Drug offences in Spain: possession, supply and trafficking

Personal use: an administrative offence

Using drugs or possessing them for personal use in public places, even if not intended for trafficking, is a serious administrative offence under the Public Security Act, with fines from 601 to 30,000 euros. It does not create a criminal record. Personal use in private is not punished.

Supply and trafficking: a crime

Basic offence (art. 368)

Cultivating, producing or trafficking drugs, or otherwise promoting, favouring or facilitating their illegal consumption, or possessing them for those purposes: three to six years' prison and a fine of up to three times the value of the drug for substances causing serious harm to health, and one to three years and a fine of up to twice the value for other substances.

Minor cases (art. 368, second paragraph)

Judges can impose a lower penalty for minor cases given the small scale of the facts and the personal circumstances of the offender. This often allows a suspended sentence.

Aggravated offences (arts. 369 and 370)

Higher penalties apply for sale to minors, in schools or prisons, by organised groups, when the quantity is of notable importance or the drug is adulterated in a dangerous way. Extremely large quantities, or use of vessels or aircraft, lead to even higher penalties.

Shared consumption

Spanish courts accept that sharing drugs among a small group of regular users for immediate consumption, without profit, is not trafficking. The requirements are strict, but this defence is relevant in party and holiday contexts.

Airport and port arrests

Bringing drugs into Spain through Palma or Ibiza airport, or by sea, is usually charged as trafficking, sometimes also as smuggling. Searches, X-rays and the chain of custody of the substance must comply with the law. See arrested in Mallorca.

How drug cases are defended

• Challenging the legality of the search, entry into a home or phone interception.
• Arguing personal use or shared consumption.
• Questioning the purity analysis and the chain of custody.
• Seeking the lower penalty for minor cases.
• Avoiding pre-trial detention and expulsion for foreign nationals.

A practical example

An Italian tourist was arrested at an Ibiza club with eight ecstasy pills and 300 euros. The police charged him with supply. We showed that the pills were for him and two friends for that night, with their statements and the absence of messages about sales. The judge accepted shared consumption and the criminal case was dismissed. More information on the firm's main website: drug trafficking (in Spanish).