Hand Kiss Can Be Crime in Spain
Sunday, 2026/04/05250 words4 minutes495 reads
Spain's Supreme Court has delivered a landmark ruling establishing that kissing a woman's hand without consent constitutes sexual assault. The case originated in 2023 when a man approached a woman at a Madrid bus stop, kissed her hand uninvited, and gestured that she should follow him while indicating he would pay her.
Initially convicted of sexual assault and fined €1,620, the man appealed to the Supreme Court, contending that his actions involved neither violence nor intimidation. His defense argued that the victim may have felt bothered or experienced an intrusion into her personal space, but that her sexual integrity was never genuinely threatened. They emphasized that the incident occurred in broad daylight in a public location near a police station, suggesting it should be classified as the lesser offense of public sexual harassment.
The Supreme Court rejected this argument, ruling that the encounter transcended mere harassment due to its "clear sexual component." The court asserted that women cannot be expected to tolerate unsolicited physical contact with obvious sexual connotations, regardless of the setting.
Two magistrates issued dissenting opinions, characterizing hand-kissing as an obsolete cultural greeting comparable to cheek-kissing or handshaking, devoid of inherent sexual nature. This ruling reflects Spain's evolving legal landscape following the 2022 "Only yes means yes" legislation, which prioritized consent and eliminated the requirement to prove violence or intimidation in sexual assault cases. The debate intensified after football federation president Luis Rubiales was convicted in 2025 for kissing player Jenni Hermoso without consent during World Cup celebrations.
