Volunteers at festivals: is it legal in Spain? 2026 guide

A company that organises a festival cannot have volunteers. Law 45/2015 of 14 October on Volunteering only recognises volunteering that is channelled through non-profit organisations. And someone who covers a shift set by the promoter in exchange for a pass and drinks is, as far as the Labour Inspectorate is concerned, an unregistered worker.

Can a for-profit festival have volunteers?

No. Law 45/2015 defines volunteering as «el conjunto de actividades de interés general desarrolladas por personas físicas» ("the set of activities of general interest carried out by individuals") that meet four conditions at once, set out in article 3.1. The fourth is the one that rules out the promoter: the activity must be carried out «a través de entidades de voluntariado con arreglo a programas concretos» ("through volunteering organisations under specific programmes"). Article 13.1.b) imposes a requirement on those organisations with no exceptions: «Carecer de ánimo de lucro» ("Be non-profit").

A limited company that sells tickets, charges for drinks and distributes profits is not a volunteering organisation. At most, it can do what article 21 allows: «las empresas podrán promover y participar en programas de voluntariado» ("companies may promote and take part in volunteering programmes"), as long as they serve the general interest. That is corporate volunteering, where a company's employees work with an NGO. It is not the same as a call for "volunteers" to set up bars, direct campers or scan tickets at the company's own festival.

The law also does not treat as volunteering what is done through other channels. Article 3.3.a) excludes activities «aisladas o esporádicas, periódicas o no, prestadas al margen de entidades de voluntariado» ("isolated or sporadic, whether periodic or not, carried out outside volunteering organisations"), and 3.3.c) excludes «las que se realicen en virtud de una relación laboral, funcionarial, mercantil» ("those carried out under an employment, civil-service or commercial relationship").

What exactly does Law 45/2015 on Volunteering say?

Article 3.1 of Law 45/2015 sets four cumulative requirements. If one fails, there is no volunteering:

1. 1«Que tengan carácter solidario.» ("That they are charitable in nature.")
2. 2«Que su realización sea libre, sin que tengan su causa en una obligación personal o deber jurídico». ("That they are carried out freely, not arising from a personal obligation or legal duty.")
3. 3«Que se lleven a cabo sin contraprestación económica o material», sin perjuicio de los gastos reembolsables. ("That they are carried out without financial or material consideration", without prejudice to reimbursable expenses.)
4. 4«Que se desarrollen a través de entidades de voluntariado con arreglo a programas concretos». ("That they are carried out through volunteering organisations under specific programmes.")

The third requirement is the one that causes the most trouble at festivals. Article 10.1.f) gives volunteers the right to have the organisation reimburse «los gastos realizados en el desempeño de sus actividades» ("the expenses incurred in carrying out their activities"). Reimbursing a train ticket is repaying an expense. Handing over a three-day pass, a camping pitch and credit on a wristband is something else: it is value the volunteer would not have spent in order to do their task. Article 11.c) in fact obliges volunteers themselves to refuse any material or financial consideration.

The law also requires paperwork. Article 12.1 says the relationship «se establecerá siempre a través de la suscripción de un acuerdo de incorporación» ("shall always be established by signing a participation agreement"), and 12.3 says that the agreement «debe formalizarse por escrito, en duplicado ejemplar» ("must be put in writing, in duplicate"). Article 14.2 adds accident and illness insurance (letter c) and a register of agreements, joiners and leavers (letter l).

Scope matters. Article 2 applies the national law to programmes at national or multi-region level. For an organisation operating in a single autonomous community, regional law governs, and it repeats the same substantive requirements (we look at this below).

When is a volunteer actually an employee?

When the features of an employment contract are present, whatever it is called. Article 1.1 of the Workers' Statute applies to «los trabajadores que voluntariamente presten sus servicios retribuidos por cuenta ajena» ("workers who voluntarily provide paid services on behalf of another") within the sphere of another person's organisation and management. Article 8.1 goes a step further: a contract is presumed to exist between «todo el que presta un servicio por cuenta y dentro del ámbito de organización y dirección» ("anyone who provides a service on behalf of and within the sphere of organisation and management") of another and the person who receives it in return for remuneration.

What the Statute excludes, in article 1.3.d), is «los trabajos realizados a título de amistad, benevolencia o buena vecindad» ("work done out of friendship, goodwill or good neighbourliness"). A friend helping to set up a private party fits there. Forty people recruited through a form, working eight-hour shifts under a manager who assigns posts, do not.

