The invention relates to a fuel element for a compressed water nuclear reactor. Said fuel element contains a plurality of fuel rods that are guided into a plurality of axially interspaced spacers (4) respectively forming a quadratic grid consisting of connecting elements (141-17, 161-17) and comprising a plurality of holes (6) that are arranged in rows (10) and columns (8). A control rod guiding tube (12) is respectively guided through a number of said holes (6), and the spacer (4) is structurally embodied in such a way that when a limiting force acting laterally on the spacer (4) is exceeded, a deformation is triggered exclusively in a region of the spacer (4) located outside an inner region (18) containing the control rod guiding tubes (12).