Spain’s Congress has given final approval to the new Customer Service Law (Ley de Servicios de Atención a la Clientela), a groundbreaking regulation aimed at protecting consumers from abusive practices by large companies. The law, previously known as the Customer Service Law, was passed during the last plenary session of the year before the Christmas break.
The legislation introduces stricter standards for customer service in key sectors, addressing long-standing complaints about endless phone waits, unsolicited sales calls, and opaque business practices.
Who it affects
The measures apply to companies providing essential services such as water, electricity, gas, telecommunications, banking, and transportation, as well as any firm with more than 250 employees or annual billing exceeding €50 million.
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Crackdown on spam calls
Companies must use a distinct prefix number for sales calls, separate from those used for customer service. Telecom operators will be obligated to block calls from firms not complying with this rule. An exemption applies to electricity, gas, and telephony providers with less than 5 per cent national market share. So wave goodbye to the phone company calling you to sell solar panels, and your bank calling to flog life insurance.
Wait times and human interaction – I want to speak to a human!
Years ago, this Euro Weekly News reporter spent a total of 8 hours on the phone one day to Vodafone Spain customer service (based in Colombia at the time) to change his bank account details and activate roaming (yes, back in those dark days). From 2026, customers gain the right to request service from a human agent rather than an automated system. Companies must ensure that 95 per cent of calls are answered, on average, within three minutes!
Transparent pricing . Those additional extras
The law bans adding unexpected extras, such as management fees, to the final price. The amount shown at the start of a transaction must match the final bill exactly.
Automatic subscriptions – Am I still paying a subscription to that?
For auto-renewing subscriptions, companies must notify customers at least 15 days in advance of renewal and provide an easy cancellation method. This law could not come faster!
Phone contracts
Contracts signed during unsolicited sales calls will be considered null and void unless the customer explicitly confirms the agreement. Avoid the word ‘yes’ as it will be recorded, unless of course you actually want it.
Enforcement and penalties
Regional governments will impose fines, potentially up to 5 per cent of a company’s annual revenue for violations. Firms must conduct annual internal audits on customer service quality and publish the results on their websites.
Consumer Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy celebrated the law as a historic step toward fairer consumer-company relations, stressing personalised and respectful service. The legislation is expected to be published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) soon and take effect in early 2026.