Spanish .es domain: who can register one and what the rules are

A .es domain is the country code domain of Spain. You can register one if you have interests in or ties with Spain, such as customers, a branch or business activities there: you do not need to live in Spain. You register a .es domain through an accredited registrar, and then connect it to your website and email at LJPc hosting.

Below you will find which types of .es domains exist, who can register them, which rules a .es name follows, how registering, transferring and renewing work, and how to connect your .es domain to your hosting at LJPc.

What is a .es domain?

.es is the country code top-level domain of Spain. The registry for all .es names is Red.es, a Spanish public body, through its department Dominios.es. In September 2026 there were more than 2.2 million .es domains, and a good share of them belong to holders outside Spain, such as more than 50,000 in the United States, more than 47,000 in Germany and more than 24,000 in the United Kingdom.

The rules for .es domains are set out in Spain's National Plan for .es domain names and in the procedures Red.es publishes to apply it. You can find them on the Dominios.es legal framework page. Under Spanish law a .es domain is a public resource: what you get is the right to use the name.

Which types of .es domains are there?

Besides yourname.es, you can register a name under a second-level extension, such as yourname.com.es. For almost everyone, a name directly under .es is the best choice.

Who can register a .es domain?

Any individual or organisation, incorporated or not, with interests in or ties with Spain can apply for a .es domain, wherever in the world they live or are based. The National Plan does not define what counts as a tie. Think of customers, a branch or business activities in Spain.

Red.es assigns a .es name instantly to whoever applies first. Beforehand, Red.es only checks that the name follows the syntax rules and is not on a list of prohibited or reserved names. Afterwards, Red.es can cancel a .es domain, for example when:

• the holder has no interests in or ties with Spain;
• the holder's details are false or incorrect;
• the name consists only of first names or surnames that are not directly related to the holder.

Before Red.es cancels a domain, you get ten days to respond. So choose .es when you have a genuine connection with Spain, and keep your details accurate for as long as you hold the domain.

The details you provide

When you register, you provide your name or your organisation's name, an identification number, your email address, phone number and postal address. Spanish holders use their NIF or NIE number; if you live outside Spain, you provide a different identification number. Your registrar will tell you which number it needs.

Every .es domain also has an administrative contact (Persona de Contacto Administrativo): the person the holder appoints to manage the domain on their behalf. Red.es sends its important emails to this contact, including the transfer code, requests to confirm a transfer or change of holder, and renewal reminders. Check with your registrar that the administrative contact has an email address you actually read.

Which rules does a .es name follow?

Under the Red.es rules:

• Length. A name directly under .es has 3 to 63 characters, not counting the extension. A name under .com.es, .nom.es, .org.es, .edu.es or .gob.es has 2 to 63 characters.
• Characters. You can use the letters a to z, the digits 0 to 9 and the hyphen. The letters á, à, é, è, í, ï, ó, ò, ú, ü, ñ, ç and l·l are allowed too. Upper and lower case are treated the same.
• Hyphens. A name cannot start or end with a hyphen.
• Prohibited names. You cannot register a name that matches a top-level extension, such as com.es or uk.es, or a well-known internet term, such as api.es.
• Reserved names. Names of Spanish state institutions, the Spanish Royal Household, international organisations and the official place names of Spanish public administrations are reserved.
• Name servers. A .es domain points to at least two name servers. With hosting at LJPc you use three.

If you choose a name with ñ or an accent, also register the spelling without it, such as n instead of ñ. That way people without a Spanish keyboard can type your address as well.

When is a .es domain the right choice?

According to Google's guidelines for multi-regional websites, a country code domain is a strong signal that a site is meant for that country. .es is not on the list of country code domains that Google treats as generic, so Google sees a .es site as a site for Spain. This is how to choose:

How to redirect a second domain to your main site is explained in redirect a domain to another website.

How to register a .es domain

1. Check on Dominios.es whether the name is still available.
2. Choose a registrar from the list of accredited registrars on Dominios.es. You can also register directly with Dominios.es, but then you only get the domain name, at a higher price than through a registrar.
3. Register the name in your own name or your organisation's name, with your identification number, your own address and an email address that already works. Choose an administrative contact with an email address you read.
4. Choose the term: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10 years.
5. Enter the name servers your domain should point to. If you host with LJPc, those are our name servers: see below for how that works.

Your domain goes live as soon as Red.es has received the payment. Your registrar takes care of that for you.