In practice, the Inspectorate looks at four signs:

• Direction. Who decides the hours, the post and the tasks. If it is the promoter, there is dependence.
• Work for another's benefit. Who benefits from the result. If the work keeps a for-profit business running, it is done on behalf of another.
• Remuneration. A ticket, camping, food or cashless credit have economic value. Article 26.1 of the Statute allows pay in kind, but it can never exceed «el treinta por ciento de las percepciones salariales del trabajador» ("thirty percent of the worker's salary payments").
• Substitution. If someone would have to be hired without those people, the post exists.

This reading of the four signs is ours, based on articles 1.1, 8.1 and 26.1. So is the conclusion that paying only in kind cannot be a valid salary: if 100% of the consideration is a ticket, it exceeds the 30% cap in article 26.1.

The Pirata Beach case: what the Labour Inspectorate did

The most cited Spanish precedent is Pirata Beach in Gandia, organised by Black Lotus S.L. In July 2023, the CNT union asked the Labour Inspectorate in València for an urgent check on the volunteering at the edition held on 12 to 15 July, according to Valencia Plaza on 15 July 2023. The same story appeared in Alicante Plaza.

According to the complaint, the volunteers handled the «recepción y ubicación de las personas que lleguen a la zona de acampada del festival» ("reception and placement of people arriving at the festival's camping area"), in shifts of up to 8 hours a day between 12:00 and 00:00. In return they received access to the campsite and a day wristband with «10 euros en consumiciones» ("10 euros in drinks"). CNT argued that this was payment in kind, not reimbursement of expenses.

El Salto reported on 15 March 2024 that the Inspectorate considered those tasks «una relación laboral de conformidad con el artículo 1.1 del Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2015» ("an employment relationship under article 1.1 of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015") and required the company to register the people concerned and pay the Social Security contributions for those who volunteered in 2023. The same outlet reports, citing the union, that the Inspectorate cannot claim wages: to recover them, those affected would have to go to court.

Two caveats. The decision has not been published and we know of it through the press and the complainant; the organiser made no public statement. And El Salto gives no amount for any penalty: what is documented is the requirement to register the workers and pay contributions.

What fine does the organiser risk?

The Law on Infringements and Sanctions in the Social Order (LISOS, Royal Legislative Decree 5/2000) classes as a serious infringement, in article 22.2, «no solicitar la afiliación inicial o el alta de los trabajadores que ingresen a su servicio» ("failing to request the initial affiliation or registration of workers who join one's service"), and counts «una infracción por cada uno de los trabajadores afectados» ("one infringement for each of the workers affected"). Registration must happen before the first shift: article 27.2 of Royal Decree 84/1996 requires it to be filed «con anterioridad a la iniciación» ("before the start") of the provision of services.

Article 40.1.e) sets the amounts and a surcharge when a single inspection finds several infringements:

Let's work it out for a mid-sized festival that recruits 10 volunteers. At the minimum grade, each infringement starts at €3,750; with 5 or more people affected a 50% surcharge applies, so that is €5,625 per person and €56,250 in total. At the maximum grade, with the cap of €12,000 per infringement, it would be €120,000. On top of that come the contributions assessed by Social Security. The calculation is ours, using the amounts in article 40; the grade is decided by the Inspectorate under the criteria in article 39.2, which include the number of workers affected and turnover.

What changes depending on the autonomous community?

The substance does not change. Regional laws regulate volunteering organised within each community, but all those reviewed require a non-profit organisation. The three we have read in the BOE have no sanctions regime of their own: the penalty for bogus volunteering comes through employment and Social Security law, which is national.

Law 4/2018, Andalusian Volunteering Law requires in article 27.1 that the promotion of volunteering ensures it does not mean filling a post or service that should be performed professionally. Catalonia's Law 25/2015 is the most categorical: «La acción voluntaria no sustituye en ningún caso las prestaciones de trabajos o servicios profesionales remunerados» ("Voluntary action does not replace, in any case, the provision of paid professional work or services"). Law 1/2015 of the Community of Madrid does not say so for the private sector, but it also requires a non-profit organisation.

For the other communities, you need to read their law. What does not vary is the Workers' Statute or LISOS.

What legal alternatives are there to cover the shifts?

It depends on who is organising and how often the event recurs.

