Legalizing medical cannabis has stimulated Spain’s cannabis cultivation industry. According to the report from The Objective magazine, the Spanish government has already granted 224 licenses for marijuana growing since 2018.
According to consultors from Cannamonitor, about 86% of cultivation applications were approved in 2024, compared to only a third in the years 2018 and 2019. From 2018 onward, the number of applications surged, with 413 submissions and 224 receiving favorable resolutions — 124 for medical production and 100 for research purposes.
Currently, there are ten actively working companies in Spain that have commercial licenses for cultivation of medical marijuana. Four of them — Linneo Health, Medical Plants, Ondara Directorship, and NaturHemp — grow dried cannabis flowers. Others, including Phytoplant, Sovereign Fields, Bhalutek Sens, MIFCO and Cannaflos, focus on seeds and plant cuttings. Oils4Cure company also has a special license to work on a clinical trial.
At the same time, authorized production volumes have moved in cycles. Medical cannabis output peaked in 2020 with 84 tons of flowers, that was the first year when commercial production was permitted. By 2024 it declined to 8,5 tons due to the precise alignment of legal production limits. The area devoted to cultivation has also dropped significantly: from 57 hectares in 2020 to just 5,5 hectares in 2024. Meanwhile the overall industry turnover continued to grow these years.
Spain is also exporting a significant amount of medical cannabis products to other countries. The United Kingdom buys more than half of Spain’s exported cannabis flowers. Germany’s market is growing quickly, making up about one quarter of exports last year and poised for an increase in 2025. Spain also ships cannabis to Portugal, Italy, and Switzerland. Nevertheless, the overall export volume decreased from 46 tons in 2024 to 22 tons in 2025, reflecting changes in both production capacity and international demand.
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