Legal notice on a website in Spain: what it is, what it must include and who needs one
The legal notice on a website in Spain — the aviso legal — is the page that says who is behind it: name, address, an email, the tax number. Almost every business site has one in the footer, almost nobody has read theirs, and a surprising number were copied from another site with another business's name still inside. Here is what Spanish law requires it to contain, who must have one, and how to get it right in an afternoon.
This is not legal advice: we quote the law as published in the BOE (Spain's official gazette; consolidated text of the LSSI, updated to 23 January 2025). If your work is a regulated profession or needs a licence, check with your gestoría (accountant-and-paperwork office).
What the legal notice is (and what it is not)
It comes from Article 10 of Law 34/2002 on information society services (the LSSI). It requires anyone providing a service online to make certain details about themselves available permanently, easily, directly and free of charge — and the law itself says putting them on your website is enough. Hence the footer page.
What it is not: a contract, terms of use or a privacy policy. Templates pad it with paragraphs on intellectual property or courts that the law does not ask for, and some are simply false: if your photos come from a stock library, they are not «the property of the owner» whatever the text says.
Who must have one
Anyone whose website is an economic activity — a company or an autónomo (self-employed sole trader), whether or not you sell online. The annex to the LSSI expressly includes services not paid for by the people who receive them, «insofar as they constitute an economic activity for the provider».
- A hair salon, a garage, a gestoría or a yoga studio with a site showing hours, services and prices: yes, even if nothing is paid online.
- An autónomo with a page for plumbing or design work: yes, with their personal NIF (tax ID).
- A personal page with no economic activity — a CV, your social links, a portfolio without prices: no. But as soon as you list services or prices, the law sees an economic activity.
What the legal notice on your website must include
Article 10.1 lists seven points. Three apply to everyone; the rest only if they apply to you:
| Letter | What it asks for | Who? |
|---|---|---|
| a) | Name or registered company name, address, email and another direct contact channel | Everyone |
| b) | Registro Mercantil (companies register) details, or another public register | Companies |
| c) | Details of the administrative authorisation and the supervising body | If you need a prior licence |
| d) | Professional association, membership number, qualification | Regulated professions |
| e) | Tax identification number | Everyone |
| f) | If you show prices, whether they include taxes | Anyone showing prices |
| g) | Codes of conduct you have signed up to | Only if you have |
Two details almost nobody gets right. The registered name: «Peluquería Marta» is the sign over the door, but the one answerable is «Marta Vidal SL» or Marta Vidal with her NIF, and the notice has to name them. And letter f: if your site says «Haircut €18», it must be clear whether VAT is included. One line on the price list does it.
Legal notice, privacy and cookies: three different texts
Privacy policy
Required by Article 13 of the GDPR as soon as you collect any personal data: a contact form, an email, a booking. It says who the controller is, why you use the data and on what legal basis, how long you keep it, who else receives it and how people exercise their rights, including complaining to the AEPD (Spain's data protection authority). Spanish law (the LOPDGDD, Art. 11) allows it in layers: a summary next to the form and the full text on its own page.
Cookie policy and the banner
Required by Article 22.2 of the LSSI: non-technical cookies need the visitor's consent after they have been informed. The AEPD cookie guide, updated in July 2023 and enforceable from 11 January 2024, added what many sites still miss: if there is an «Accept» button, there must be a «Reject» button at the same level. A banner with only «Accept» and «Settings» no longer passes.
What happens if you don't have one
Failing to give the Article 10 details is a minor infringement (Art. 38.4 b of the LSSI), unless the failure on letters a) or f) is «significant», which makes it serious (Art. 38.3 b). The fines in Article 39: minor, up to €30,000; serious, €30,001 to €150,000.
We won't tell you how often small businesses are fined for this, because no published figure supports one, and scaring people with fines is what sellers of legal templates do. What we do know: a notice with another business's name in it says more about your site than any design.
Checklist: your legal notice in an afternoon
- Gather your legal or registered company name, your NIF and your tax address (it may not be the shop's).
- If you are a company, take the register details from your deeds: registry, volume, folio, sheet.
- If your work is a regulated profession or licensed, add those details.
- Write the notice with only what Article 10 asks for. No padding and no blank fields: «NIF:» with no number looks compliant and isn't.
- Check that your prices say whether VAT is included.
- List what your site collects (form, email, bookings) and write the privacy policy from that list, not from a template.
- Open your site in a private window, see which cookies it loads and compare them with your policy.
- Check the banner has «Reject» at the same level as «Accept», and that all three pages are linked in the footer.
Doing it yourself: the full sum
Quick, and once. Gathering your details and writing the legal notice: about 45 minutes with this guide. Do it whatever happens; it's yours and it's free.
Slow, a long weekend. A privacy policy written from what your site really collects, plus a cookie audit and a compliant banner: three to five hours if you have never done it. This is where the gestoría's quote appears.
What never ends. Every map, YouTube video, booking widget or pixel you add changes the cookies, and the policy falls behind. If you change address, legal form or email, the notice does too. Half an hour a month nobody finds: that is why almost every legal notice online is out of date.
What we do
On wiweb the legal notice, the privacy policy and the cookie policy write themselves from your business details, on every plan, the free one included. The notice carries only what Article 10 asks for: owner, address, contact, NIF and, for a company, the register details. If the owner, NIF or address is missing, the panel marks it in red, and without a NIF the page does not publish: better that than a notice that looks compliant and isn't. What only you know — professional association, licence — you add in your own words.
The cookie policy is set from what your site actually loads and changes when you add or remove a widget. The banner follows the AEPD's rule: accept, reject or configure, all at the same level. We explain it in how it works.
Creating and publishing your page is free, no card: start here. Grow (€9/month excluding VAT, or €90/year) adds your own domain, removes the mark, three languages and a weekly review of your site with improvements you approve. Full pricing.
The honest part: no generator replaces your gestoría if your case is unusual. What it does is make the normal case — nearly everyone's — right, and keep it right. What it costs to maintain a site yourself is in website maintenance: what it includes and costs; what a site needs beyond the legal pages, in this guide.
FAQ
Do I need a legal notice if my site only shows hours and services?
Yes, if it is the site of an economic activity, even if you sell nothing online. The LSSI covers services not paid for by their recipients when they are an economic activity for the provider.
Does an autónomo have to put their NIF on the website?
Yes: Article 10.1 e) asks for the tax identification number, and for an autónomo that is their personal NIF. If you'd rather not publish your home address, ask your gestoría which address to use; the law accepts residence, registered address or a permanent establishment in Spain.
Can I copy another website's legal notice?
The structure, yes, because the law sets it; the content, no, because it is your data. A notice with another business's name or NIF is worse than none.