Coming from a country where pepper spray is categorised as a prohibited Schedule 1 weapon, or at minimum, a controlled weapon, talk of arming up with the stuff gives me the heebiejeebies. One of the reasons it is banned here is because there have been deaths using the stuff. It also is no guarantee of safety to you from any potential attacker. Murphy's Law says it will be a really windy day.
So if you use it, induce a fatal asthma attack in someone (which has happened in Australia and it was a legal mess...) then what? And if you tell me that is unlikely to happen, I would argue back that a robbery is also not guaranteed as more pilgrims than not are not robbed. Would use of pepper spray be considered reasonable by the reasonable person? I would think a reasonable person would think "if it's so dangerous that you felt the need to carry spray, why did you go there at all? Why not just catch a bus or go with friends etc etc".
And to quote a post I read elsewhere on the stuff by someone who IS used to using it:
"That is the same we use here (it is illegal here for private use). Quite simply it doesn't work in the face of someone who's high on adrenaline (and god knows what else).
Plus it's really hard to use reactively - even if you have been trained. It's fiddly and you have to get very close - and that means you're going to get some of it yourself.
Thirdly - it's windbourne and quite a lot of times people misjudge the wind and end up spraying themselves or their companions.
Fourthly - spraying some attacker with this stuff ups the violence ante hugely. This not not usually a good thing for the untrained to do.
Finally - like most weapons - it gives a false sense of security that is no substitute for general vigilence, especially as the worst that can happen is you lose your purse (don't keep everything in one place etc)"
Now I sometimes work in an environment where we have people under the influence of metamphetamine. It is so hard to take them down and you need many more bodies available than usual. Ice + pepper spray = problem for you.
In
Spain, pepper spray is approved by the
Ministry of Health and Consumption for sale to anyone over 18, if it is:
- at a concentration no greater than 5%
- in canisters containing not more than 22 grams
Legal use is technically confined to self defence against large wild animals, such as wild boar in rural areas.
Regarding the right to self-defense in Spain using a weapon: even if the weapon is legal, for example a gun held by a person in possession of a license, or a personal defense spray, the use of the weapon can be illegal if it’s not proportional to the menace the user seeks to avoid.
If you hadn't even thought about using it against wild boar, why would you even think about using it against people? The odds are probably about the same and if attacked, the pig is more dangerous!
http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Admin/rd137-1993.html#cps4 gives the legal status for anyone who is really keen about this stuff.