Criminal Damage in Spain (Article 263 CP): Fines, Aggravated Types and Defence (2026)

Criminal damage — delito de daños — is the residual property offence in the Spanish Criminal Code (CP): it punishes anyone who destroys, deteriorates or renders useless another person's property without intending to take it. From a broken shop window to a scratched car, from vandalised street furniture to machinery disabled in a neighbour or workplace dispute, Article 263 CP covers very different conduct with very different consequences: from a fine of one to three months to prison terms of up to eight years where explosives are involved. As criminal defence lawyers specialising in damage offences with more than 15 years of experience, we explain how the offence is structured and where the defence margins lie.

What Counts as Criminal Damage under Article 263 CP

Article 263.1 CP punishes anyone who causes damage to another's property not covered by other titles of the Code. That clause makes it a residual offence: it only applies where the destruction does not fit a specific figure (arson under Article 351, damage to historical heritage under Article 323, and so on). Its elements are:

• A result of damage: destruction, deterioration or loss of use of the asset, with a measurable economic value.
• The property must belong to another: damaging your own property is, in principle, outside this offence.
• Intent: the will to cause damage, including conditional intent. Unlike theft or robbery, no intent to profit is required — the offender does not want to keep the asset, but to destroy it.

Damage to data, software or computer systems has its own, much harsher regime in Article 264 CP and the provisions that follow it: we analyse it in our guide to computer damage under Article 264 CP. For a provision-by-provision commentary, see our analysis of Article 263 of the Criminal Code.

Penalties for the Basic Offence: A Fine Based on the Amount

The basic offence does not carry prison. Article 263.1 CP imposes a fine of 6 to 24 months, assessed according to the victim's financial situation and the amount of the damage. Spanish fines work on the day-fine system of Article 50 CP: the court sets a daily rate of between 2 and 400 euros depending on the offender's means, so the same fine length can translate into very different sums — a point foreign residents often find surprising.

The decisive threshold is 400 euros: if the damage caused does not exceed that figure, the conduct is a minor offence (delito leve), punished with a fine of 1 to 3 months and tried under the simplified minor-offence procedure. This is why the expert valuation of the damage is so often the real battleground: the cost of replacing an item with a new one is not the same as the actual value of the damaged asset at the time of the events.

The Six Aggravated Scenarios of Article 263.2 CP

The qualitative leap comes with Article 263.2 CP: 1 to 3 years' imprisonment plus a fine of 12 to 24 months where any of the following applies:

1. Damage committed to prevent the free exercise of authority or in retaliation for actions carried out in the exercise of official duties, whether against public officials or against private individuals who, as witnesses or otherwise, have contributed or may contribute to enforcing the law.
2. Causing, by any means, infection or contamination of livestock.
3. Using poisonous or corrosive substances.
4. Damage affecting property in public or communal ownership or use: street furniture, municipal facilities, public transport...
5. Damage that ruins the victim or places them in serious financial hardship.
6. Damage of particular seriousness or affecting the general interest.

In practice, scenario 4 is the most common: acts of vandalism against public property which, regardless of the amount involved, may be prosecuted as aggravated damage carrying a prison sentence. The defence focuses on disputing whether the asset was genuinely in public ownership or use and on the proof of intent regarding that circumstance.

Article 265 CP: Damage to Military and Security Forces' Property

Article 265 CP protects a specific class of assets: it imposes 2 to 4 years' imprisonment on anyone who destroys, seriously damages or renders unfit for service, even temporarily, military works, establishments or installations, warships, military aircraft, military transport or transmission means, war materiel, supplies or other resources assigned to the service of the Armed Forces or the Security Forces, provided the damage caused exceeds 1,000 euros.

Article 266 CP: Damage by Fire, Explosives or Endangering People

Article 266 CP aggravates all of the above where the damage is committed by fire, by causing explosions or by using any other means of similar destructive power, or means creating a relevant risk of explosion or of other particularly serious damage, or endangering people's lives or physical integrity:

• On the basic damage of 263.1: 1 to 3 years' imprisonment.
• On the aggravated damage of 263.2: 3 to 5 years' imprisonment plus a fine of 12 to 24 months.
• On the property protected by Articles 265, 323 and 560: 4 to 8 years' imprisonment.

Where explosions or similarly destructive means are used and, in addition, people's lives or physical integrity are endangered, the penalty is imposed in its upper half. In the case of fire, the provision itself refers to Article 351 CP, the offence of arson endangering people, which we examine together with forest fires in our guide to Articles 351 and 352 CP.

Negligent Damage (Art. 267) and the Family Exemption (Art. 268)

Outside intentional conduct, the Code only criminalises damage caused by gross negligence where it exceeds 80,000 euros: a fine of 3 to 9 months (Article 267 CP). It is a semi-public offence: prosecution requires a prior complaint by the injured party or their legal representative, and the victim's pardon extinguishes the criminal action. Below that threshold, negligent damage is pursued through the civil courts.

In addition, Article 268 CP exempts from criminal liability — leaving only civil liability — spouses who are not separated, ascendants, descendants and siblings by blood or adoption, and first-degree in-laws living together, for property offences committed among themselves, provided there is no violence or intimidation and no abuse of the victim's vulnerability. Many family disputes over damaged property end up outside the criminal courts through this route.

Defence Strategies and Civil Liability

1. Challenging the amount of the damage: a defence expert report placing the loss at 400 euros or less turns the case into a minor offence; under Article 267, staying below 80,000 euros excludes the negligence offence altogether.
2. Disputing intent: damage caused accidentally or carelessly does not fit Article 263, which requires the will to cause damage.
3. Questioning ownership and the aggravating circumstance: showing that the asset did not belong to another, or was not in public ownership or use, defeats the offence or its aggravation.
4. Participation in group damage: in disturbances or collective action, each participant's contribution must be individualised; the Supreme Court has clarified the requirements of joint perpetration in criminal damage cases.
5. Compensating the loss: paying or depositing compensation before trial triggers the mitigating factor of Article 21.5 CP and improves the position in plea negotiations. A conviction always carries the civil obligation to restore or repair.

As for limitation periods, the general rules of Article 131 CP apply: minor offences become time-barred after one year, and damage offences whose maximum penalty does not exceed five years, after five years.