.es

Overview

• .es is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Spain; the letters come from "España."
• It is administered and sponsored by Red.es (the Network Information Centre of Spain).
• Registrations are possible directly at the second level or at the third level beneath a number of designated second-level domains.

History

• Introduced on April 14, 1988.
• Managed by Red.es (listed as the registry and sponsor).
• A multi-stage liberalization culminated in 2005: restrictions on second-level registrations (which had required a connection to Spain or specific name criteria) were lifted by the end of 2005, opening second-level .es registrations worldwide.
• Registered domains: 2,002,412 (data registered on 2022-12-16).
• The .es WHOIS does not run a conventional WHOIS server on port 43; WHOIS queries are available via ESNIC's website.

Usage and Audience

• Intended for entities connected with Spain and is very popular within Spain.
• Also used for domain hacks in multiple languages.
• Rarely used for typosquatting (noted cases due to misspellings of .eus domains).
• Many Spanish organizations also use generic TLDs (.com, .org, .net) or regional/linguistic TLDs such as .cat, .bcn, .eus and .gal.

Registration Rules

• Eligibility and restrictions:
  • Second-level registrations: open to anyone worldwide since the end of 2005 (liberalization).
  • Third-level registrations: subject to qualifications and restrictions depending on the second-level domain under which they are registered.
  • Registrants must declare they are aware the domain does not violate third-party rights and accept submission to the out-of-court dispute resolution procedure related to industrial property rights and official names in Spain.
• Common second-level categories and intended users:
  • .com.es — commercial entities (open)
  • .nom.es — personal entities (open)
  • .org.es — noncommercial organizations (open)
  • .gob.es — government (restricted)
  • .edu.es — educational institutions (restricted)
• Allowed characters:
  • Lowercase/uppercase letters a–z (no distinction between cases)
  • Numbers 0–9
  • Dash (-), but not as first or last character
  • Multilingual/Spanish-specific letters: á, à, é, è, í, ï, ó, ò, ú, ü, ñ, ç, l·l
• Length limits:
  • Second-level domains: minimum 3 characters, maximum 63 characters
  • Third-level domains: minimum 2 characters, maximum 63 characters

SEO and Brand Impact

• .es is widely recognized and trusted within Spain due to its country association and popularity.
• It is commonly used for geographically targeted Spanish content and by brands seeking a Spain-specific presence.
• The extension is also used creatively for domain hacks, which can support branding, and it has been noted only rarely for typosquatting related to other regional TLDs.

Notable Cases or Examples

• Domain hacks and example uses:
  • geociti.es — mirror of Geocities
  • adspac.es — a mobile-based advertising firm
  • thelettervsixtim.es — used for the game VVVVVV
  • iTun.es — used as a URL shortener for iTunes Ping
• Regional alternatives often used alongside or instead of .es: .cat, .bcn, .eus, .gal

% IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       ES

organisation: Red.es
address:      Edificio Bronce
address:      Plaza Manuel Gomez Moreno
address:      Madrid 28020
address:      Spain

contact:      administrative
name:         Jesús Herrero Poza
organisation: Red.es
address:      Edificio Bronce
address:      Plaza Manuel Gomez Moreno
address:      Madrid 28020
address:      Spain
phone:        +34 91 212 76 24
fax-no:       +34 91 555 76 64
e-mail:       esnic-admin@red.es

contact:      technical
name:         Juan Vicente Rodríguez Pérez
organisation: Red.es
address:      Edificio Bronce
address:      Plaza Manuel Gómez Moreno s/n
address:      Madrid 28020
address:      Spain
phone:        +34 91 212 76 20
fax-no:       + 34 91 556 88 64
e-mail:       esnic-tech@red.es

nserver:      A.NIC.ES 194.69.254.1 2001:67c:21cc:2000:0:0:64:41
nserver:      C.NIC.ES 194.0.34.53 2001:678:44:0:0:0:0:53
nserver:      G.NIC.ES 2001:500:14:7001:ad:0:0:1 204.61.217.1
nserver:      H.NIC.ES 194.0.33.53 2001:678:40:0:0:0:0:53
ds-rdata:     54404 8 2 c130df280cd8ebb99c8b6c8335b9fd5f1d709641494e044c8085b1ac21833b47

whois:        whois.nic.es

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: http://www.nic.es/

created:      1988-04-14
changed:      2025-07-11
source:       IANA