puntoespacio

Puntoespacio is a term used in typography to describe the sequence of a period (punto) followed by a space (espacio) that separates sentences in Spanish text. The expression is descriptive rather than codified in many style guides; more common terms are punto y seguido, punto y aparte, or simply la puntuación de final de oración.

Usage and norms: In contemporary Spanish orthography, the norm is to place a single space after a sentence-ending punctuation mark, such as a period, question mark, or exclamation point. This rule is endorsed by the Real Academia Española and most style guides. Historically, some typographers used two spaces after a period, especially in monospaced fonts, but this practice has largely fallen out of use in digital typography.

Technical considerations: In digital formats, the space is a regular space character; in certain contexts, non-breaking spaces may be used to avoid line breaks after the punctuation. In HTML and CSS, this behavior is governed by the browser rendering and the CSS white-space model.

Accessibility and multilingual contexts: In languages where double-spacing after a period was common, modern accessibility guidelines prefer a consistent single space to simplify screen readers and ensure uniform rendering across devices.

Examples: Este es un ejemplo. Aquí hay otro.

See also: Real Academia Española, punctuation, typography spacing.