Is it compulsory to vaccinate your children in Spain or can Spanish authorities force parents in certain situations?
The quick and easy answer is no. There is no law in Spain which says that it’s mandatory for your children to receive vaccines.
It is, however, highly recommended by the authorities and Spain has a very high number of people who are voluntarily vaccinated.
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According to the University of Barcelona Hospital Clinic: “Not getting vaccinated carries risks for both the unvaccinated individual and the community. The main risk for the unvaccinated person is contracting infections against which they are not protected, which can sometimes be serious”.
UNICEF Spain calls vaccines “One of the greatest achievements of modern medicine… They help reduce the spread of illness and prevent serious complications or even death, thus lowering the likelihood of epidemics”.
For example, the Hepatitis B1 vaccine is typically given in hospital when your baby is born.
Then at two months old they are usually given vaccinations against diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus and polio.
More boosters are given at 4 months and 11 months and at one year old they’re usually given the MMR measles, mumps and rubella vaccines. Various others are given at 3 years and 6 years old, and when they’re 12, they’ll be offered the HPV vaccine.
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Some parents may choose not to vaccinate their children due to fears over side effects, religious or other beliefs, a lack of trust in health authorities etc. There are numerous reasons.
While vaccination in Spain is not mandatory as previously stated, there are certain cases where the authorities and the courts can force you to vaccinate your kids, if for example it poses a risk to the health of the children or other children around them.
Most of these cases occur when parents disagree on whether to vaccinate their children or not. If this is the case and the courts get involved, they will decide what’s best for the children.
For example, in 2019 in Pontevedra in Galicia, the Provincial Court granted the request of a father to vaccinate his children, even though the mother opposed and had custody of the children.
During the Covid pandemic in 2022, there was another case in Valencia where a father refused to vaccinate his six-year old child. The courts sided with the mother and stated that the child must be vaccinated.
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In the case of divorced or separated parents, Article 156 of the Civil Code states: “If the parents live separately, parental authority shall be exercised by the parent with whom the child lives. However, the judicial authority, upon a reasoned request from the other parent, may, in the child’s best interests, grant parental authority to the applicant”.
If no agreement is reached, however, the court will make the decision, as stipulated in Article 86 of the Law on Voluntary Jurisdiction.
The situation is different in other EU countries. For example, in Germany parents can be fined can be up to €2,500 for refusing to vaccinate their kids against certain diseases.
In Italy, parents can be fined €500 and unvaccinated children can also be banned from schools.
In France, “a parent who fails to comply with his or her legal obligations to such an extent as to endanger the health of his or her minor can be punished with 2 years in prison and a fine of €30,000”, according to the government.