Brussels gave Spain an ultimatum in December 2025: transpose the European asbestos directive or face the EU Court of Justice. The Ministry of Labor has been finalizing a royal decree for months that changes the rules of the game for thousands of industrial, construction and building management companies. Here's what you need to know before it goes into effect.
Why Spain is under European pressure
The community directive on the protection of workers against asbestos should have been in force in Spain from December 2024. It was not. Brussels sent a letter of formal notice with two months to correct it. If Spain does not approve the royal decree in time, the next step is the Court of Justice of the EU, with economic sanctions included.
It is not a minor procedure. In 2021, Spain was the fourth EU country with the most occupational deaths attributed to asbestos: 212 deaths out of a total of 2,380 throughout the Union. Only Italy, Germany and France recorded more cases.
What changes with the new royal decree
The Ministry of Labor draft introduces changes that directly affect the operations of any company that works with or in buildings that may contain asbestos:
New exposure limits. The measurement will no longer be done with optical microscopy, but with electron microscopy, which detects much thinner and more dangerous fibers.
Mandatory inventory in buildings prior to 2002. If you manage industrial facilities, warehouses or plants from that era, you need to identify if there is asbestos before any intervention.
Priority to safe removal over encapsulation. Covering asbestos is no longer the default option.
Guaranteed grooming time: 10 minutes before each meal and 10 when leaving work for employees in exposure areas.
Expansion of recognized pathologies, including ovarian cancer as a disease derived from asbestos.
Strengthening the health registry of exposed public health workers.
Which sectors have the greatest exposure
Some 2,700 companies have carried out or carry out activities with risk of exposure since 2004, and nearly 70,000 workers have been or are in contact with these fibers, according to the Health Monitoring Program for Workers Exposed to Asbestos. The most affected sectors:
Construction and rehabilitation of buildings prior to 2002.
Naval and railway industry.
Industrial plants with old installations: pipes, insulation, covers.
Maintenance of logistics warehouses and factories built before the 2000s.
Three steps your company can take now
The royal decree does not have an official approval date, but the European deadline is already running. Waiting for it to come into force to act is the most common mistake, and the most expensive.
Audit your facilities. If you operate in buildings prior to 2002, order an inventory of asbestos-containing materials now. The evaluation process takes time and the obligation will come suddenly.
Review your measurement protocol. If you use optical microscopy, that method will no longer be valid. Contact your third-party prevention service to adapt the procedure before they require it.
Document and record in real time. The new decree reinforces documentary control over exposed workers. An updated record, not just on paper, makes a difference during an inspection.
Documentation is where companies fail
Asbestos is a known risk, but documentary exposure management remains the weak point of many industrial plants. Recording who was exposed, when, with what concentration values and what measures were applied is exactly what inspectors will ask for when the decree comes into force.
Safe records each intervention in risk areas with visual evidence, tracks the workers involved and generates the documentary history you need to demonstrate compliance with the ITSS. Request a demo and see how it works in your plant.