SPAIN

A 2009 study by the Defensor del Pueblo (ombudsman) on centres for children without parental care found that “disciplinary regimes” varied widely between centres. While some centres applied positive disciplinary techniques, others relied more on punitive sanctions. In some centres, punishments included tying two children together, preventing children from attending school and isolating children. The report recommends increased regulation at a regional level and states that regulations must not directly or indirectly provide for corporal punishment or other types of punishment which violate children’s rights.

(Defensor del Pueblo, 2009, Centros de Protección de Menores con Trastornos de Conducta y en Situación de Difficultad Social)

A study carried out in 2007 examined five European countries: Sweden, Austria, Germany, France and Spain. Five thousand parents (1,000 in each nation) were interviewed about their use of and attitude towards corporal punishment, their own experiences of violence and their knowledge and beliefs about the law. 55% of Spanish parents said they had “mildly” slapped their child on the face and 80% had slapped their child on the bottom. 31% had given their child a “resounding” slap on the face and 6.7% had beaten their child with an object. 16% of Spanish parents never used corporal punishment. 84% agreed that “one should try to use as little corporal punishment as possible” and 85% agreed that “non-violent child-rearing is the ideal”.

See also ‘Comparative research’ above.

(Bussmann, K. D., 2009, The Effect of Banning Corporal Punishment in Europe: A Five-Nation Comparison, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg)
Download report here.