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Spain

Contracting State since
1986.01.10
Lastly updated
2022.02.17

Contact for consular services

German Embassy
Bilateral relations and German missions
homepage: https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/laenderinformationen

National legal bases

Law 16/1985 on Spanish Historical Heritage aims at the protection, promotion and transmission to future generations of the Spanish Historical Heritage (in english language).

EU regulations
The licence for the export of cultural goods from the European customs territory is subject to Council Regulation (EC) No. 116/2009 of 18 December 2008 on the export of cultural goods (OJ L 39, 10.2.2009, p. 1). Exports to the internal market, however, are subject to national regulations, which may differ from the Council regulation with respect to the value and age thresholds of the categories of the protected cultural property.

Further information on the legal situation can be requested from the EUR-Lex Datenbank. The EU also maintains a special database for the regulations regarding the protection of cultural property.

The multilingual UNESCO Database of National Cultural Heritage Laws provides access to the relevant national legal bases. Another source of information on national cultural asset protection laws is the Sharing Electronic Resources and Laws On Crime (SHERLOC) of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

This State Party to the UNESCO Convention of 14 November 1970 is also a State Party to the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegaly Exported Cultural Objects, which entered into force on 1 July 1998. The national legal bases are therefore also partially provided by the WIPO database.

Definition of cultural property

According to Article 1 (2) of the Spanish Historical Heritage Law of 1985 Spanish Historical Heritage is made up of movable and immovable objects of artistic, historical, palaentological, archaeological, ethnographic, scientific or technical interest.

The Law of 1985 distinguishes three categories of cultural properties that make up Spain's historical cultural heritage. The classification in one of the categories affects the degree of protection. According to the law, two documentation systems have been adopted, whose objective is to inventory the immovable and movable cultural properties that fall under the highest level of protection and that meet the characteristics for historical cultural heritage that the law establishes.

There are
a) The General Inventory / Inventory of Movable objects of the Spanish Historical Cultural Heritage and, in general, Cultural objects older than one hundred years.

The sale and transfer of the objects covered by this law is regulated (notification requirements). If such cultural objects are owned by churches or public authorities, they may only be transferred or sold to other state institutions, church institutions or institutions under public law.

b) a general register of goods of cultural interest ("bien de Interés Cultural", highest level of protection for movable and immovable goods). For these, as well as for those that have been declared inexportable ("declarados inexportables") and public goods ("bienes de titularidad pública"), only a temporary export license can be granted and trade is limited to the domestic market.

Export ban

Licensing requirements or export bans depend on the level of protection (cf. Art. 5 of Law No. 16/1985):

(a) Only temporary export possible for goods "of cultural interest" (highest level of protection). Any of these cultural goods that are illegally exported become state property and are declared inalienable and non-perishable (cf. Art. 29).

b) Mandatory licensing requirement for cultural property registered in the inventory of movable property (property not covered by a) but of special importance.

c) Mandatory licensing requirement for cultural goods older than 100 years.

In principle, cultural goods that are less than 100 years old do not require an export license.

Article 33 of Law No. 16/1985 provides that the value of the cultural object indicated in the export license application shall simultaneously constitute a corresponding irrevocable purchase offer to the Spanish State. If the export license is denied, the state has 6 months to accept the offer and another year to pay the purchase sum.

Sanctions

The export of a cultural object without the appropriate permit

  • constitutes smuggling if the value of the object exceeds €18,000. The range of punishment for this includes imprisonment and a fine of at least double, up to four times the value of the object.
  • is a misdemeanor if the value of the object is less than 18,000 €. The fine for this can be up to 600,000 €.

Authorities responsible for issuing export permits

Applications may be made to

to the self-governing regions, which have their own evaluation committees, for properties in their territory
otherwise directly to the Junta de Calificación, Valoración y Exportación de Bienes del Patrimonio Histórico Español.

Applications for the export licences can also be submitted electronically via the website of the Ministry of Culture. Applications can be made for permanent export, temporary export, and temporary export of cultural heritage.

Board of Qualification, Valuation and Exportation of Spanish Historical Heritage Assets
Subdirectorate General for the Protection of Historical HeritageGeneral Directorate of Fine Arts and Cultural Assets and Archives and LibrariesMinistry of Education, Culture and Sports
Planta 4.a
Plaza del Rey,  1
Madrid
Spain
Contact
Phone: 00 34 91 701 70 40; 00 34 91 701 70 35
Fax: 00 34 91 701 73 81
E-Mail: secretaria.bellasartes@mecd.es
homepage: https://www.culturaydeporte.gob.es/en/cultura/patrimonio/exportacionimportacion.html

Procedure

Costs are incurred for permanent and temporary export licences with a put option to countries outside the EU. The amount of duty charged depends on the value stated in the export application or the purchase price obtained (in the case of a temporary export licence with an option to sell). The following rates apply, to be applied individually to each object:
o on the first up to €6,000: 5%.
o from € 6,001 to € 60,000: 10%.
o from 60,001 to 600,000 €: 20%.
o from 600,001 €: 30%.

Duration
Three months from application
Costs
see the information above

Further Information

Detailed information on the regulations governing the export of cultural property from Spain can be found on the website of the Spanish Ministry of Culture ebsite des spanischen Kulturministeriums (Spanish).

Further Information is available in German language.

Disclaimer
The above information is based on the information available and deemed trustworthy at the time indicated, in particular the information provided by the State and the information as available in the UNESCO database. No guarantee can be given for the correctness and completeness of this information, nor can any liability be accepted for any damage that may occur. Legal regulations may change at any time without the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media being informed. The decision to acquire, import, export or place cultural property on the market is your sole responsibility. It is therefore recommended that you contact the relevant diplomatic or consular representation and/or the export authorities of the respective foreign country.