{
  "schema_version": "1.0",
  "id": "spain",
  "name": "Spain",
  "jurisdiction_code": "ES",
  "legal_system": "civil-law",
  "language": ["es", "ca", "eu", "gl"],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "generated": "2026-05-31",
  "summary": "Spain is the world's only PA-inadmission statutory jurisdiction via LOPIVI 2021 Disposición adicional decimoséptima, which directs public administrations not to admit the construct denominated 'síndrome de alienación parental' (SAP) in family-violence settings — the exact opposite direction to Brazil's Lei 12.318/2010, which statutorily recognises 'alienação parental'. Tribunal Supremo (Sala Primera) STS 519/2017 took a pre-LOPIVI methodological-middle stance that treats parental manipulation and negative influence as decisive welfare factors while deliberately avoiding the SAP label; the legislator subsequently moved past STS 519/2017 without ratifying its reasoning. Professional-regulator position varies by Comunidad Autónoma (per-CCAA COP variation), which is the opposite pattern to the unified national regulator positions seen in Germany and the United Kingdom.",
  "pa_recognition_status": {
    "statutory": "inadmits",
    "apex_court_position": "middle",
    "professional_regulator_position": "varies-by-region"
  },
  "statutory_framework": [
    {
      "citation": "LO 8/2021, Disposición adicional decimoséptima",
      "title": "Ley Orgánica 8/2021, de 4 de junio, de protección integral a la infancia y la adolescencia frente a la violencia (LOPIVI)",
      "year": 2021,
      "url": "https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2021-9347",
      "relevance": "Disp. ad. 17ª directs that public administrations 'velarán por que no se admita en los procedimientos relativos a la violencia el llamado síndrome de alienación parental o cualesquiera otras denominaciones análogas que no hayan sido reconocidas por las comunidades científica y sanitaria'. The statute targets the SAP label by exact name and 'denominaciones análogas', driving subsequent PIVIP (interferencias parentales / manipulación de la voluntad del menor) terminological-arbitrage."
    },
    {
      "citation": "LO 1/2004",
      "title": "Ley Orgánica 1/2004, de 28 de diciembre, de Medidas de Protección Integral contra la Violencia de Género (LIVG)",
      "year": 2004,
      "url": "https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2004-21760",
      "relevance": "Gender-violence framework that conditions how family courts read PA-style allegations; LOPIVI Disp. ad. 17ª operates within this gender-violence reading."
    },
    {
      "citation": "LO 3/2007",
      "title": "Ley Orgánica 3/2007, de 22 de marzo, para la igualdad efectiva de mujeres y hombres",
      "year": 2007,
      "url": "https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-6115",
      "relevance": "Equality framework cited alongside LIVG in feminist juridical critiques of SAP."
    },
    {
      "citation": "LOPJ art. 232",
      "title": "Ley Orgánica 6/1985, de 1 de julio, del Poder Judicial — artículo 232 (publicidad de actuaciones judiciales)",
      "year": 1985,
      "url": "https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1985-12666",
      "relevance": "Basis for anonymisation of judgments involving minors; Tribunal Supremo and Audiencias Provinciales sentences in family matters are published with initials per CENDOJ practice."
    },
    {
      "citation": "Código Civil arts. 92-95",
      "title": "Código Civil — De los efectos comunes a la nulidad, separación y divorcio (guarda y custodia, responsabilidad parental)",
      "year": 1889,
      "url": "https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1889-4763",
      "relevance": "Core statutory basis for custody (guarda y custodia) and parental responsibility decisions in which PA-style facts are litigated."
    },
    {
      "citation": "Ley 15/2005",
      "title": "Ley 15/2005, de 8 de julio, por la que se modifican el Código Civil y la Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil en materia de separación y divorcio",
      "year": 2005,
      "url": "https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2005-11864",
      "relevance": "Custodia compartida reform that opened the structural space in which manipulación/influencia negativa arguments became frequent in Spanish family law."
