We calculated transition energies and oscillator strengths of ClOOCl and Cl2O in the Franck-Condon region with ab initio techniques. We describe 8 singlet excited states for ClOOCl and 13 excited states for Cl2O. The photoabsorption spectra are simulated by a semiclassical approach, which takes into account the vibrational phase space distribution in the ground state and the geometry dependence of excitation energies and transition dipoles. We present an unambiguous assignation of the available UV spectra, which is preliminary to the interpretation of the photochemistry of these compounds.