This sections sets out the regulations applicable to “.es” domain names, the rates for assignment and renewal, and the regulatory standards for operational procedures managed by the Red.es “.es” domain names registry.
On this page you can find information about:
“.es” Domain Names National Plan
The Domain Names National Plan under the country code for Spain (“.es”) is the regulatory text par excellence regulating the “.es” domain names system, and rolls out the criteria for assignment established for “.es” domain names.
Domain Names National Plan
Some of the most important aspects provided for in the “.es” Domain Names National Plan are as follows:
• A domain is automatically assigned if it is free (except for the “.gob.es” and “edu.es” extensions).
• Any individual or legal person with interests in or links to Spain has the right to get the domain.
• Various restrictions which were previously included have been deleted in the interest of making registration more flexible.
• Furthermore, the syntax rules (*) for “.es” domain names are defined.
• For second level domains, a maximum of 63 and a minimum of 3.
• For third level domains, a maximum of 63 and a minimum of 2.
(*) Syntax rules.
The only characters allowed for a domain name are:
• Those in the Spanish alphabet: from “a” to “z”.
• Numbers from 0 to 9.
• The dash: “-” (Cannot be the first or last character in the name).
• Multilingual letters: "á,à, é,è,í,ï,ó,ò,ú,ü,ñ,ç,l·l".
There is no distinction between upper and lower case.
The maximum and minimum lengths of a domain name are:
The aim of these updates is to streamline and increase the flexibility of the governing regulations and the process for the assignment of “.es” domain names.
Paragraph Seven of the “.es” Domain Names National Plan provides for approval by the Public Corporate Entity Red.es of a list of banned terms and four lists of reserved terms which limit the concept of free assignment.
The lists were approved by the Public Corporate Entity Red.es Chairman's Directive dated 12 September 2005, and, under paragraph four of it they have been supplemented and updated by the following Resolutions:
• Red.es CEO's Resolution of 28 June 2006.
• Red.es CEO's Resolution of 27 September 2007.
• Red.es CEO's Resolution of 29 October 2007.
• Red.es CEO's Resolution of 16 May 2011.
• Red.es CEO's Resolution of 27 February 2014.
• The list of banned terms includes a reduced and updated list of Internet terms which cannot be used as domain names due to the fact that they might cause confusion.
• There are three lists of reserved terms which cannot be subject to free assignment:
1. The first gives reserved status to a list of domain names relating to the names of constitutional bodies or other State institutions, as well as terms relating to the Royal Family that have not been previously assigned and are vacant.
2. The second gives reserved status to domain names relating to names of officially recognised international and supranational organisations, that have not been previously registered or which are vacant.
3. The third gives reserved status to an updated list of domain names consisting of place names matching the official names of territorial Public Authorities that have not been previously assigned or which are vacant.
“.es” domain procedures directive
The provisions and regulations in the “.es” Domain Names National Plan relating to procedures managed by and associated with the registration of “.es” domain names is specified in the Directive of the General Director of Red.es, of 2 January 2010, which sets out the procedures applicable to assignment and other transactions associated with registration of “.es” domain name
Directive for the “.es” domain name Reassignment Procedure in the public interest.
You can see the Directive from the General Director of the Public Corporate Entity Red.es establishing the procedure for reassigning domain names of exceptional general interest below.
Directive for the Special Cancellation Procedure for database cleansing
In this section, you can see the Directive from the General Director of Red.es which regulates and sets out the procedure for special cancellation for cleansing the database associated with the “.es” domain names registry.
Further information
Directive on applicable rates.
You can see the Directive from the General Director of the Public Corporate Entity Red.es, establishing the rates for public prices for assignment, renewal and other registration operations for domain names under the country code for Spain (".es”) below.
Other applicable regulations
1. Main Applicable Regulations.
The Public Corporate Entity Red.es was incorporated in accordance with the provisions of article 84, paragraph 1a 2) of Law 40/2015, of 1 October, on the Public Sector Legal Regime. The contracting regime is governed by the relevant provisions in public sector contract legislation (Law 9/2017, of 8 November, on Public Sector Contracts).