    }
  ],
  "apex_courts": [
    {
      "name": "Tribunal Supremo, Sala Primera (Sala de lo Civil)",
      "url": "https://www.poderjudicial.es/search/indexAN.jsp",
      "key_decisions": [
        {
          "caption": "STS 519/2017, de 22 de septiembre (Sala Primera, ponente Arroyo Fiestas)",
          "case_study_ref": "sts-519-2017-spain",
          "year": 2017,
          "stance": "middle"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Tribunal Constitucional",
      "url": "https://www.tribunalconstitucional.es/",
      "key_decisions": [
        {
          "caption": "STC 130/2024 — LOPIVI compliance line (no direct PA ruling; constitutional review of LOPIVI's child-protection architecture)",
          "year": 2024,
          "stance": "middle"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Audiencias Provinciales (per-CCAA family-law line)",
      "url": "https://www.poderjudicial.es/cgpj/es/Poder-Judicial/Audiencias-Provinciales",
      "key_decisions": [
        {
          "caption": "AP Madrid Sección 22ª — recognition-tolerant line on manipulación/interferencias parentales",
          "year": 2022,
          "stance": "recognition"
        },
        {
          "caption": "AP Barcelona Sección 12ª — recognition-tolerant line, frequently citing custodia compartida and interferencias parentales",
          "year": 2022,
          "stance": "recognition"
        },
        {
          "caption": "AP Sevilla Sección 6ª — critique-leaning line aligned with LOPIVI Disp. ad. 17ª",
          "year": 2023,
          "stance": "critique"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "professional_regulators": [
    {
      "name": "Consejo General de la Psicología de España (COP umbrella)",
      "url": "https://www.cop.es/",
      "position_statement": "No unified national position on PA/SAP; COP umbrella defers to per-CCAA Colegios Oficiales de Psicología, producing per-CCAA variation rather than a single position-statement-against or position-statement-for.",
      "practitioner_ref": "practitioner:es.cop"
    },
    {
      "name": "Colegio Oficial de la Psicología de Madrid (COP Madrid)",
      "url": "https://www.copmadrid.org/",
      "position_statement": "Recognition-tolerant in forensic-family practice: tolerates manipulación/interferencias parentales constructs in peritajes, while avoiding the SAP label per LOPIVI."
    },
    {
      "name": "Colegio Oficial de Psicología de Andalucía Occidental / Oriental",
      "url": "https://www.copao.com/",
      "position_statement": "Critique-leaning: closer to LOPIVI Disp. ad. 17ª and to feminist-juridical positions; resistant to PA-style constructs in gender-violence cases."
    },
    {
      "name": "Col·legi Oficial de Psicologia de Catalunya (COPC)",
      "url": "https://www.copc.cat/",
      "position_statement": "Mixed position; forensic-family section has historically tolerated interferencias parentales while the general college aligns with LOPIVI on the SAP label."
    },
    {
      "name": "Asociación Española de Neuropsiquiatría (AEN)",
      "url": "https://aen.es/",
      "position_statement": "Critique: AEN has issued position documents rejecting SAP as lacking scientific recognition, cited by LOPIVI advocates.",
      "practitioner_ref": "practitioner:es.aen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Save the Children España",
      "url": "https://www.savethechildren.es/",
      "position_statement": "Critique: campaigned for LOPIVI Disp. ad. 17ª, frames SAP as a tool that obstructs child-protection in gender-violence contexts.",
      "practitioner_ref": "practitioner:es.save-the-children-espana"
    },
    {
      "name": "Plataforma de Infancia",
      "url": "https://www.plataformadeinfancia.org/",
      "position_statement": "Critique: aligned with Save the Children España line; LOPIVI advocacy coalition."
    },
    {
      "name": "Themis — Asociación de Mujeres Juristas",
      "url": "https://www.mujeresjuristasthemis.org/",
      "position_statement": "Critique: feminist juridical position; key voice in inscribing Disp. ad. 17ª into LOPIVI and in critiquing AP-level recognition-tolerant rulings."
    },
    {
      "name": "FEDEPE — Federación Española de Mujeres Directivas, Ejecutivas, Profesionales y Empresarias",
      "url": "https://www.fedepe.org/",
      "position_statement": "Critique: aligned with Themis line in public advocacy on PA-related family-court practice."
    },
    {
      "name": "Equipos Psicosociales adscritos a los juzgados de familia (EPF)",
      "url": "https://www.poderjudicial.es/",
      "position_statement": "Operational forensic teams attached to family courts; individual peritos NOT named as practitioners for ethical reasons (civil-servant role). EPF practice varies by CCAA and tracks the per-CCAA COP variation pattern."
    },
    {
      "name": "Instituto de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses (IMLCF)",
      "url": "https://www.mjusticia.gob.es/",
      "position_statement": "Forensic medical institutes serving the courts; individual peritos NOT named for ethical reasons (civil-servant role)."
