Proton VPN and NordVPN ordered to block 16 pirate sites in Spain

A Spanish commercial court has ordered NordVPN and Proton VPN to block access from Spain to 16 websites accused of illegally streaming LaLiga football matches.

The rulings recognize VPN providers as intermediaries under EU law and require them to prevent infringement carried out through their infrastructure.

The orders were issued on February 17, 2026, by Commercial Court No. 1 of Córdoba at the request of Spain’s top football league, LaLiga, and its audiovisual partner Telefónica Audiovisual Digital (TAD). According to an official statement from LaLiga, the court granted “inaudita parte” precautionary measures, meaning the decision was made ex parte, without the defendants present, citing urgency and the need to ensure effectiveness. The measures are dynamic in nature and cannot be appealed.

Under the court’s instructions, NordVPN and Proton VPN must immediately implement technical controls in their internal systems to make specific IP addresses inaccessible from Spanish networks. The IP addresses were supplied by LaLiga and Telefónica and are said to have been verified as sources of unauthorized streams of protected audiovisual content.

LaLiga organizes Spain’s top professional football competitions, including LaLiga EA Sports and LaLiga Hypermotion, and manages the domestic and international broadcasting rights for its member clubs. Telefónica, through its audiovisual division, is a major telecom operator and broadcast partner that distributes LaLiga matches across Spain and other markets. The two entities have intensified anti-piracy efforts in recent years, targeting infrastructure providers and technology platforms they believe facilitate illegal match streams.

In its reasoning, the Córdoba court found that VPN services fall within the scope of the European Digital Services Regulation (Digital Services Act) and are therefore classifiable as technological intermediaries. As such, they are subject to obligations to prevent infringements occurring under their infrastructure. The rulings describe VPN systems as “highly effective and accessible” tools for circumventing geographic restrictions, enabling users to mask their real location and access websites that distribute protected content without authorization. The court further noted that some VPN providers market their services as capable of bypassing access restrictions.

LaLiga has previously pursued action against companies such as Cloudflare and has publicly criticized platforms including Google, Apple, and X, accusing them of playing a necessary role in the piracy ecosystem. Cloudflare, for its part, has filed legal action against LaLiga over mass website blocking measures that allegedly affected non-infringing sites during live match broadcasts.

VPN providers responded critically to the new court orders. NordVPN and Proton VPN told media outlets they were unaware of the proceedings prior to press coverage and had not been formally notified of any judicial documents. Proton VPN said in a public statement that any order issued without proper notification would be procedurally invalid under fundamental due process principles, emphasizing that courts must ensure affected parties have the opportunity to be heard before binding judgments are rendered.

For users, the ruling may result in certain streaming sites becoming inaccessible when accessed via affected VPN services in Spain. Accessing copyrighted content without authorization can carry legal risks, and consumers are advised to rely on official broadcasters and licensed streaming platforms.