A gas sensor element with suppressed response deterioration even when poisoned with S when fuel or exhaust gas contains ethanol and the ethanol content is high. The element includes a detection portion, which includes a solid electrolyte layer having a pair of electrodes on opposite sides thereof, a shielding layer defining a measurement target gas space with a porous diffusive resistance layer, and a reference gas space protective layer; a heat-generating portion stacked on the detection portion; and a porous protective layer surrounding the detection portion and heat-generating portion. The porous protective layer includes a first porous protective layer surrounding at least the porous diffusive resistance layer, and a second porous protective layer surrounding the first porous protective layer, the detection portion and the heat-generating portion. The first porous protective layer contains none of La, Ca, or Mg, while the second porous protective layer contains at least one of them.