Red.es: definition

Red.es is the Spanish public body that runs .es, the country code domain of Spain. Spanish law makes it the authority that assigns .es names, and it runs the registry under the brand Dominios.es. Red.es recommends registering through a company it accredits, but anyone with links to Spain can apply, wherever they live.

What Red.es is and its role in .es

Red.es is an “entidad pública empresarial”, a state-owned public body. As of October 2026 it is attached to the Ministerio para la Transformación Digital y de la Función Pública, the Spanish ministry for digital transformation.

Under Law 34/2002, Red.es is the “allocation authority” for .es and manages its registry. IANA Internet Assigned Numbers Authority The functions that coordinate the root zone, IP addresses and protocol numbers. Full definition of IANA lists it as the manager of .es. Red.es also promotes the information society, takes part in ICANN Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers The nonprofit that coordinates the global DNS and gTLD policy. Full definition of ICANN bodies that coordinate registries, and advises the ministry in the GAC Governmental Advisory Committee ICANN's committee of governments that advises the Board on public policy. Full definition of GAC.

The rules for .es have three levels: the law; the Plan Nacional de Nombres de Dominio de Internet, approved by ministerial order (Orden ITC/1542/2005, in force since 1 June 2005); and Red.es instructions on procedures, fees, reserved terms and characters. A resolution published in Spain’s official gazette on 5 October 2026 confirms that the 2005 Plan is still the registry policy. On 6 October 2026, 2,261,050 .es names were registered.

How .es domains are registered and who can register them

Any person or organisation with “interests or links with Spain” may register. The Plan reads this broadly: targeting the Spanish market is enough, for example. Residence is not required.

Names are assigned first come, first served The rule that the first valid request for an available domain gets it. Full definition of first come, first served, with no general priority for holders of rights such as trademarks. At the second level, Red.es checks only syntax and its lists of blocked or reserved terms. The holder is responsible for lawful use. Outside the out-of-court procedure, Red.es cancels a name for infringing rights only on a court order.

A name can be registered for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10 years. A renewal Paying to extend a domain registration for more time. Full definition of renewal must be paid within ten calendar days of the request. An expired name stays assigned but is not visible on the internet for five calendar days, then becomes free.

Accredited agents set their own prices. Red.es also sells directly, with no extra services and at a higher price: as of October 2026, 33.38 euros a year for a .es name, value added tax (VAT) included. Agents pay Red.es 4.09 euros a year before VAT.

Rules specific to .es: characters, third levels and accredited agents

A .es name may use letters of the languages of Spain (including á, à, é, è, í, ï, ó, ò, ú, ü, ñ, ç and l·l), digits and the hyphen. It may not start or end with a hyphen, or start with “xn–”. Second-level names have 3 to 63 characters; third-level names, 2 to 63. Names made only of surnames, or first names and surnames, must relate directly to the holder.

There are also five third-level zones: .com.es (open), .nom.es (individuals), .org.es (non-profit organisations), .gob.es (Spanish public administrations) and .edu.es (officially recognised education or research bodies). Only in .gob.es and .edu.es is eligibility checked before allocation.

The accredited registrars for .es are called “agentes registradores”. Red.es accredits them itself; as of October 2026, its list had 107. Accreditation requires proof of solvency, liability insurance, a guarantee, a contract and a joining fee. A holder can move a name to another agent at any time.

Disputes over .es names: the out-of-court procedure

Red.es approved the rules of its out-of-court procedure on 7 November 2005. Every .es holder is bound by it, and either party can still go to court.

The complainant The party that files a domain dispute, usually a trademark owner. Full definition of complainant must hold a prior right protected in Spain, such as a trademark, trade name, company name, designation of origin, personal name or well-known pseudonym, or the official name of a Spanish public body. It must show that the name is identical or confusingly similar to that right, that the holder has no rights or legitimate interests In the UDRP, a valid reason for a holder to have the disputed domain. Full definition of rights or legitimate interests in it, and that the name was registered or is being used in bad faith Intent to take unfair advantage of another's trademark through a domain name. Full definition of bad faith (for example, mainly to sell it or to disrupt a competitor).

The steps:

The complainant files with one of four accredited providers (Adigital, Autocontrol, Cámara de España or the WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization The United Nations agency whose center handles many domain name disputes. Full definition of WIPO) and pays the fee: 1,400 euros for one name as of October 2026.
Red.es blocks the name once notified.
The holder has 20 calendar days to answer.
A single expert decides, in Spanish, about two months after filing on average.
If the complaint succeeds, the name is transferred to the complainant, who then asks Red.es for the transfer, or cancelled if the complainant asked only for cancellation.

The decision is not carried out if a party proves it has gone to court within a short period after notification, set in the procedure rules. As of October 2026, Dominios.es lists 838 published decisions. Red.es publishes the current rules on Dominios.es.

Separately, on a court order, or provisionally at the request of the Spanish police, Red.es suspends or cancels names used to commit a crime.

How .es differs from gTLDs under ICANN

The rules for .es come from Spanish law and Red.es instructions, not from ICANN policies or registry agreements. There is no ICANN registrar accreditation for .es, and fees are public prices set by Red.es.

The dispute procedure is a variation of the UDRP Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy ICANN's out-of-court process for trademark disputes over domain names. Full definition of UDRP, not the UDRP itself: it protects more kinds of rights, bad faith in registration Obtaining the right to use a domain name for a set period. Full definition of registration or in use is enough (the UDRP requires both), the language is Spanish, and the complainant accepts the courts of Madrid.

Red.es