Arrested in Ibiza: clubs, quantities and the season
The Ibiza caseload is unusually narrow and unusually predictable: substances found at club entrances, on boats and in accommodation, plus the ordinary consequences of an intense nightlife season. The Spanish clock applies — 72 hours — and what decides the case is not the quantity alone.
Where the line is drawn
Spanish law distinguishes possession for personal consumption, which is dealt with administratively when it occurs in public places, from possession for supply, which is a criminal offence. There is no single figure that separates them.
What the courts examine is the whole picture: the amount, how it was divided, whether scales or packaging were present, cash carried, messages on the phone, and the setting in which it was found. A quantity consistent with personal use, held in one piece, with no cash and no messages, is a different case from the same quantity in ten wraps.
- Club entrance searches are routine and are the origin of most of these files.
- Boat parties add a jurisdiction question and, frequently, several suspects for one find.
- Group cases. Where several people share accommodation or a vessel, attribution has to be established rather than assumed.
- Supply among friends, including passing something on at cost, can meet the definition of supply.
- Seasonal workers, for whom a conviction has employment and immigration consequences beyond the case itself.
The Italian equivalent of this assessment, and the arguments used, are in the guide on drug charges.
Everyone is leaving
The single biggest practical problem is that the person flies home within days while the proceedings continue. An address for service and a lawyer on record before departure are what keep the case answerable.
The Spanish clock, in short
In Ibiza as everywhere in Spain the outer limit is 72 hours, and most detentions are in fact resolved within the first day or two. The judge then releases you, releases you on conditions with or without bail, or orders pre-trial custody. The full framework is in the guide for Spain.
Frequently asked questions
How much is 'personal use' in Spain?
There is no fixed figure. Amount, packaging, cash, messages and the setting are weighed together, and the same quantity produces different outcomes.
They searched me at the club entrance.
Entrance searches are routine and are the origin of most of these cases. What matters is what else was found alongside the substance.
We were several on a boat.
Attribution must be established for each person, not inferred from presence. Who owned, who booked and what the messages show are the evidence.
I fly home this week.
The case continues without you. Leave an address for service and a lawyer on record before departure.
If this is happening now
With a name and the place of the arrest in Ibiza, the position can be established quickly. First contact is free and covered by professional privilege, at any hour.