Rights Map
Map Conformity, Delivery, Withdrawal, Digital, Subscription, Sector, Arbitration, and Court Rights
Classify the problem before demanding repair, replacement, price reduction, termination, cancellation, or damages.
Classify the legal problem
A lack of conformity means goods, digital content or services do not match the contract, description, normal purpose, agreed purpose, quality, accessories, instructions or required updates. The official guarantee guide places repair or replacement first where possible and proportionate. If conformity is not achieved within a reasonable time, the defect recurs, the trader refuses, or the failure is sufficiently serious, proportionate price reduction or contract termination can follow. Termination is not available for a minor defect where the trader proves it is minor.
Withdrawal is different: an eligible distance or off-premises buyer can cancel without proving a defect, generally within 14 calendar days. A physical shop does not have to accept a change-of-mind return unless its advertised policy, contract or another rule grants it. A voluntary commercial guarantee can improve protection but cannot remove the legal guarantee.
Match product and sector
New consumer goods in Spain generally carry three years of legal conformity protection. Used goods sold by a trader can have a shorter agreed period, never below one year. Digital content, services and goods with digital elements have their own supply, update, continuity and proof rules. Repair pauses the running guarantee period, and the trader remains responsible for recurrence of the same defect during the specified post-repair period.
Non-delivery, subscriptions, utilities, telecoms, finance, insurance, transport, accommodation, package travel and events can use separate cancellation, billing, service-quality, regulator or alternative-dispute routes. A dated hotel, leisure or transport booking is not automatically withdrawable merely because it was booked online. Personal injury, consequential loss and unsafe products require evidence beyond a refund.
Use conformity for a faulty or misdescribed purchase, withdrawal for an eligible timely change of mind, the delivery route for an absent order, contract cancellation for a subscription under its terms and unfair-term law, and the sector body for regulated services. Use consumer administration or arbitration for an unresolved trader dispute, court for binding damages or enforcement, and police for credible criminal fraud rather than ordinary poor service.
Who Is Covered
Determine Consumer and Trader Status, Seller Identity, Contract Channel, Delivery Date, and Exceptions
Protection follows the purpose and parties to the transaction, not nationality, visa, or marketplace branding.
Identify the parties and purpose
Consumer rules generally protect a natural person acting mainly outside a business, trade, craft or profession against a trader acting commercially. Nationality, immigration status, employment, student status and residence permit do not reduce the basic rights. A self-employed person can be a consumer for a genuinely private purchase, but a product bought principally for the activity may be business-to-business. Preserve the invoice purpose and account used where status is mixed.
A purchase between private people does not become a consumer contract because it was advertised online. It remains subject to applicable civil contract rules and the platform's terms. The official marketplace guide requires attention to whether the listing is by a trader, private seller or platform itself. Capture the seller's legal name, geographic address, tax or company details and stated platform role before purchase.
Test the transaction and dates
For conformity, identify new, used, refurbished, digital, continuously supplied, installed or customised goods and the actual delivery or supply date. A commercial warranty card does not replace the seller's statutory responsibility. For online delivery, the default period is generally 30 days unless another date was agreed. The buyer usually gives a reasonable additional period before terminating for delay, unless timing was essential and communicated or the trader refused delivery.
For withdrawal, confirm a distance or off-premises contract, the start date, a timely unequivocal declaration and no exception. Goods usually run from receipt; services run from contract conclusion. Exceptions can cover personalised or perishable goods, opened hygiene seals, fully performed services with the required consent, dated accommodation, transport, catering or leisure, and digital content begun after express consent and acknowledgement of lost withdrawal.
Determine the seller's country, not the website language or domain. A Spanish consumer against a Spanish trader uses domestic routes. Eligible disputes against traders elsewhere in the EU, Iceland, Norway or the United Kingdom can reach CEC Spain after a written trader complaint. Third-country, private-seller, crime, tax, data, gambling, investment and already-litigated matters use different bodies. Verify uncertain status with an OMIC, regional consumer authority, CEC Spain or sector regulator before paying an agent or surrendering the product.
Evidence Record
Create the Contract, Seller, Payment, Delivery, Defect, Repair, Withdrawal, Complaint, and Loss Record
Preserve the version of every promise and transaction before pages, messages, goods, or accounts change.
Freeze the contract file
Save the advertisement, product page, seller identity, marketplace role, price breakdown, availability, delivery promise, cancellation and guarantee statements, checkout screens and applicable terms. Keep order confirmation, invoice, payment statement, financing agreement, serial number, delivery tracking, package labels and handover signature. Export messages from the platform instead of relying on account access remaining available.
Record the date the product or digital service became available. Photograph packaging and condition before installation, then document the defect with dated photos, video, error logs, update version and a written chronology. Stop testing where electricity, battery, fire, food, medicine, vehicle or child safety is involved. Preserve recall notices and seek the correct safety authority.
