What are the rules on carrying knives in Spain?

Spain is not known as a particularly dangerous country. Violent crime levels are relatively low compared to many other countries, gun laws are very tight, and Spain has nowhere near the sorts of problems with knife crime that countries.

That being said, assaults using knives have increased rather significantly in Spain recent years, rising by 35 percent since 2019. Murders committed using knives, known as 'armas blancas' in Spanish, stood at 93 in the period between January and November 2022.

READ ALSO: What's the law on guns in Spain?

As a result of this increase, Spanish police are likely to be paying closer attention to knives and bladed weapons. In fact, 27,859 bladed weapons recovered by the Spanish authorities in 2022 and knife laws are quite tight in Spain, generally speaking.

But there are of course certain situations in which carrying a knife could be entirely useful or justifiable. Many people in Spain enjoy hunting, for example, and what about if you're planning to spend the day on the beach and need a blade to cut into your fruit or sandwiches? How about collector's items?

Are you legally able to carry a knife for that purpose, and what does Spanish law say?

The Local breaks it all down below.

The law

Spain's Citizen Security Law makes it very clear that you cannot illegally carry or use weapons or any other object that poses a risk to people on public roads, in public spaces or establishments.

In terms of legislation that specifically focuses on knives, the Spanish Royal Decree 137/1993 of the Weapons Regulations, lists the types of blades that are prohibited in Article 4:

1. The manufacture, importation, circulation, advertising, sale and purchase, possession and use of the following weapons or their imitations shall be prohibited:

"Batons, daggers of any kind and so-called automatic knives. For these purposes, bladed weapons with a blade of less than 11 centimetres, two-edged and pointed, shall be considered as daggers."

So, to be clear, police-like batons (of any kind) are prohibited, as are so-called 'automatic' knives (meaning those that open when you press a button or mechanism) or daggers that are less than 11cm in length but are double-edged and are pointed, measured from the rim to the edge of the handle.

Similarly, machetes and swords are outlawed.

11cm or less

This is what Spanish law on carrying knives seems to boil down to: whether the blade is less than 11cm or not, and whether or not it is double-edged or not. Put very simply, single edged blades that are less than 11cm measured from the rim of the handle the end of the blade, and are not considered 'automatic', can be legally carried in Spain.

That's to say, your blunt fruit knife is safe to carry around but a 12cm blade, or double-edged knife, is not. 

Though it is not entirely clear why this specific 11cm limit was decided upon, it seems most likely that this was the length deemed dangerous or potentially life-threatening if used in an attack.

The owner or bearer of the knife must be of legal age (18 years old or older) and any double-edged knives that you might have, for whatever purpose, as well as knives longer then 11cm (things you could theoretically have in the kitchen or for collector's proposes) cannot be removed from private property.

Similarly, professionals who need larger blades for work purposes, say butchers or hunters, are allowed to have longer blades than this.

Transporting blades

In Spain, technically speaking if you want to transport these sorts of knives that are outside the legal rules, you should always carry it in its box or packaging. Having the receipt would be a bonus if you're stopped by police, and these sorts of non-legal carry blades must go in the boot of the car when being transported.

So say for example you're going hunting and have a big hunting knife with you. When you're travelling to and from the location, the knife should be packaged in the boot of your card and not on your person.

Acceptable blades in Spain

• Non-automatic knives less than 11cm in length.
• Single-edged daggers less than 11cm in length.
• Non-automatic knives longer than 11 cm but only for use in the home, professional or collector's purposes.
  
  

Fines and Punishments

According to the Spain's Interior Ministry, fines for the manufacture and distribution of non-sanctioned weapons, including illegal blades, are punishable by some hefty fines:

"In the case of edged weapons, compressed air weapons or other weapons in categories 4 to 7, the manufacture, repair, storage, distribution and trade of prohibited weapons or regulated weapons without authorisation... with fines of €300.51 to €30,050.61, closure of factories, premises and establishments for up to six months and seizure of the instruments or effects used to commit the offence."

For more minor offences involving knives, namely possession in public, the law states that:

"Bladed weapons, compressed air weapons, or other weapons included in categories 4 and 7... [are punishable] with fines of up to €300.51."

Though Royal Decree 137/1993 does also state that ultimately, the punishment for carrying illegal weapons you receive (whether a knife or any other type) rests with the police officer that stops you:

"It is left to the prudent judgement of the authorities and their agents to assess whether or not the bearer of the weapons needs to carry them, depending on the occasion, moment or circumstance, especially in the case of weapons covered by B licences, for security reasons."