A newsletter is one of the calmest ways to stay in touch with your customers: you write when you have something useful to share, and they decide whether to read it. But a commercial email isn’t just any message. In Spain there are clear rules about who you can write to and how, and knowing them before you start saves you trouble later. Here’s a plain-language summary (it isn’t legal advice; if you have specific doubts, check with a professional).
The two laws that matter
Two sets of rules work together when you email your customers:
- The LSSI (Law 34/2002 on information society services): among other things, it regulates promotional emails.
- The GDPR (the European data protection regulation): it governs how you handle people’s personal data, and an email address counts.
You don’t need to memorize them. What matters is understanding the ideas that repeat in both.
Rule 1: write only to people who said yes
Article 21 of the LSSI prohibits sending promotional emails that the recipient hasn’t previously requested or expressly authorized.
In plain terms: buying a mailing list, copying addresses from a website, or signing someone up because “they’ll surely like it” doesn’t count.
There is one exception worth knowing: if a prior contractual relationship already exists (for example, someone bought a service from you), you can write to them about your own company’s products or services that are similar to the ones they originally contracted, as long as you obtained their contact details lawfully. It’s a narrow exception: it doesn’t cover sending just anything.
Rule 2: the “yes” has to be a real “yes”
The GDPR insists that consent must be a clear action by the person. Its Recital 32 puts it this way: silence, pre-ticked boxes or inactivity should not constitute consent.
In practice, on your sign-up form:
- The “I’d like to receive the newsletter” checkbox must be unticked by default, and the person ticks it.
- It should be clear what they’ll receive and from whom.
- It’s a good idea to link your privacy policy, as we do on our legal page.
Rule 3: unsubscribing must be easy
Here the law is very specific. Article 22 of the LSSI says recipients can withdraw their consent at any time simply by notifying the sender, and that the procedures must be simple and free of charge. If the message is sent by email, it must include an email address or another valid electronic address where that right can be exercised.
The GDPR points the same way: Article 7(3) states that withdrawing consent must be as easy as giving it.
In practice: a visible “unsubscribe” link in every email that works the first time, with no passwords and no need to write a letter. If signing up took one click, leaving should take one too.
And if I don’t get it right?
The penalties exist, and they aren’t symbolic. Under the LSSI, sending commercial emails in bulk (or insistently to the same person) in breach of Article 21 is a serious infringement, with fines from 30,001 to 150,000 euros. If the breach falls short of that, it counts as minor, with fines of up to 30,000 euros.
We don’t say this to scare you: we say it because complying is simple when you think about it from the start, and much more awkward when you have to fix it afterwards.
A short checklist before you hit “send”
- Did everyone on my list sign up of their own free will?
- Is the subscription checkbox unticked by default?
- Do I say clearly who is writing and what they’ll receive?
- Does every email include an unsubscribe link that works?
- Does my privacy policy explain what I do with the data?
If all five answers are “yes,” you’re on the right track. A well-made newsletter isn’t only lawful: it’s also nicer to receive, because it’s read by people who genuinely want to read it.
And if you’re curious about having content prepared and published automatically without losing control of what goes out, we explain how it works in this article about digital products that publish themselves and in social media without the stress.
If you’re thinking about setting up your newsletter and want to talk it through calmly, tell us about your project.
