Membership creates an ongoing legal relationship
Membership in a Spanish association connects a person to its purposes, statutes and collective decisions. The statutes define the conditions for admission and departure, as well as members' rights and obligations. Organic Law 1/2002 provides the general framework, supplemented where applicable by regional association law. These rules concern participation in an organisation: how it is governed, what information members receive and how responsibilities are shared. They do not establish a separate cannabis-purchasing entitlement.
Participation means more than attendance
Article 21 recognises members' rights to participate in activities and governing or representative bodies, exercise voting rights and attend the general assembly under the statutes. Article 11 identifies the assembly as the highest governing body and requires it to meet at least annually. This gives membership a continuing role in decisions. An assembly can address the organisation's direction and the matters reserved to it by law and statute, rather than functioning only as a social gathering.
Information and financial responsibility
Members have a right to information about the composition of governing bodies, the state of the accounts and the development of activities. Associations must maintain accounts, an inventory and a record of meetings, with annual accounts approved by the general assembly. Members also have duties: paying agreed dues or assessments, contributing to the organisation's purposes and respecting valid decisions. Financial participation and financial information therefore sit together within the same organisational relationship.
Discipline includes a hearing
Before disciplinary action, members have a right to be heard and informed of the facts giving rise to the proposed measure. A sanction must be reasoned. The law also recognises the right to challenge agreements of association bodies considered contrary to law or the statutes. These provisions create a procedure around conflict: an accusation, an opportunity to respond and a decision with reasons. They place limits on arbitrary internal decisions while preserving the association's ability to apply its rules.
Departure and contributions
Article 23 recognises the right to leave an association voluntarily at any time. Financial consequences depend on the type of payment and the statutory provisions. The law distinguishes membership dues from certain initial or other contributions that statutes may make returnable, subject to conditions protecting the association and third parties. Leaving therefore ends membership, while the treatment of particular contributions follows the applicable rules. Rights, duties and departure are all parts of the same legal structure.
Sources & further reading
General information, not individual legal or medical advice.