Safeguarding international schools in Spain: country guide

A school in Spain answers first to the education administration that registers it. In practice that is usually the regional government, called an autonomous community. Ask your Head which office holds your school's registration.

Schools that teach a foreign education system, such as a British or American one, fall under Royal Decree 806/1993. All of them must be entered in the public register of the competent education administration (Article 7).

For the compulsory years, the decree sets two models. A school that adds Spanish language and culture, and the regional language where there is one, needs an authorisation to open and run (Articles 10 and 13).

A school that teaches only the foreign system registers under Article 18 and cannot enrol Spanish nationals, unless the child also holds that country's nationality. Ask your Head which model applies to your school.

A school that follows the Spanish curriculum and adds English or the International Baccalaureate (IB) is a private school under the Education Act (Organic Law 2/2006).

The UK government publishes inspection reports for British Schools Overseas (BSO), and its list includes schools in Spain.

Your school may also hold IB authorisation or belong to the Council of International Schools (CIS) or the Council of British International Schools (COBIS). Read about COBIS and BSO standards.

Yes. Article 15 of Organic Law 8/2021 says anyone who sees signs of violence against a child must tell the competent authority at once. If the facts could be a crime, they must also tell the police, the public prosecutor or a court.

Article 16 sets a stronger duty for people who teach or care for children, and it names school staff. They must tell the competent social services at once when they know of, or see signs of, possible violence.

If the child's health or safety may be under threat, they must also tell the police or the public prosecutor at once. Staff must also give the child the help they need.

A second law adds a duty. Under Article 262 of the Criminal Procedure Act, people who learn of a public crime through work must report it at once to the prosecutor or a court.

Whether a case counts as a crime is a legal question, so ask counsel. Read the wider picture in mandatory reporting laws for international schools.

Article 2 of the 2021 law binds every person and organisation working in Spain, public or private. A school run by a company abroad is covered if it has an establishment in Spain.

Article 35 requires every school with students under 18 to have a welfare and protection coordinator, under the supervision of the Head or owner. The competent education authorities, usually regional, set the requirements and decide if the role goes to current staff or a new hire.

The coordinator promotes training for staff and students, coordinates cases that need social services and is the main contact for concerns about violence. The law also tells the coordinator to push for immediate police contact when a child's safety is at risk.

Article 34 asks the education authorities to write protocols for abuse, bullying, cyberbullying, sexual harassment, gender-based violence, domestic violence, suicide and self-harm. Schools must apply them whoever owns the school.

Article 18 adds that every school must tell children, at the start of each school year, how to report violence and who is responsible. Schools must also share helpline details from the start and keep that information where children can see it.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 112 now. Then follow your school's child protection procedure and tell your DSL the same day. Put these numbers where staff and students can see them.

The numbers below were last checked on 19 October 2026. Check them again before you print them on posters.

• 112: the emergency number for all of Spain, free to call.
• 062: the Guardia Civil emergency line, answered at all hours.
• 116 111 and 900 20 20 10: the ANAR helpline for children, listed by Child Helpline International as free, in Spanish and open 24 hours.
• 900 018 018: the Education Ministry's line on bullying and mistreatment in schools, free and open 24 hours.
• Local social services: the number depends on your town and region, so look it up and write it into your policy.
• Your DSL: tell them the same day, every time.

Accreditors can use the Expectations for School Communities, published by the International Task Force on Child Protection (ITFCP), to review a policy. Spanish law sets its own duties, so the two can differ. The first gap is who receives the report.

English guidance points to the local authority's children's services. Spanish law names the competent social services, the police and the public prosecutor.

The second gap is speed. Spanish law says staff report at once, and the duty sits with each adult who sees signs. A policy that only says to tell the DSL may not cover that, so ask counsel whether it does.

The third gap is the threshold. The duty starts at signs of violence, so staff do not need proof. Your policy can say that staff report the first sign, and the DSL decides with counsel which legal category fits.

Your DSL may be able to hold the coordinator role, but your region sets the requirements, so check before you assume it. Name the person under both titles in your policy.

Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) is guidance for schools in England and has no legal force in Spain. Schools often model their policy on it, which works if the policy also names the Spanish duties. See which parts of KCSIE travel abroad.

Spain applies the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and its own law, Organic Law 3/2018. The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) is the regulator. Article 34 of the Spanish law lists schools that offer any level of education set out in education law among those that must appoint a data protection officer.

The two Spanish laws reviewed for this guide set no rule that safeguarding records must stay in Spain. GDPR does limit transfers to countries outside the EU and the wider European Economic Area. A transfer needs an adequacy decision or safeguards such as standard data protection clauses, unless a narrow exception applies.

Sending records to a head office, a cloud host or a software supplier outside the EU counts as a transfer. Ask each supplier where the data sits and who can read it.

Under Article 7 of the Spanish law, a child's own consent can support the use of their data only if the child is over 14. For younger children a parent or guardian must consent. A legal duty can also be the basis for using data (Article 8), so ask your data protection officer which basis fits each record.

Article 16 of the 2021 law adds one duty. School staff who see a possible breach of the data protection rules on a child's personal data must tell the AEPD at once.

Spanish is the official language of the State, and other Spanish languages are also official in their own regions (Constitution, Article 3). Name one confident Spanish speaker on the safeguarding team. Child Helpline International lists the ANAR line as Spanish only, so post its details in Spanish, and explain them in the languages your families use.

Corporal punishment is banned in all settings in Spain, according to the End Corporal Punishment country report. Schools have been barred from it since 1985, and the 2021 law counts physical, humiliating and degrading punishment as violence. Say so in induction for staff from countries where it is still allowed.

Anyone in regular contact with children needs a certificate from the Central Register of Sex Offenders and Human Trafficking (Article 57). The rule covers paid and unpaid roles. Article 32 tells Heads and owners to check certificates for teachers, support staff and contractors.

Royal Decree 1110/2015 (Article 9) adds a rule for people of foreign origin or another nationality. They must also give a certificate of no convictions from their country of origin or nationality. EU nationals are excused from that part, because the register asks their country of nationality itself.

If an EU national's country of origin is a different country, they still give a certificate from there. Check how this applies to your hires, and read safer recruitment steps for international schools.

This list fits on one page. Each item comes from the Spanish rules above.

• Find out who your school has named as welfare and protection coordinator, and read your region's rules for the role.
• Collect your region's school protocols for abuse, bullying, cyberbullying, self-harm and suicide.
• Write one reporting route naming the DSL, the coordinator, social services and the local numbers.
• Tell children at the start of each school year how to report violence and who is responsible, and share the helplines from the start.
• Check the register certificate for every adult who works with children, including contractors and volunteers.
• Ask your data protection officer where safeguarding records sit and who can read them.
• Book time with local counsel and write down the date and the advice.

No. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and regional rules differ, so confirm the current wording with local counsel and the relevant education authority.

Every legal point here was read on 19 October 2026 from the official Spanish and EU texts listed below. Several sources are in Spanish, so have a Spanish speaker check the wording that matters most to your school.