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Legal Analysis

Articles 237 and 242 Spanish Criminal Code: Robbery (2026)

calendar_todayMay 20, 2026

Last updated:

listIn this article

lightbulbKey Takeaways

  • check_circleRobbery = force on things or violence
  • check_circleRobbery in an inhabited dwelling: 2 to 5 years
  • check_circleWith violence and weapons: up to 5 years
  • check_circleMitigation if the violence is of lesser intensity

Articles 237 and following of the Spanish Criminal Code govern the offence of robbery. Unlike theft, robbery is characterised by the use of force on things or violence or intimidation against persons. As robbery defence lawyers, we explain its regime.

What Article 237 Says

Robbery is committed by anyone who, with intent to profit, takes another's movable property using force on things to enter or leave the place where it is kept, or violence or intimidation against persons, whether when committing the offence, to secure escape or against those coming to the victim's aid.

Robbery With Force on Things (Arts. 238 to 241)

  • Art. 240 — Robbery with force: prison of 1 to 3 years.
  • Art. 241 — Robbery in an inhabited dwelling or premises open to the public: prison of 2 to 5 years.

Robbery With Violence or Intimidation (Art. 242)

  • Basic type: prison of 2 to 5 years.
  • In an inhabited dwelling or with the use of weapons: prison of 3 years and 6 months to 5 years.
  • Mitigated: where the violence or intimidation is of lesser intensity, the court may lower the penalty by one degree.

The "snatch" and phone robbery

Classifying a bag-snatch depends on whether there was genuine violence on the person or only skill. That line — robbery with violence versus theft — can mean years of difference in the penalty.

Defence Strategies

  1. Reclassifying as theft: if there was no typical force or violence on the person.
  2. Mitigation under Art. 242.4: proving the lesser intensity of the violence.
  3. Disputing the degree of execution: attempt rather than a completed offence.
  4. Evidence: doubtful identification, no footage, no direct witnesses.
  5. Mitigating factors: addiction, compensation, confession.

Charged with robbery?

Classification is everything: the difference between theft and robbery, or basic and aggravated robbery, sets the penalty.

📞 Call us: +34 91 078 65 74

⚖️ Need a criminal defence lawyer?

Specialist defence in robbery with force, robbery with violence and robbery in an inhabited dwelling.

→ Robbery: full legal information

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