Choose the right Spain CTIS guide

The main Spain-specific differences

Spanish participant documents are not generic EU translations. AEMPS Annex VIIIA gives a national model for the Patient Information Sheet and Informed Consent Form. The combined document should not exceed 15 pages, including the consent form. It should use Arial or Times New Roman at 11 points or larger, line spacing of at least 1.5 and normal margins. Its personal-data appendix should not exceed two pages. The Spain patient information and consent guide explains the required content.

Spain has specific consent rules for minors. Parents or the legal representative consent first. A child younger than 12 must be heard when sufficiently mature. A participant aged 12 or older must also consent. One parent may sign when the other parent's express or tacit agreement is sufficiently documented. The Spain minor consent guide maps the document and signature logic.

Biological samples need their own check. Trial-purpose collection should follow the national PIS wording. Storage or future use after the trial must comply with Spanish biomedical-research and biobank rules. AEMPS Annex XIII is used in the Part II biological-sample section. The Spain secondary-use consent guide separates trial use from optional future use.

Spain also requires a financial budget and proof of insurance or an applicable alternative. The AEMPS insurance models cover standard trials, non-commercial trials and low-intervention trials. Site suitability is submitted for each site and is the Part II document that AEMPS expressly identifies as signed at submission.

Before a Spanish site can start

CTIS authorisation is not the only operational step. Before a Spanish site starts the trial, the sponsor needs the favourable CEIm opinion, the AEMPS authorisation decision, a signed contract with the site and activation of the site in the Spanish Clinical Studies Registry, REec.

Other language versions

Read this guide in Spanish.

Official sources and resources

  1. AEMPS information on CTIS and Regulation (EU) No 536/2014, updated 29 December 2025.
  2. AEMPS CTIS Guidance for Sponsors, Spain, Version 2, June 2023.
  3. AEMPS Instruction Document for Conducting Clinical Trials in Spain, Version 19, 24 November 2023.
  4. AEMPS and CEIm Collaboration and Information Exchange Memorandum, Version 20 February 2025.
  5. AEMPS annexes for conducting clinical trials in Spain, updated 27 April 2026.
  6. Royal Decree 1090/2015 on clinical trials with medicinal products, consolidated text.
  7. Regulation (EU) No 536/2014 on clinical trials, 16 April 2014.
  8. EudraLex Volume 10 clinical trials guidance, including the July 2026 Clinical Trials Regulation questions and answers.

Last reviewed: 23 September 2026