The new labor regulations affecting the artistic sector in Spain incorporate a specific section dedicated to the protection of children under sixteen who work in public shows. Royal Decree 607/26 tightens the requirements for their hiring and adds safeguards that, until now, largely depended on collective bargaining or scattered criteria.
The importance of this regulation is evident in a sector where the presence of children and adolescents in film shoots, theater plays, commercials, or audiovisual productions is common, but where working conditions were not always subject to a single, detailed framework.
Child labor in shows: a highly controlled exception
The decree is based on a restrictive principle: the participation of children under sixteen in public shows can only be authorized on an exceptional basis. It must always be carried out as an employee, within the organization and direction of a company, and must never pose a danger to the minor's physical health or their personal, educational, or emotional development.
Working hours, rest, and accompaniment limits
Based on that principle, the regulation establishes detailed working hour limits adapted to different age groups. It strictly prohibits overtime and severely restricts night work for minors participating in these productions.
Furthermore, it requires permanent family accompaniment, or that of a person with a comparable relationship, throughout the minor's entire working activity. The text also explicitly bans dangerous tasks and scenes involving explicit sexual content or extreme violence that could affect them.
Mandatory administrative authorization
To hire a minor under sixteen for a public show, prior, express, written, and individualized permission from the competent labor authority will be required. The application must be submitted jointly by the company and the minor's legal representatives, who must expressly state their consent.
The application must specify the working conditions to ensure that the activity does not harm the minor's schooling, health, training, or integral development. The authorization is exceptional and is granted only for specific performances or productions, never as a general rule. If the resolution period passes without a response from the administration, the silence is understood as a denial.
Plans against violence and harassment, and the role of the intimacy coordinator
Royal Decree 607/26 requires companies in the sector to have effective plans against workplace violence and harassment, adapted to the intermittent and brief nature of artistic work, where contracts are often short and teams frequently change from one production to another.
The regulation also introduces the role of the intimacy coordinator, which is mandatory in scenes involving simulated sex, nudity, or intense physical contact. When minors participate in such scenes, these guarantees must be further reinforced.
Intellectual property, digital image, and artificial intelligence: pending regulation
Regarding intellectual property, the right to one's own image, digital rights, and the treatment of artificial intelligence, the decree chooses to refrain and refers to specific legislation on these matters. There is a draft reform of the organic law regulating these aspects, although its processing and entry into force do not have a certain date at this time.
Salary transparency: exploitation rights and full-time dedication agreements
Among the labor-related novelties, the decree introduces a relevant caution regarding income derived from the assignment of exclusive exploitation rights that are not subject to mandatory collective management. These earnings must appear expressly and separately on the artist's payslip.
This requirement was already applied in some collective bargaining agreements in the sector, but with the new decree, it becomes a general rule, regardless of what each agreement establishes.
The same logic of transparency applies to the full-time dedication agreement, which will only be valid if it is in writing and entails express financial compensation, also separately identified on the worker's payroll.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Royal Decree 607/26?
It is the new regulation governing the labor relations of artists in Spain, including specific conditions for the work of children under sixteen in public shows and new guarantees regarding salary transparency and protection against violence and harassment in the sector.
Can children under sixteen work in public shows?
Only on an exceptional basis, always as an employee and within a company, provided the activity does not pose a risk to their physical health or their personal, educational, or emotional development.
What authorization is needed to hire a child artist?
Prior, express, written, and individualized permission from the competent labor authority is mandatory, requested jointly by the company and the minor's legal representatives, with the latter's consent.
What happens if the administration does not respond to the authorization request?
Administrative silence, once the resolution period has elapsed, is understood as a denial.
What is an intimacy coordinator and when is it mandatory?
It is a role introduced by the decree, mandatory in scenes that include simulated sex, nudity, or intense physical contact. When minors participate in such scenes, the required guarantees are reinforced.
What happens to the artists’ intellectual property and image rights?
The decree refers to specific legislation on intellectual property, image, digital rights, and artificial intelligence, as there is a draft reform of the corresponding organic law still pending processing.
What changes regarding the artists’ full-time dedication agreement?
It will only be valid if it is formalized in writing and establishes express financial compensation, which must appear separately on the payslip.