    }
  ],
  "anonymisation_convention": "Tribunal Supremo sentences are anonymised per LOPJ art. 232 and CENDOJ publication policy; Audiencias Provinciales family-case names typically use initials for adult parties and never name minors. Cross-references in this dataset use the STS roll number (e.g., STS 519/2017) rather than party names.",
  "key_developments": [
    {
      "year": 1889,
      "description": "Código Civil 1889 enacted 24 July 1889 — substantively distinctive Spanish civil-code framework drawing on French civil-law substantive heritage. Arts. 92-95 codify guarda y custodia and parental-responsibility framework. Foundational substantive-civil-law framework persisting through subsequent reform-trajectory affecting contemporary family-law-jurisprudence.",
      "url": "https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1889-4763"
    },
    {
      "year": 1978,
      "description": "6 December 1978 — Constitution of Spain 1978 adopted by referendum following Spanish democratic-transition post-Franco. Substantively significant Iberian constitutional-democratic framework establishing Estado de las Autonomías (autonomous-communities framework) affecting subsequent per-CCAA family-law-variation pattern. Substantive constitutional anchor for contemporary family-law jurisprudence.",
      "url": "https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1978-31229"
    },
    {
      "year": 1981,
      "description": "7 July 1981 — Ley 30/1981 (Ley del divorcio) substantively reforming Código Civil to introduce divorce framework post-democratic-transition. Substantively significant Spanish post-Franco family-law-modernisation framework.",
      "url": "https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1981-16216"
    },
    {
      "year": 1986,
      "description": "1 January 1986 — Spain EU accession alongside Portugal substantively integrating Spanish family-law-framework into EU-treaty-framework including Brussels IIa/IIbis Regulation framework for family-law-matters. Foundational EU-treaty framework affecting subsequent cross-border-jurisdiction-practice.",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/"
    },
    {
      "year": 1990,
      "description": "6 December 1990 — Spain ratified the UNCRC substantively significant child-rights framework integration. Foundational best-interests-of-the-child framework integration with subsequent constitutional-democratic-trajectory affecting subsequent family-law-modernisation.",
      "url": "https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1990-31312"
    },
    {
      "year": 2004,
      "description": "28 December 2004 — LO 1/2004 (Ley Integral contra la Violencia de Género / LIVG) substantively significant globally first-comprehensive-gender-violence-framework-in-EU. Substantive gender-violence framework subsequently conditioning how family courts read PA-style allegations.",
      "url": "https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2004-21760"
    },
    {
      "year": 2005,
      "description": "Ley 15/2005 reforms Código Civil and LEC on separation and divorce, opening the custodia compartida framework within which PA-style manipulación/influencia arguments became frequent.",
      "url": "https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2005-11864"
    },
    {
      "year": 2013,
      "description": "29 April 2013 — STS 257/2013 (Sala Primera, ponente Seijas Quintana) sets shared-custody (custodia compartida) as the preferred legal framework, subordinating the prior preference for sole maternal custody — substantively distinctive Spanish family-law modernisation framework. Substantive STS 257/2013 framework foundational for subsequent 2017 STS 519/2017 methodological-middle PA-doctrine stance and 2021 LOPIVI inadmission framework. Foundation for ongoing custodia-compartida vs custodia-individual jurisprudence directly relevant to PA-style cases.",
      "url": "https://www.poderjudicial.es/search/AN/openDocument/efeb56cb3deb43e8/20130507"
    },
    {
      "year": 2017,
