Supreme Tribunal of Spain (Tribunal Supremo), Section II, No. 547/2009, 19 May 2009

Recourse against conviction for sexual abuse against minor. Evaluation of the error about the unlawfulness of the conduct.

Art. 181 Spanish criminal code
Art. 14 Spanish criminal code

There does not exist an unavoidable error about the unlawfulness of a sexual act with a minor if the defendant has easy access to sources of information which could have confirmed such unlawfulness.
The culpability may, however, be recognised as less serious in the light of the socio-cultural conditions of the defendant.

(The case in question concerned a Dominican national, who had just reached the age of 18 and had just arrived in Spain, and who had engaged in a consensual sexual intercourse with a minor of an age of just 11, being aware of such age.
The court of second and last instance, in application of the above mentioned principle, confirmed the conviction.)