BOOK I
General provisions on felonies and misdemeanours, the persons responsible, the penalties, security measures and other consequences of criminal offences

TITLE III
On penalties

CHAPTER II
On application of penalties

SUBCHAPTER 2. SPECIAL RULES FOR APPLICATION OF PENALTIES

Article 73

Whoever is responsible for two or more felonies or misdemeanours shall have all the relevant penalties imposed on him for the diverse offences for their simultaneous fulfilment, if possible, due to the nature and effects thereof.

Article 74

1. Notwithstanding what is set forth in the preceding Article, whoever perpetrates multiple actions or omissions, in the execution of a preconceived plan or taking advantage of an identical occasion, that offend one or several subjects and infringe the same criminal provision or provisions that are equal to or of a similar nature, shall be punished as the principal of a continued felony or misdemeanour with the punishment stated for the most serious offence, that shall be imposed in its upper half, it being possible to reach the lower half of the higher degree of punishment.

2. In the case of crimes against property, the punishment shall be imposed taking into account the full damage caused. In these crimes, the Judge or Court of Law shall justify imposition of the punishment raised by one or two degrees, to the extent deemed convenient, if the fact were to be evidently serious and were to have damaged persons at large.

3. What is set forth in the previous Sections does not include offences against eminently personal property, except those constituting offences against honour and sexual freedom and indemnity that affect the same victim. In these cases, the nature of the fact and the provision infringed shall be deemed to apply criminal continuity or not.

Article 75

When some or all of the penalties for the diverse offences cannot be served simultaneously by a convict, the order of their respective severity shall be followed for their successive fulfilment, whenever possible.

Article 76

1. Notwithstanding what is set forth in the preceding Article, the maximum effective sentence to be served by a convict may not exceed triple the time imposed for the most serious of the penalties incurred, declaring the others to be extinguished from when those already imposed cover that maximum, which may not exceed twenty years. Exceptionally, such maximum limit shall be :

a) Of twenty- five- years, when a convict has been found guilty of two or more felonies and one of them is punished with Law with a prison sentence of up to twenty years ;
b) Of thirty years, when a convict has been found guilty of two or more felonies and one of them is punishable by Law with a prison sentence exceeding twenty years ;
c) Of forty years, when a convict has been found guilty of two or more felonies and at least two of them are punishable by Law with a prison sentence exceeding twenty years ;
d) Of forty years, when a convict has been found guilty of two or more felonies elated to terrorist organisations and groups and offences of terrorism under Section two of Chapter VII of Title XXII of Book II of this Code and any of them is punishable by Law with a prison sentence exceeding twenty years.

2. The limitation shall be applied, even though the penalties have been imposed in different proceedings, if the facts, due to their connection or the moment when committed, could have been tried as a single case.

Article 77

1. What is set forth in the preceding two Articles is not applicable in the event of a sole fact constituting two or more crimes, or when one of them is the necessary means to commit the other.

2. In these cases, the upper half of the punishment foreseen for the most serious crime shall be applied, without exceeding the aggregate punishment that would be applicable if the crimes were punished separately.

3. When the punishment thus calculated exceeds such limit, the crimes shall be punished separately.

Article 78

1. If, due to the limitations established in Section 1 of Article 76, the punishment to be served were to be lower than half the aggregate sum of those imposed, the Judge or Court of Law sentencing may order that penitentiary benefits, term-release permits, pre-release classification and calculation of the time to be served prior to probation shall refer to the total penalties imposed in the sentences.

2. Such a resolution shall be mandatory in the cases foreseen in Sections a), b), c) and d) of Section 1 of Article 76 of this Code, as long as the punishment to be served is lower than half the aggregated sum of those imposed.

3. In these cases, the Parole Board Judge, following individual assessment in favour of social reinsertion and evaluating the personal circumstances of the convict and evolution of the re-education treatment as appropriate, may hand down a reasoned resolution, having heard the Public Prosecutor, the Directorate-General for Penitentiary Institutions and the other parties, on application of the general regime of serving sentences. In the case of felonies related to terrorist organisations and groups and offences of terrorism under Section two of Chapter VII of Title XXII of Book II of this Code, or committed within criminal organisations, and according to the aggregate sum of penalties imposed, the preceding possibility shall only be applicable :

a) To pre-release, when a fifth of the maximum limit of serving of the sentence is left to be served ;
b) To probation, when an eighth of the maximum limit of serving of the sentence is left to be served.

Article 79

Whenever the Judges or Courts of Law impose a sentence involving ancillary penalties, they shall also specifically condemn the convict to the latter.