The Public Corporate Entity Red.es is the Assignment Authority responsible for managing the registration of domain names and Internet addresses under the country code for Spain “.es”, according to the registration policy determined by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation and the relevant regulations, in accordance with the provisions of Additional Provision Sixteen of Law 9/2014 of 9 May on Telecommunications. .
The General Telecommunications Act 9/2014, of 9 May, defines the domain name as a public resource for numbering, routing and by name. It is a publicly owned resource and, therefore, its assignment grants a right of use but not its ownership. The same regulatory text provides that the procedures for granting these rights over public resources will be open, objective, non-discriminatory, proportionate and transparent.
Law 34/2002, of 11 July, on Information Society Services and E-Commerce, regulates a series of highly important sections in the operation of “.es” domain name registration. Additional Provision Six regulates the “.es" domain name assignment system. Furthermore, Additional Provision Eight contains the collaboration of the domain name registers in Spain in the fight against illegal activities. Finally, Additional Provision Nine sets up a collaborative system for management of cybersecurity incidents affecting the Internet network.
2. Related regulations.
Law 56/2007, of 28 December, on Information Society Promotion Measures .
Law 9/2017, of 8 November, on Public Sector Contracts. Red.es is part of the public sector as it is a public corporate entity. Its procurement regime is wholly subject to all the regulations provided for in this regulatory text.
Law 17/2001, of 7 December, on Trademarks, article 34 "Rights granted by the trademark", in paragraph 3, provides that the holder of the trademark granted may prohibit: “f) The use of the mark on internet communications networks and as a domain name.”
Additional Provision Eighteen of Law 14/2000, of 29 December, on Fiscal, Administrative and Social Measures, as amended by Article 70 of Law 24/2001, of 27 December, on Fiscal, Administrative and Social Measures includes the “Procedure for the assignment of domain names and addresses under the country code corresponding to Spain (.es)".
Royal Decree 164/2002, of 8 February, approving the Statute of the Public Corporate Entity Red.es (last amendment on 25 August 2018).
3. Public Corporate Entity Red.es Directives and Resolutions
Directive from the Chairman of Red.es dated 12 September 2005, approving the lists of banned or reserved terms for second level ”.es” domain names. These lists will be updated by the resolutions listed in the “”.es” Domain Names National Plan” section.
Resolution from the Director General of the Public Corporate Entity Red.es, dated 4 December 2003, which approves the declaration forms, deadlines and payment methods for the fee for assigning the limited resource of domain names and Internet addresses.
Resolution of 10 February 2000 of the General Secretariat of Communications, designating the Public Entity Red Técnica Española de Televisión as the competent authority to manage the Registry of Internet domain names under the country code for Spain
Directive from the General Director of the Public Corporate Entity Red.es on multilingual characters in “.es”.
Resolution of the General Director of the Public Corporate Entity Red.es amending the directive on multilingual characters in “.es”, that is to say, that included in the previous point.
RPSI
Reuse of Public Sector Information (RPSI)
Royal Decree 1495/2011, of 24 October, implementing Law 37/2007, of 16 November, regarding the State public sector, establishes theobligation of bodies forming part of the General State Administration Services and other bodies and entities referred to by said legislation to approve
"... their own plans for measures to promote the reuse of public sector information, through electronic media within the scope of their own areas of competence".
The Red.es Open Data Initiative is governed by said Plan of Measures to Promote Reuse Open Data data is a philosophy and practice seeking to ensure that certain public data are freely available to everyone, with no copyright restrictions, patents or other control mechanisms. The data are published in raw format (unprocessed) and in formats that facilitate reuse.
With respect to application of the “.es” Domain Plan, a text file is available for download containing a list of active ".es" domain names. Furthermore, for those cases where the holder is a legal entity, the file also includes the name of the holder and their NIF (Spanish tax code). These files will be accessed upon request and their use will be regulated according to the actions defined in the following resolution.
