Stalking & Harassment in Spain: Legal Defense Guide

The offence of stalking or harassment (Article 172 ter of the Spanish Criminal Code, CP) is a relatively recent figure in our legal system, introduced to fill a gap: behaviours that, without amounting to direct threats ("I'm going to kill you") or violent coercion, plunge the victim into a state of constant distress through obsessive and persistent pursuit.

As criminal lawyers, we have seen this offence soar with the rise of new technologies (cyberstalking). In this 2026 guide, we set out the key issues for both the defence and the prosecution.

What exactly is stalking?

The Spanish Supreme Court defines stalking as a course of conduct involving "repeated harassment" with sufficient capacity to seriously disrupt the victim's everyday life. It is not a one-off incident (calling five times in a day), but a pattern of conduct sustained over time.

The statute lists four typical forms of conduct:

1. Watching, following or seeking physical proximity to the victim.
2. Establishing contact through any means (calls, WhatsApp, emails, social media).
3. Improper use of personal data to buy products in the victim's name or contract services (sending food to the victim's home, signing them up on dating sites).
4. Attacks on the victim's liberty or property, or on that of people close to them.

The key element: disruption of everyday life

This is the defence's battleground. For the offence of stalking to exist, mere annoyance is not enough. The conduct must force the victim to change their habits: change phone number, alter the route to work, close down their social media accounts or require company when going out. If defence counsel can show that the victim carried on with normal life, the offence does not exist (or is downgraded to minor coercion).

What penalties am I facing?

The basic offence carries a penalty of 3 months to 2 years in prison, or a fine of 6 to 24 months. There are, however, very common aggravating circumstances:

• Victim of gender-based violence: If the stalker is or has been the victim's partner, the penalty rises (prison from 6 months to 2 years) and the case is heard by the specialist Courts on Violence against Women.
• Vulnerable victims: Minors, the elderly or persons with disabilities.

In addition to prison, a restraining order is almost always imposed and may last up to 5 years longer than the prison sentence.

Differences from threats and coercion

It is essential not to confuse them:

• Threats: Announcing a future harm ("I'm going to burn your car"). Stalking does not require announcing any harm; it is enough simply to be there insistently.
• Coercion: Using force or violence to prevent someone from doing something or to compel them to do it. Stalking attacks the sense of security, not necessarily immediate freedom of movement.

Cyberstalking and harassment on social media

Today, the vast majority of cases involve digital evidence. Creating fake profiles to contact someone who has blocked you, sending hundreds of emails ("bombing") or obsessively monitoring "likes" can amount to stalking if it is repeated. The technological side of the defence involves the forensic examination of devices to confirm or rebut the authorship of those messages, and to determine whether there really was a "block" or whether the communication was mutual.