Article 197 Spanish Criminal Code: Disclosure of Secrets (2026)
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listIn this article
lightbulbKey Takeaways
- check_circleAccess to messages and data without consent
- check_circleDisclosure: aggravated penalty of 2 to 5 years
- check_circleArt. 197.7: sharing intimate images
- check_circleAccessing a partner's phone may be an offence
Article 197 of the Spanish Criminal Code protects the fundamental right to privacy. It punishes the discovery and disclosure of secrets: accessing another's messages, documents or data without consent, and also sharing intimate information about another person. As criminal defence lawyers, we explain its content.
What Article 197 Says
Article 197.1 punishes anyone who, to discover the secrets or breach the privacy of another, without consent, seizes their papers, letters, emails or other personal documents, intercepts their telecommunications or uses listening or recording devices. Penalty: prison of 1 to 4 years and a fine of 12 to 24 months.
The Forms of the Offence
- Art. 197.2 — Personal data: seizing, using or altering reserved personal or family data held in files.
- Art. 197.3 — Disclosure: revealing or transferring discovered data or secrets to third parties. Aggravated penalty: prison of 2 to 5 years.
- Art. 197.7 — Intimate images: sharing images or recordings of a person obtained with consent in a private place, where the disclosure seriously harms their privacy. This is so-called revenge porn.
Accessing a Partner's Phone
One of the most common scenarios is accessing, without consent, a partner's or ex-partner's phone or accounts. Reading their messages to "check" something may amount to the offence under Article 197 — even within marriage.
⚠️ Sharing intimate images
Forwarding an intimate photo or video of another person — even if they sent it to you voluntarily — may be an offence under Article 197.7, with an aggravated penalty if the victim is a partner or a minor.
Defence Strategies
- Consent: the victim authorised the access or recording.
- No purpose: there was no intent to discover secrets or breach privacy.
- Unlawful evidence: if the material was obtained breaching fundamental rights, its nullity is sought.
- Atypicality: the data was not reserved or did not affect the core of privacy.
- Compensation to trigger the mitigating factor of Art. 21.5.
Charged with disclosing secrets or breaching privacy?
We assess how the evidence was obtained and whether the conduct truly amounts to Article 197.
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Defence and private prosecution in privacy offences, image sharing and unlawful data access.
Frequently asked questions
What does article 197 of the Criminal Code punish?expand_more
Unauthorised intrusion into another person's privacy: seizing their emails, messages or personal data, intercepting their communications or using listening or recording devices without consent, in order to discover their secrets. The basic penalty is imprisonment of 1 to 4 years plus a fine.
Is it a crime to read your partner's phone or WhatsApp?expand_more
Accessing another person's communications or accounts without consent —including your partner's— in order to discover their secrets can be an offence under art. 197 CP. Marriage or cohabitation does not authorise violating the other person's privacy.
And sharing intimate photos or videos without permission?expand_more
Disseminating intimate images or recordings obtained with consent but disclosed without it (so-called 'revenge porn') is a specific offence under art. 197.7 CP, punished with imprisonment of 3 months to 1 year or a fine, and aggravated if the victim is a partner or a minor.
Can a recording that violates privacy be used as evidence?expand_more
No. Evidence obtained in violation of fundamental rights (art. 11 LOPJ) is null and cannot be used at trial, and it carries with it the nullity of everything derived from it. This is one of the main lines of defence against this type of evidence.