Setting up a cannabis association in Spain

How we set up your cannabis association, step by step

Every association is different, but the work always follows these phases. Timeframes depend mainly on the registry and the town hall, not on us:

1. First meeting and project review. We talk to the promoters, look at the expected number of members, the location and the operating model, and tell you frankly which points create risk.
2. Drafting the documents. We prepare the statutes, founding deed, board appointment, internal rules and admission protocol, and review them with you until they reflect how the association will really work.
3. Signing and tax ID. The founders sign the deed and statutes, and we apply for the tax ID with the Spanish Tax Agency using form 036.
4. Registration. We file the application with the competent registry. Organic Law 1/2002 sets a three-month time limit for registration (art. 30.1) and, if the registry asks for clarifications, we answer them.
5. Premises, licence and opening. We review the lease, handle the municipal paperwork and get the internal registers ready before the association starts operating.

Which registry the association is entered in

Organic Law 1/2002 distinguishes two registries. The National Registry of Associations, run by the Ministry of the Interior, registers associations with a nationwide scope or that do not operate mainly in a single autonomous community (art. 25). Each autonomous community also has its own registry for associations that operate mainly in its territory (art. 26). A cannabis social club usually has a local scope, so it is normally registered with its autonomous community. You can see the national procedure on the Ministry of the Interior website.

Some regions, such as Catalonia, the Basque Country, Andalusia, the Valencian Community and the Canary Islands, also have their own law on associations, with their own requirements and forms. That is why we adapt the statutes and the application to the region where your association will operate.

What we check to reduce criminal risk

Registering the association does not protect it on its own. Growing and distributing cannabis can be a crime against public health under article 368 of the Spanish Criminal Code, and in judgment 484/2015 of 7 September the full chamber of the Supreme Court convicted the managers of an association with 290 members for growing and distributing cannabis in an organised way. Based on that case law we check, among other points:

• That members are adults and regular users, and that this can be proven.
• That the association is a closed circle, with a controlled number of members and no access for outsiders.
• That there is no profit motive, hidden sale or sharing of profits.
• That the planned quantities are moderate and linked to a consumption forecast for the members.
• That consumption takes place on the premises, without cannabis reaching third parties.
• That there is no advertising, recruitment of members or promotion of consumption.

No document removes the risk completely, because the courts look at how the club really operates. What we can do is make sure the structure and the internal records are aligned with those criteria from the start.