If a company is organising

• Contract for production circumstances. Article 15.2 of the Statute allows it for «el incremento ocasional e imprevisible de la actividad» ("an occasional and unforeseeable increase in activity"), for up to six months. For occasional, foreseeable and short situations, such as a festival with a fixed date, the company can use it for a maximum of «noventa días en el año natural» ("ninety days in the calendar year"), which «no podrán ser utilizados de manera continuada» ("may not be used continuously").
• Permanent intermittent contract. Article 16.1 provides for it for «trabajos de naturaleza estacional o vinculados a actividades productivas de temporada» ("work of a seasonal nature or linked to seasonal productive activities"). It suits an annual festival that calls back the same team each edition.
• Subcontract the service. Bars, cleaning or accreditation to a company that hires and registers its own staff. It is wise to put in writing in the contract who is responsible for making sure those people are in order.

If a non-profit association is organising

It can have volunteers if it complies with the law: a programme with a charitable purpose, a written participation agreement, insurance, reimbursement of expenses and a register. We explain this in our guide to insurance for cultural associations. Even so, article 3.1.c) prohibits consideration: a free pass or bar credit can turn a volunteer into an employee in an association too.

Internships and grants

Article 3.3.f) of Law 45/2015 takes out of volunteering «las prácticas no laborales en empresas o grupos empresariales y las prácticas académicas externas» ("non-employment placements in companies or business groups and external academic placements"). If you want production students, the route is an agreement with their training centre, not a call for volunteers.

Which tasks can a volunteer never do?

Some posts are reserved by law for licensed professionals, whoever the organiser is. Law 5/2014 of 4 April on Private Security says in article 5.2 that private security services, such as guarding a venue, «únicamente podrán prestarse por empresas de seguridad privada» ("may only be provided by private security companies"), and its article 10.1.b) prohibits performing private security duties without the relevant licence. Likewise for medical assistance, which depends on the arrangements each community requires and which we cover in when an ambulance is mandatory.

As for minors, article 8.2 of Law 45/2015 requires parental consent for 16- and 17-year-olds, and those aged 12 to 16 can only take part with express authorisation. Article 8.4 requires anyone in regular contact with minors not to have been convicted of offences against sexual freedom and integrity, proven by a negative certificate from the relevant central register.

The underlying reading is ours: at an event, critical security, evacuation and access posts form part of the self-protection plan and of the promoter's obligations. Putting them in the hands of people without a contract adds an employment risk to a safety risk.

What to do before opening the call for volunteers

Seven checks, in this order:

Look at who is named as organiser on the licence. If it is a commercial company, it cannot have its own volunteers. If it is an association, check that its statutes cover the activity and that it does not distribute profits.

List the posts and ask yourself whether they would exist without volunteers. Bars, camping, access, cloakroom and cleaning are jobs at any paid festival. If the event does not work without them, they must be hired or subcontracted.

Do not pay in kind. A pass, camping, food or cashless credit are consideration. If you have genuine volunteers, reimburse justified expenses and nothing more.

Sign the participation agreement before the first shift. In writing, in two copies, setting out duties and time commitment (article 12 of Law 45/2015).

Take out accident insurance for the volunteers and keep the register of joiners and leavers with dates.

If you hire, register people before the shift starts, not the following Monday. Each unregistered person is a separate infringement under article 22.2 of LISOS.

Set accreditation per person and per time slot. Knowing who entered, which zone and at what time is the proof that each person had a contract or agreement while inside. In festival operations, that record is what the Inspectorate asks for when it calls.

If you are setting up your first large event, the guide on how to organise a festival in Spain covers the other permits and deadlines.

Sources

• Ley 45/2015, de 14 de octubre, de Voluntariado (BOE, texto consolidado)
• Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2015, texto refundido de la Ley del Estatuto de los Trabajadores (BOE, texto consolidado)
• Real Decreto Legislativo 5/2000, Ley sobre Infracciones y Sanciones en el Orden Social (BOE, texto consolidado)
• Real Decreto 84/1996, Reglamento general sobre inscripción de empresas y afiliación, altas, bajas y variaciones de datos de trabajadores en la Seguridad Social (BOE)
• Ley 5/2014, de 4 de abril, de Seguridad Privada (BOE, texto consolidado)
• Ley 4/2018, de 8 de mayo, Andaluza del Voluntariado (BOE, texto consolidado)
• Ley 25/2015, de 30 de julio, del voluntariado y de fomento del asociacionismo, Cataluña (BOE)
• Ley 1/2015, de 24 de febrero, del Voluntariado en la Comunidad de Madrid (BOE)
• «CNT denuncia que el Pirata Beach Festival podría encubrir relaciones laborales como voluntariado», Valencia Plaza, 15 July 2023
• «CNT denuncia que el Pirata Beach Festival podría encubrir relaciones laborales como voluntariado», Alicante Plaza
• «El voluntariado en los festivales de música encubre relaciones laborales», El Salto, 15 March 2024