Cannabis in Spain

Spain has no legal market for recreational cannabis, but its rules are more relaxed in private than many visitors expect. Possessing or using cannabis in public places is a serious administrative offense under Organic Law 4/2015 on public security, with fines from €601 to €30,000, and so is growing plants where the public can see them. Private use and small-scale cultivation for one's own consumption are not treated as crimes, while selling or supplying cannabis remains drug trafficking under the Criminal Code.

Medical cannabis arrived in regulated form with Royal Decree 903/2025, published on 9 October 2025 and in force from 10 October 2025. It allows standardized cannabis preparations, with defined THC and/or CBD content and registered with the medicines agency AEMPS, to be made up as standardized magistral formulas. Only specialist doctors working in hospital care may prescribe them, and only hospital pharmacy services may dispense them. In January 2026 AEMPS published a National Formulary monograph for an oral oil solution containing THC and/or CBD and opened the registration procedure for preparations. Flower for smoking is not part of the framework, and by August 2026 access still varied between regions. AEMPS separately licenses cannabis cultivation for research and medical production; its July 2026 list named nine production licensees, among them Linneo Health and Phytoplant Research.

Seeds, grow shops and CBD are legal businesses. Cannabis seeds are not controlled, so seed banks and grow shops operate openly across the country, usually selling seeds as collectibles to adults. CBD is sold mainly as a cosmetic, and shops typically label their products for external use; CBD is not authorized as a food. Hemp flower sales exist but sit on uncertain legal ground.

Cannabis social clubs are the best-known feature of the Spanish scene, especially in Barcelona, yet they have no legal basis. The Constitutional Court annulled Catalonia's 2017 club law in 2018, holding that drug regulation belongs to the state. Clubs cannot legally advertise and are exposed to prosecution, so Verdex does not list them. Drivers face zero tolerance: under the Traffic Law it is an offense to drive with any drugs present in the body, except prescribed medicines used as directed, with a €1,000 fine.