Article 301 Spanish Criminal Code: Money Laundering (2026)

Article 301 of the Spanish Criminal Code governs the offence of money laundering: bringing assets that derive from criminal activity into the lawful economy. As money laundering defence lawyers, we explain its content.

What Article 301 Says

Money laundering is committed by anyone who acquires, possesses, uses, converts or transfers assets knowing they derive from criminal activity — whether committed by them or a third party — or performs any other act to conceal their unlawful origin or to help those involved evade the legal consequences. Penalty: prison of 6 months to 6 years and a fine of one to three times the value of the assets.

Self-Laundering

Since the 2010 reform, the offence includes self-laundering: the offender of the prior crime may also be liable for laundering their proceeds. Case law nonetheless requires a laundering act with its own substance, beyond simply enjoying what was obtained.

Aggravated and Negligent Types

• Aggravated: where the assets derive from drug trafficking or corruption or planning offences, the penalty is imposed in its upper half.
• Negligent (Art. 301.3): laundering by gross negligence is punished with prison of 6 months to 2 years. It mainly affects obliged parties (notaries, lawyers, financial institutions) who omit their due-diligence duties.

Defence Strategies

1. No knowledge of the unlawful origin: rebutting proof of intent or wilful blindness.
2. Lawful origin of the assets: proving the legal traceability of the estate.
3. No laundering act: simply enjoying the proceeds does not always amount to the offence.
4. Compliance with due-diligence duties for obliged parties.
5. Nullity of evidence obtained breaching fundamental rights.