Tattoo law in Spain

Is this studio licensed?

Licensed locally

Spain has no single national tattoo regulation. The power sits with the seventeen Comunidades Autónomas, each of which sets its own hygiene-and-safety requirements for premises and its own rules on what a practitioner must have done to work. That means "is this studio legal in Spain?" has no Spain-wide answer, and you need the rule for the specific community. Andalusia is a useful illustration of the shape these take. There, Decreto 71/2017 (as amended by Decreto 130/2021) governs tattooing, micropigmentation and piercing. Since August 2017 a new establishment does not apply for prior authorisation; it files a declaración responsable with the town hall before it opens — a formal declaration that it meets the requirements, which shifts the check from before opening to inspection afterwards. The decree also sets requirements on sterilisation and disinfection, on using pigments and jewellery authorised by the Spanish medicines agency, and on waste handling, and it requires the person applying the technique to hold a recognised professional qualification. Other communities use different instruments and different thresholds — do not read Andalusia as Spain.

Example: Decreto 71/2017 de 13 de junio (Andalucía), modified by Decreto 130/2021 de 30 de marzo. Other autonomous communities legislate separately.

How old do you have to be?

There is no single Spanish age rule, and the variation is not trivial — the communities differ on the genuinely important question of when a young person can decide for themselves. In Andalusia, someone under 16 needs their own informed consent AND the express written consent of whoever holds parental authority, and the practitioner must refuse if that consent is not properly given. In Castilla y León the capacity to decide on a tattoo is reached at 16, though anyone under 18 must still attend with their parents so consent can be given at the studio. In Asturias an unemancipated minor who is judged sufficiently mature needs both their own informed consent and the express written consent of those with parental authority. The common thread is that written parental consent generally matters and the minor's own understanding is also weighed — but the age at which that shifts is set by the community, so ask the studio which rule applies where it is.

Set by each Comunidad Autónoma. Examples: Andalucía (Decreto 71/2017), Castilla y León, Asturias

What inks are legal here?

Tattoo inks here are covered by the EU-wide rules. Ink is governed EU-wide by the REACH restriction: non-compliant inks left the market on 5 January 2022, and Pigment Blue 15:3 and Pigment Green 7 became unusable on 4 January 2023, taking a large part of many artists' colour range with them.

Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/2081, amending Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH), entry 75

Inspections, and what to do if something goes wrong

Inspection and enforcement sit with the health authorities of the Comunidad Autónoma, with municipalities involved where a declaración responsable is filed locally.

Complaints go to the health authority of the Comunidad Autónoma the studio is in; in regions using a declaración responsable, the town hall also holds a record of the establishment.

Sources

• Junta de Andalucía — Tatuajes, micropigmentación y piercings — retrieved 2026-07-21
• Decreto 71/2017, de 13 de junio (BOJA) — condiciones higiénico-sanitarias del tatuaje, micropigmentación y piercing — retrieved 2026-07-21
• Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/2081 — REACH Annex XVII entry 75 — retrieved 2026-07-21
• BfR (German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) — FAQ on tattoo inks, describing the EU-wide REACH restriction — retrieved 2026-07-21

This is general information about the law, not legal advice, and it can go out of date. Every source above is linked so you can check the current position yourself.