Rafael Fernández de Noreña opened one of Spain’s first CBD shops in 2018. Eight years later, his company is closed and his case has become a precedent that prosecutors are already citing against other flower retailers. What Supreme Court ruling 301/2026 does and does not say, and how the industry organized to respond.
“The company is closed. As a person, I’d have to defend myself, but I don’t have the financial ability. I can’t do it.”
On April 23, 2026, Spain’s Supreme Court reinstated Rafael Fernández de Noreña’s conviction. Rafa, as he is known in the industry, was in Prague when his lawyer notified him. He had found another job in the cannabis sector and had moved there for professional reasons. His company had already closed, but the legal proceedings were still ongoing.
The reinstated sentence included one year and two months in prison and an €8,000 fine. Rafa did not expect to go to prison: “I know I won’t go to prison because I don’t have a criminal record,” he says. The ruling notes that he has no prior convictions, although the suspension of the sentence is not automatic in Spain and, as of the publication of this article, we could not confirm whether there is a judicial decision granting it. His specific concern was elsewhere: the €8,000 fine and where he would find the money to continue a legal defense that, until then, had been funded by the company.
Rafa was the administrator of Sensitive CBD, a Barcelona-based company that sold CBD flowers and other cannabidiol products. Speaking with El Planteo for this article, he explains how he went from opening a pioneering shop to relying on help from other entrepreneurs to continue defending his business activities in court.
In 2018, when Rafa launched Sensitive, selling CBD …
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Author: Patricio Liddle / High Times
