Attorney-client communications in Spain are not privileged per se, but lawyers have the right and the obligation not to disclose confidential information, including but not limited to communications with clients. Although clients are not subjected to the same duty of secrecy, they cannot be forced to disclose attorney-client communications in their possession. In criminal proceedings, where the parties can be forced to produce documents under certain circumstances, copies of attorney-client communications held by the client are also safeguarded by the constitutional right of the client to avoid self-incrimination and not to provide documents that could be used against them.
According to article 39 of the current General Statute on the Spanish Legal Profession (Estatuto General de la Abogacía Española or EGAE), approved on 2 March 2021, and as a consequence of the Akzo ruling rendered by the European Court of Justice on 14 September 2010, in-house lawyers are now treated in the same way as external lawyers, but it is uncertain whether this Spanish protection for in-house lawyers may apply in case of investigations conducted by EU authorities.
Professional secrecy applies to all information and documents exchanged between in-house lawyers, and between them and their companies, provided that they have become aware of, issued or received through the course of their professional activity.
The legal obligation of professional secrecy, that is, the obligation not to disclose legal communications and documents prepared by or for lawyers, applies to foreign lawyers when practicing in Spain either on a temporary or permanent basis.
Spanish law distinguishes between lawyers who are nationals of a Member State of the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) and obtained their professional qualification in one of those states, and lawyers from other jurisdictions. Lawyers from an EU or EEA Member State can practice in Spain either on a permanent or on a temporary basis, using the qualification obtained in their jurisdiction, provided that they are registered in one of the Spanish bar associations. Those professionals must fulfil the same obligations as Spanish lawyers, in addition to the professional obligations imposed on them by their jurisdiction of origin, especially the obligation of confidentiality. On the other hand, lawyers who are not nationals of an EU or EEA Member State may only practice in Spain on a permanent basis and once their qualifications have been officially validated. Such professionals also have the same obligations as Spanish lawyers, including, but not limited to confidentiality.
Finally, there is a generic statement in the Code of Conduct for Spanish Lawyers (Código Deontológico de la Abogacía Española or CDAE) that "communications with foreign lawyers should be treated as sensitive or confidential."
The concept of professional secrecy is recognized by Spanish law as a right and duty of lawyers. In turn, a lawyer is any law graduate who is professionally instructed to defend parties in any kind of proceedings or to provide legal advice.
Therefore, privilege cannot be extended to nonlegal professionals despite the fact that such professionals may give advice on related issues, such as accounting matters. In addition, and as an example of the above, Spanish case law has stated that in the context of a tax inspection, the courts may compel auditors to disclose information gathered from their clients, since professional secrecy does not apply to nonlegal professionals.