Spain competed at the 1971 European Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Finland, from 10–15 August 1971.
For the first time ever, Spain sent female athletes to the European Championships.
Results
Men Track & road events AthleteEventHeatsSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankJosé Luis Sánchez Paraíso100 m10.8722did not advance200 m21.6017did not advanceLuis Sarria21.5615 Q21.359did not advanceAntonio Fernández800 m1:49.299 Q1:49.9213did not advanceAntonio Burgos1500 m3:49.36colspan=2 did not advanceJavier Álvarez5000 m13:44.42 Qcolspan=2 13:35.845Mariano Haro10,000 mcolspan=4 27:59.33 5Manuel Soriano400 m hurdles51.3917did not advanceFrancisco Suárez51.7721did not advanceAgustín FernándezMarathoncolspan=4 rowspan=3 2:18:26.68Juan Hidalgo2:22:42.423Carlos Pérez2:26:53.633
Field events AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionLuis Felipe AretaTriple jump16.416 Q15.8110
Combined events – Decathlon AthleteEventFinalRankRafael CanoResult11.406.7611.501.8350.1315.3632.523.8046.554:40.0664522Points
Women Track & road events AthleteEventHeatsSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankJosefina Salgado400 m56.2727did not advanceMaría-Coro Fuentes800 m2:12.5823did not advanceMaría Belén Azpeitia1500 m4:24.0 23colspan=2 did not advance