Artificial Intelligence · Spain
Artificial Intelligence - Spain
As an EU member state, Spain is governed by the directly-applicable EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689), which is in force and phasing in (prohibited practices since 2 Feb 2025, GPAI obligations since 2 Aug 2025). Spain was the first EU country to create a dedicated AI supervisory agency, AESIA, operational since 2024, and the first to launch an AI regulatory sandbox. A national law to implement the Act's governance and sanctioning regime was approved as a draft bill by the Council of Ministers in March 2025 but, as of mid-2026, remains in process and not yet enacted.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 applies directly in Spain without needing national transposition. It entered into force on 1 Aug 2024 and phases in: prohibited practices from 2 Feb 2025, general-purpose AI rules from 2 Aug 2025, and most high-risk obligations from 2 Aug 2026.
The Agencia Española de Supervisión de la Inteligencia Artificial, created by Royal Decree 729/2023 and operational since 2024, is Spain's designated competent authority for AI oversight — the first dedicated AI agency in the EU. It supervises, inspects, advises and issues compliance guidance.
The Council of Ministers approved the draft 'Ley para el buen uso y la gobernanza de la IA' on 11 March 2025 (37 articles), adapting Spanish law to the EU AI Act and setting the governance and sanctioning regime. As of 2026 it is still being processed (CES issued Opinion 3/2026 on 25 March 2026); it has not yet been enacted.
The draft bill designates several bodies as market-surveillance authorities for different AI uses: AESIA (general), the data-protection agency AEPD (biometrics/migration/law enforcement-related), the General Council of the Judiciary (justice) and the Central Electoral Board (electoral processes).
Spain was the first EU member state to operationalise an AI regulatory sandbox, established under Royal Decree 817/2023 with a maximum 36-month duration; in April 2025 twelve AI projects were selected to participate, helping prepare for AI Act compliance.
Specific sectoral rules are appearing, e.g. the General Council of the Judiciary's Instruction 2/2026 (28 Jan 2026, published in the BOE) governing the use of AI systems in jurisdictional activity.
Machine-assisted translation · verified 5/25/2026 · orientation, not legal advice. English version →