National companion animal protection framework
Law & Regulation
In Effect
March 29, 2023
Summary
Law 7/2023, of 28 March, on the protection of the rights and welfare of animals (Ley 7/2023, de 28 de marzo, de protección de los derechos y el bienestar de los animales) was published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE No. 75) on 29 March 2023 and entered into force on 29 September 2023 (six months after publication). The Cortes Generales adopted it; it was promulgated by the King and drafted under the Ministerio de Derechos Sociales y Agenda 2030. It constitutes Spain’s first national framework law specifically governing the keeping, protection, breeding, trade, transport, and use of companion animals — prior to its enactment, regulation of companion animals was fragmented across autonomous community and municipal norms, with no dedicated state-level law.
The law applies across Spain to “companion animals” as defined, primarily dogs, cats, ferrets, and other domestic species to be specified by royal decree, as well as certain production animals that lose productive purpose and are registered as companions, falconry birds, and aquarium animals not listed as invasive or prohibited under EU or treaty rules. Animals used in livestock production, bullfighting, and hunting are explicitly excluded from the law’s central scope and remain under separate regulatory regimes.
Key provisions: Only registered breeders may breed companion animals; the retail sale of dogs, cats, and ferrets is restricted to registered breeders from 29 September 2024, following a one-year transition; online sales of companion animals are prohibited; and advertising and intermediation in companion animal transfers are regulated. Pending adoption of detailed positive lists by royal decree, the law establishes immediate prohibitions on keeping certain categories, including all primates, venomous reptiles and reptiles over 2 kg (except chelonians), wild mammals over 5 kg, and specified arthropods, fish, and amphibians whose venom or bite poses serious risk. Owner obligations include: microchip identification for dogs, cats, and ferrets; limits on unsupervised periods; notification of disappearance; and prohibition on permanent confinement to balconies or terraces and on devices capable of causing electric shocks. The law mandates compulsory liability insurance for dog owners and dog owner training courses, both to be specified by subsequent royal decree. An administrative sanction regime covers minor, serious, and very serious infractions with fines of €500 to €200,000; very serious cases enable disqualification from animal ownership. Enforcement responsibilities are primarily assigned to autonomous communities and local authorities. The Ministerio de Derechos Sociales y Agenda 2030 is competent for subsequent royal decrees on positive lists and detailed protocols.
As of early 2025, legal analyses report that several key provisions — particularly the positive list of permitted species and the detailed owner training and insurance requirements — remain inoperative pending adoption of implementing royal decrees. Public consultation on the positive list royal decree was underway by October 2025, with possible approval projected by end of 2025. The law has not been suspended or repealed; implementation delays relate to secondary regulation rather than the law’s legal status.
Background Context
Before Law 7/2023, Spain’s regulation of companion animals consisted of autonomous community and municipal norms with heterogeneous standards and enforcement capacities, plus Criminal Code provisions on animal mistreatment and abandonment. No dedicated state-level law governed companion animal keeping, trade, or species eligibility. The law was enacted alongside Organic Law 3/2023 (also published in BOE No. 75 on 29 March 2023), which extended criminal animal abuse offences to all vertebrate animals and created Title XVI bis of the Criminal Code — Organic Law 3/2023 constitutes the criminal dimension of the same legislative moment. The 2021 Law 17/2021 had previously reclassified animals in the Civil Code as sentient beings distinct from movable property, providing civil law context for the 2023 reforms. Opposition from hunting interests and livestock producer organisations contributed to the explicit exclusion of production animals, hunting animals, and bullfighting from the law’s central scope.
System Impact
Direction
Neutral / Administrative
Type
Modifies Conditions
Significance
Moderate
Law 7/2023 was published on 29 March 2023 and entered force on 29 September 2023. Core owner obligations (identification, limits on unsupervised periods, prohibitions on certain confinement and devices) became operative at that date. Online sales of companion animals were prohibited from entry into force. The one-year transition for pet shop sales of dogs, cats, and ferrets expired on 29 September 2024, after which only registered breeders may retail these species. Species restrictions based on interim prohibitions are operative pending positive list publication. The administrative sanction framework is operative, with competent authorities (primarily autonomous communities and local authorities) empowered to impose fines and disqualification measures. The Defensor del Pueblo has referenced Law 7/2023 in its documentation of national norms. Public consultation on the implementing royal decree for positive lists commenced October 2025. No suspension, repeal, or formal blocking of Law 7/2023 is documented in sources consulted.
Anticipated Effects
If the positive list royal decree is adopted, companion animal keeping will be channelled into a defined set of permitted species categories, closing off the legal acquisition and keeping of non-listed species by private individuals — the most structurally significant anticipated effect on the companion animal sector.
If breeding and sale restrictions are consistently enforced, the commercial pet trade will be reconfigured by consolidating authorised breeding entities and reducing informal trade and unregistered retail channels.
If the dog owner training and compulsory liability insurance requirements are implemented by royal decree, additional entry and ongoing obligations will condition the profile of registered dog owners.
Whether Law 7/2023 has produced measurable changes in companion animal numbers, trade volumes, or species composition in Spain is not established in available sources; legal analyses as of 2025 report the law’s practical impact as constrained by the absence of key implementing royal decrees.
Significance Rationale
Assigned Neutral / Administrative (impact direction) because the law restructures legal conditions and administrative obligations for companion animal keeping and trade without documented material contraction or expansion in the overall scale of companion animal exploitation attributable to the law.
Assigned Modifies Conditions (impact type) because the primary mechanism is altering regulatory requirements for breeding registration, permitted retail channels, species eligibility, owner obligations, and enforcement mechanisms within a continuing companion animal keeping and trade system. This distinguishes the record from Organic Law 3/2023 (same legislative date, Alters Legal Basis), which created entirely new criminal offences and penalty structures.
Assigned Moderate significance because the law applies nationally across all of Spain, establishes the first national companion animal framework, and affects all owners and commercial operators in the companion animal trade — but does not eliminate the companion animal system or document a large-scale change in animal numbers in the short term.
Impact direction is Neutral / Administrative; the trajectory sentence is not applicable.
Within The System
Key Actors
The Cortes Generales adopted the law; the King promulgated it. The Ministerio de Derechos Sociales y Agenda 2030 led drafting and holds competence for implementing royal decrees. Autonomous communities and local authorities are the primary enforcement bodies. Commercial actors directly subject include registered breeders, pet shops (subject to transition), online platforms, and transport operators. The Consejo General de Colegios Veterinarios de España and named NGOs have monitored implementation. The Defensor del Pueblo has referenced the law in official documentation.
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