanish Criminal Code: family exemption from liability for harbouring a
• Article 463 of the Spanish Criminal Code: failure to appear causing adjournment of the tri
• Article 551 of the Spanish Criminal Code: aggravated forms of assault on a public authorit
• Article 564 of the Spanish Criminal Code: unlawful possession of regulated firearms