      "description": "22 September 2017 — STS 519/2017 (Sala Primera, ponente Arroyo Fiestas) adopts a methodological-middle stance: treats manipulación and influencia negativa de un progenitor sobre el menor as decisive welfare factors for custody, but AVOIDS the 'síndrome de alienación parental' label. Pre-LOPIVI anchor.",
      "url": "https://www.poderjudicial.es/search/AN/openDocument/8b3fb3a3c20d3a8a/20171005"
    },
    {
      "year": 2021,
      "description": "4 June 2021 — LO 8/2021 (LOPIVI) promulgated; Disposición adicional decimoséptima directs public administrations not to admit 'el llamado síndrome de alienación parental' in violence-related proceedings. Spain becomes the world's only PA-inadmission statutory jurisdiction (opposite direction to Brazil's Lei 12.318/2010 recognition).",
      "url": "https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2021-9347"
    },
    {
      "year": 2022,
      "description": "Ley 15/2022, de 12 de julio, integral para la igualdad de trato y la no discriminación + CGPJ Guía Práctica 2022 (Guía para la aplicación de la LOPIVI) — substantively significant CGPJ institutional guidance operationalising LOPIVI Disp. ad. 17ª PA-inadmission framework at first-instance Juzgado-de-Familia level. Substantively significant CGPJ institutional architecture for LOPIVI implementation — operationally distinctive Spanish judicial-council institutional-critique mechanism.",
      "url": "https://www.poderjudicial.es/cgpj/es/Poder-Judicial/En-Portada/El-CGPJ-presenta-la-Guia-de-aplicacion-de-la-LOPIVI"
    },
    {
      "year": 2024,
      "description": "2023-2024 — PIVIP work by Asunción Tejedor and colleagues consolidates the terminological-arbitrage gap: 'interferencias parentales' / 'manipulación de la voluntad del menor' are used in peritajes to address the underlying conduct while avoiding the LOPIVI-named SAP label. STC 130/2024 LOPIVI compliance line + Audiencias Provinciales per-CCAA jurisprudence continuing development of substantive-middle-stance framework under STS 519/2017 + LOPIVI Disp. ad. 17ª.",
      "url": "https://www.cop.es/"
    }
  ],
  "structural_findings": [
    "Spain and Brazil are the world's only two statutory PA jurisdictions and they point in opposite directions: Spain (LOPIVI 2021 Disp. ad. 17ª) inadmits SAP, Brazil (Lei 12.318/2010) recognises alienação parental.",
    "LOPIVI Disp. ad. 17ª targets only the SAP label by exact name plus 'denominaciones análogas que no hayan sido reconocidas por las comunidades científica y sanitaria'; this creates a terminological-arbitrage gap that PIVIP (interferencias parentales / manipulación de la voluntad del menor) occupies.",
    "There is no unified national COP position on PA/SAP. The Consejo General defers to per-CCAA Colegios Oficiales, producing recognition-tolerant Madrid and Catalunya forensic-family practice alongside critique-leaning Andalucía practice. This per-CCAA variation is the opposite of the unified national regulator pattern seen in Germany (BDP) and the United Kingdom (ACP / BPS).",
    "STS 519/2017 diverges from LOPIVI in substance: the Tribunal Supremo adopted a methodological-middle stance that treats manipulación/influencia negativa as decisive without naming SAP, but LOPIVI subsequently moved past STS 519/2017 without ratifying that reasoning. The legislator did not adopt the TS framing.",
    "Sonia Vaccaro, Argentine-Spanish and Madrid-based, coined 'violencia vicaria'; the term now appears in BOE-level documents and is part of the Spanish critique vocabulary around PA.",
    "EPF (Equipos Psicosociales) and IMLCF civil-servant peritos are NOT named as practitioners in this dataset for ethical reasons — this is a structural finding by pattern across the Spanish forensic-family system.",
    "Miguel Lorente Acosta is médico-forense (forensic physician), not psicólogo; he served as Delegado del Gobierno para la Violencia de Género (2008-2011). His critique of SAP is medical-forensic, not psychological, which matters for taxonomising the Spanish critique line."
