The crime of harassment is regulated in 172 ter of the Penal Code and carries a prison sentence of 3 months to 2 years or a fine of 6 to 24 months. The criminal conduct consists of harassing someone by insistently and repeatedly, and without being legitimately authorized to do so, any of the following behaviors, thus altering the normal development of his or her daily life:

• Watching, pursuing or seeking their physical proximity.
• Establish or attempt to establish contact with her, through any means of communication or through third parties.
• By misusing your personal data, purchasing products or goods, or contracting services, or having third parties contact you.
• Attempt against his freedom or against his patrimony, or against the freedom or patrimony of a person close to him.

What requirements must be met for the facts to constitute the crime of harassment? According to the Supreme Court, in STS 554/2017, of July 12, the following elements must be present:

• That the activity be insistent and reiterated.
• As a negative element of the type, it is required that the active subject is not legitimately authorized to do so.
• That produces a serious alteration of the victim’s daily life.

In addition to the criminal modalities described above, the Penal Code provides for several aggravated modalities of the crime of harassment:

1. When the victim is in a situation of special vulnerability, in which case a prison sentence of 6 months to 2 years shall be imposed.
2. When the victim is or has been the spouse or woman linked to the perpetrator by an analogous relationship of affectivity, descendant, ascendant, sibling of the victim or of the spouse or cohabitant, any person integrated in the nucleus of their family cohabitation, or person who, due to their special vulnerability, is subject to custody or guardianship in public or private centers. In this case, the applicable penalty is imprisonment from 1 to 2 years or community service from 60 to 120 days, and it is not necessary for the victim to report the crime for prosecution.

Lastly, since the reform introduced by Organic Law 10/2022, the Criminal Code regulates two specific types of harassment:

1. On the one hand, section 5 of art. 172 ter of the Criminal Code punishes the person who, without the consent of the owner, uses his image to make advertisements or open false profiles on social networks, contact pages or any means of public dissemination, causing a situation of harassment, bullying or humiliation. This criminal modality is punishable by a prison sentence of 3 months to 1 year or a fine of 6 to 12 months.
2. On the other hand, art. 172 quater of the Penal Code punishes anyone who, with the aim of obstructing the exercise of the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy, harasses a woman by means of annoying, offensive, intimidating or coercive acts that undermine her freedom. The penalty associated with this type of crime is imprisonment from 3 months to 1 year or community service from 31 to 80 days.