Spain Decriminalized

Legal Framework

Cannabis is not legal in Spain, but private personal use and cultivation are decriminalized: consuming or possessing cannabis in a private space is not a criminal offense and carries no penalty. There is no single fixed legal possession limit; in practice, courts have tended to treat amounts under roughly 100 grams as consistent with personal use, while quantities above roughly 250–300 grams, or any evidence of intent to distribute, can trigger criminal prosecution under Article 368 of the Criminal Code, which carries 3–6 years imprisonment for trafficking or sale. — Born2Invest

Public use or possession is an administrative offense, not a crime, but carries a substantial fine range of €601–€30,000 under public security law. "Cannabis Social Clubs" — closed-membership associations that cultivate collectively for their registered members — operate in a legal gray area, tolerated mainly in Catalonia, the Basque Country and Navarra under freedom-of-association arguments. Non-member access, including for tourists, is not formally legal, and enforcement varies by region and club.

Medical Cannabis Program

Spain only established a dedicated national medical cannabis framework in 2025. Royal Decree 903/2025, approved on 7 October 2025, regulates the medicinal use of cannabis for the first time. It authorizes prescribing solely by hospital specialists — general practitioners cannot prescribe — for a defined initial set of conditions: refractory chronic pain, spasticity related to multiple sclerosis, refractory epilepsy, and nausea/vomiting induced by chemotherapy. Only extract-based standardized preparations are covered; dried flower and most vaporizable products fall outside the legal pathway entirely. Preparations must be produced and dispensed exclusively through authorized hospital pharmacies, not ordinary street pharmacies. — Osborne Clarke

Rollout is stepwise and, as of this writing, incomplete: prescriber registration, AEMPS licensing and hospital-pharmacy readiness are expected to phase in through mid-to-late 2026. Pharmacists have also filed a Supreme Court appeal challenging the hospital-only dispensing restriction, so some details of the final framework may still change. — Business of Cannabis

Traveling with Medical Cannabis

Because Spain's own medical program is brand new and hospital-restricted, foreign patients traveling with their own prescribed medical cannabis should not assume it will be recognized locally; instead they need pre-approval from Spain's medicines agency, AEMPS. The documented process is to contact the AEMPS Narcotics Department (estupefacientes@aemps.es) at least 10–15 days before travel with a complete dossier: a completed application form, an updated medical certificate stating diagnosis and dosage, a copy of the original prescription, a passport scan, and flight itinerary details. If approved, the permit covers a maximum three-month supply. Traveling without this authorization risks a heavy fine or potential imprisonment, since medical cannabis is a controlled narcotic under Spanish law regardless of the traveler's foreign prescription. — Releaf

Recent Developments

• 7 October 2025: Royal Decree 903/2025 approved, establishing Spain's first legal framework for medical cannabis.
• The decree limits access to hospital specialists and hospital pharmacies only, excluding flower-based and most vaporizable products.
• Full patient access is not expected until the rollout completes, tentatively mid-to-late 2026; a pending pharmacists' Supreme Court appeal over the hospital-only dispensing rule adds further uncertainty to the exact final rules and timeline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can tourists join a Cannabis Social Club in Spain?
Not formally. Clubs are membership-based and operate in a tolerated legal gray zone for registered members only; there is no confirmed legal right for non-members or tourists to access them.

Is there a legal possession limit in Spain?
No fixed statutory number exists; roughly 100 grams is often treated by courts as consistent with personal use, but this is judicial practice, not codified law.

Can I buy medical cannabis at a normal Spanish pharmacy?
No. Under Royal Decree 903/2025, dispensing is limited to authorized hospital pharmacies, and the program is still being rolled out.

What do I need to bring my prescribed cannabis into Spain?
Prior written authorization from AEMPS, requested at least 10–15 days before travel with a full supporting document dossier — not just a Schengen certificate or home-country prescription.