  ],
  "references": [
    "case-study:sts-519-2017-spain",
    "practitioner:es.aguilar-cuenca-jose-manuel",
    "practitioner:es.tejedor-huerta-asuncion",
    "practitioner:es.bolanos-cartujo-ignacio",
    "practitioner:es.vilalta-suarez-ramon",
    "practitioner:es.escudero-nafs-antonio",
    "practitioner:es.vaccaro-sonia",
    "practitioner:es.barea-payueta-consuelo",
    "practitioner:es.lorente-acosta-miguel",
    "practitioner:es.montero-gomez-andres",
    "practitioner:es.cop",
    "practitioner:es.aen",
    "practitioner:es.save-the-children-espana",
    "jurisdiction:brazil",
    "jurisdiction:argentina",
    "jurisdiction:italy"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "BOE — LO 8/2021 LOPIVI (texto consolidado)",
      "url": "https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2021-9347",
      "publisher": "Boletín Oficial del Estado",
      "language": "es"
    },
    {
      "title": "CENDOJ — Buscador de Jurisprudencia del Tribunal Supremo",
      "url": "https://www.poderjudicial.es/search/indexAN.jsp",
      "publisher": "Consejo General del Poder Judicial",
      "language": "es"
    },
    {
      "title": "LegalLayer — análisis de jurisprudencia sobre alienación parental y LOPIVI",
      "url": "https://legallayer.com/",
      "publisher": "LegalLayer",
      "language": "es"
    },
    {
      "title": "Vlex España — repertorio de jurisprudencia AP/TS sobre interferencias parentales",
      "url": "https://vlex.es/",
      "publisher": "Vlex",
      "language": "es"
    },
    {
      "title": "Consejo General de la Psicología de España (COP)",
      "url": "https://www.cop.es/",
      "publisher": "Consejo General de la Psicología",
      "language": "es"
    },
    {
      "title": "Themis — Asociación de Mujeres Juristas",
      "url": "https://www.mujeresjuristasthemis.org/",
      "publisher": "Themis",
      "language": "es"
    },
    {
      "title": "Confilegal — cobertura jurídica de LOPIVI y STS Sala Primera",
      "url": "https://confilegal.com/",
      "publisher": "Confilegal",
      "language": "es"
    },
    {
      "title": "Bastida Abogados — análisis práctico de LOPIVI Disp. ad. 17ª",
      "url": "https://bastidabogados.com/",
      "publisher": "Bastida Abogados",
      "language": "es"
    },
    {
      "title": "Iustel — base de datos jurídica española",
      "url": "https://www.iustel.com/",
      "publisher": "Iustel",
      "language": "es"
    },
    {
      "title": "Blog de Sariego Morillo — análisis de derecho de familia y custodia",
      "url": "https://www.sariegomorillo.com/blog/",
      "publisher": "Sariego Morillo Abogados",
      "language": "es"
    }
  ],
  "editorial_notes": [
    "Spain jurisdiction sidecar v1.1 — deepened 2026-06-09 from 4 to 10 key_developments with full Código-Civil-to-PIVIP trajectory: 1889-Código-Civil + 1978-Constitution-of-Spain-+-Estado-de-las-Autonomías + 1981-Ley-30-1981-divorce + 1986-EU-accession + 1990-UNCRC-ratification + 2004-LO-1-2004-LIVG + 2005-Ley-15-2005-custodia-compartida + 2017-STS-519-2017-middle-stance + 2021-LO-8-2021-LOPIVI-Disp-ad-17ª-PA-inadmission + 2024-PIVIP-+-STC-130-2024-+-per-CCAA-jurisprudence.",
    "Primary sources first: BOE for LOPIVI Disp. ad. 17ª statutory text; CENDOJ for STS 519/2017.",
    "LOPIVI Disp. ad. 17ª verbatim Spanish anchor: 'el llamado síndrome de alienación parental' — translation_en: 'the so-called parental alienation syndrome'. The verbatim 'llamado' is load-bearing because it signals legislative distancing from the construct.",
    "STS 519/2017 substantively diverges from LOPIVI: the TS treats manipulación/influencia negativa as decisive welfare factors without naming SAP; LOPIVI then moves past the TS without ratifying that reasoning. Both directions of divergence are preserved.",
    "Per-CCAA COP variation recorded as a structural finding (opposite of DE/UK unified-regulator pattern).",
    "EPF and IMLCF peritos NOT named individually for ethical reasons (civil-servant role); recorded as a structural finding by pattern.",
    "Miguel Lorente Acosta classified as médico-forense (not psicólogo) and as Delegado del Gobierno 2008-2011; this matters for taxonomising the critique line.",
    "Sonia Vaccaro is Argentine-Spanish, Madrid-based; coined 'violencia vicaria', now in BOE-level documents.",
    "Joins EU-civil-law-cluster + Iberian/Mediterranean (with Portugal, Italy) + world's-only-PA-inadmission-statutory-jurisdiction-globally-distinctive (opposite-direction-to-Brazil-Lei-12-318-2010-recognition) + Código-Civil-1889 + Constitution-of-Spain-1978-Estado-de-las-Autonomías-per-CCAA-variation + LIVG-2004-first-comprehensive-gender-violence-framework-EU-distinctive + custodia-compartida-2005 + STS-519-2017-Arroyo-Fiestas-middle-stance + LOPIVI-2021-Disp-ad-17ª + PIVIP-terminological-arbitrage-distinctive + violencia-vicaria-BOE-level."
  ]
}