Connect your .es domain to your website and email at LJPc

Your .es domain stays with your registrar and we take care of your website and email. This is how you connect it:

1. Open the order wizard in the customer portal, choose I already have one at another registrar and enter your domain, for example yourdomain.es. No account yet? Create one first.
2. Choose Keep domain elsewhere, connect hosting here.
3. Choose your hosting or redirect package and complete the order. LJPc then creates a DNS zone for your domain.
4. Log in at your registrar and set the name servers of your .es domain to ns1.ljpc.network, ns2.ljpc.network and ns3.ljpc.network. How to do that is explained in change your name servers.

Prefer to keep DNS at your registrar? Then add individual records there that point to your hosting with us, as described in point a domain at another provider to LJPc hosting. If DNSSEC is enabled for your .es domain, have the DS record removed before you change the name servers; what DNSSEC does is explained in what is DNSSEC. After the change, the new information still has to spread across the internet, as explained in what is DNS propagation. For other points to watch, such as email hosted elsewhere, see register a domain and link it to your hosting.

Transfer a .es domain to another registrar

You can transfer your .es domain to another registrar at any time. Since 20 November 2024 this requires a transfer code, the AuthCode.

1. Not sure which registrar holds your domain? Who manages your domain explains how to find your registrar, your DNS provider and your hosting.
2. Request the AuthCode from your current registrar. If you manage the domain directly with Dominios.es, request it there. The code is sent to the administrative contact's email address, has 6 to 16 letters and digits, and is valid for 10 days or until it is used.
3. Give the code to your new registrar, which then requests the transfer.
4. The administrative contact receives an email with a link to accept the transfer. If nothing happens within 10 days, the request lapses and everything stays as it was.
5. After the transfer, check that your name servers still point to the right place. With hosting at LJPc that is ns1, ns2 and ns3.ljpc.network, so your website and email keep working.

No AuthCode is issued for a domain that Red.es has blocked. If you have cancelled the domain, you can only transfer or renew it again after you withdraw the cancellation. What a transfer code is in general is explained in get an EPP code and transfer your domain. For extensions we register, such as .nl and .eu, you transfer your domain to us as described in transfer your domain to LJPc.

Transfer a .es domain to a new holder

You can transfer the right to use your .es domain to another person or organisation, provided they also meet the .es rules. The current holder has to approve the transfer. You do that in the Dominios.es control panel, using the account of the holder or the administrative contact, or your registrar starts the transfer and the holder confirms it. The new holder's administrative contact then accepts the terms and conditions.

You cannot edit the holder's name or identification number yourself: that requires a change of holder, or a change that Red.es checks first. For a takeover, merger or inheritance there is a separate procedure in which you provide supporting documents. What a change of holder involves is explained in change the owner of a domain.

What does the WHOIS of a .es domain show?

The Whois on Dominios.es tells you whether a .es name is available or already registered. Red.es only publishes the personal data that is strictly necessary to run the registry. If the holder is an organisation, its name and tax ID appear in the list of active .es domains that Red.es makes available on request for re-use. What WHOIS data is and how to update it for your own domains is explained in manage the WHOIS data of your domain.

Renewal, expiry and cancellation

You can renew a .es domain whenever you like, well before the expiry date if you want, for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10 years. If your domain is with a registrar, the registrar handles the renewal. If your registrar has not requested the renewal 5 days before the expiry date, Dominios.es emails the administrative contact about it.

If your .es domain has not been renewed by the expiry date, Red.es temporarily deactivates it: your website and email addresses on that domain stop working. If the renewal is still not paid in time, Red.es deletes the domain no later than 10 days after the expiry date, and the name is immediately available to anyone. That is far shorter than the 40-day quarantine for .nl, as explained in expired domain and quarantine. Your registrar may use its own, shorter deadline, so renew in good time.

No longer need the domain? Cancel it through your registrar. The administrative contact confirms the cancellation by email, and 10 days later the name becomes available. How to try to secure a name that becomes available under other extensions is explained in domain backorder.

Someone else has your name as a .es domain

If someone has registered your brand or company name as a .es domain, you can file a complaint under the Red.es dispute resolution procedure. You need a prior right to that name, such as a trademark protected in Spain or a company name registered in Spain, and you show that the holder has no legitimate right to the name and registered or uses it in bad faith.

You file the complaint with one of the accredited providers: ADIGITAL, Autocontrol, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce (Consejo Superior de Cámaras) or the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. The fee is 1,400 euros. In your complaint you state whether you want the domain transferred to you or cancelled, and an expert decides within 2 months on average. You can read more on the Dominios.es dispute resolution page.

Want to connect your .es domain to your hosting at LJPc and running into something? Create a support ticket and we will look into it with you.