Document every remedy step
Send the trader a concise written complaint naming the order, non-conformity, discovery date, requested remedy and response deadline. Save email headers, web acknowledgements, certified-post receipt or platform ticket. For repair or replacement, obtain a signed intake note listing condition, accessories, serial number, reported fault and handover date; later obtain diagnosis, work, parts and return date. Do not surrender an original invoice without retaining a legible copy.
For withdrawal, save the declaration, on-screen confirmation, return authorisation, packing photos, carrier receipt, tracking, delivered weight and refund record. The official return guidance distinguishes trader refund duties, standard delivery, direct return cost and loss of value from handling beyond inspection.
Add the hoja de reclamaciones, trader response, OMIC or regional case receipt, arbitration application and award, CEC reference, card dispute, police report and court documents as applicable. Quantify price, postage, repair, replacement, lost use, expert, travel and consequential damage separately. Preserve mitigation, such as safeguarding goods and seeking a reasonable replacement.
Share only necessary copies, redact unrelated payment and identity data, and use a secure channel for sensitive records. Translate only what the receiving body requests; legalisation is rarely needed for an ordinary invoice but a foreign court or authority can specify format. Finish with a cross-check of legal names, addresses, order and serial numbers, dates, amount, requested outcome and every deadline.
First Actions
Complain to the Seller, Select the Remedy, Withdraw Correctly, and Open the Right Public Route
Use a provable, proportionate sequence that leaves later arbitration or court options intact.
Follow the remedy sequence
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Contain immediate harm. Stop unsafe use, preserve the product and warn the trader. Contact emergency, product-safety or police services for imminent danger or suspected crime.
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Identify the legal seller. Check invoice, order and marketplace disclosure. Record the platform separately and use its incident channel without assuming it replaces the seller claim.
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Classify the right. Choose non-conformity, non-delivery, withdrawal, subscription cancellation, unfair billing, sector remedy or damages. Check the contract date and deadline.
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Write to the trader. State facts, evidence and one primary remedy. For non-conformity, request free repair or replacement unless impossible or disproportionate. Set a reasonable written response and performance period.
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Preserve inspection. Offer lawful access or handover and demand an intake receipt. Do not commission an irreversible third-party repair unless safety, mitigation and advice justify it.
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Exercise withdrawal unequivocally. Send the declaration within 14 days where eligible, or use the online function. From 19 June 2026, the official update requires qualifying EU online traders to provide a clear withdrawal function and immediate confirmation. Save it and return goods within the applicable period.
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Request the complaint sheet. For an unresolved Spanish trader dispute, complete the hoja de reclamaciones and retain the consumer copy and submission proof. The form records the complaint but does not itself order a refund.
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Use local or regional help. An OMIC or autonomous-community consumer service can advise, mediate, inspect or route the complaint under local rules. Submit copies and keep the expediente reference.
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Choose binding escalation. Apply for consumer arbitration if the subject is eligible and the trader is bound or accepts. For an eligible cross-border trader, use CEC Spain after the written complaint and before arbitration or court.
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Assess payment and court tools. A chargeback follows card-scheme or bank conditions and does not decide legal liability. Use national or European small claims where evidence, jurisdiction, value and recoverability justify litigation.
After settlement, confirm refund or replacement, return goods only under documented instructions, obtain release terms, update financing or subscription records and close parallel claims accurately. Never accept a voucher as a compulsory substitute where the law entitles a money refund.
Money and Time
Calculate Refund, Return, Repair, Expert, Payment-Dispute, Advice, Translation, Court, and Enforcement Costs
Compare free remedies with evidence and enforcement cost before spending more than the claim is worth.
Allocate cost by legal route
Putting goods into conformity must be free to the consumer, including necessary postage, transport, labour and materials. The trader bears the conforming repair or replacement cost. A commercial warranty cannot shift mandatory legal cost back to the buyer. If the consumer chooses an unnecessary disproportionate remedy or an independent repair without giving the seller a proper opportunity, recovery becomes less certain.
For eligible withdrawal, the trader generally refunds the price and ordinary outbound delivery. The consumer can bear direct return cost where clearly informed, and does not recover an express upgrade above the least expensive standard delivery. Excessive handling can reduce the refund, but ordinary inspection does not. A trader may withhold refund until goods are received or return evidence is supplied, subject to the applicable rule.
The first written complaint, complaint sheet, OMIC advice and most public consumer mediation are free. The Consumer Arbitration System is a free public extrajudicial route when the trader participates, though a party can still pay its own expert, translation, travel or advice. A card chargeback may be free or governed by account terms; it is not a guaranteed refund and strict scheme deadlines can apply.
Model litigation and recovery
Budget an independent technical report, storage, return carrier, sworn translation, lawyer, procurador, witness, court expert, travel and enforcement. Legal aid can cover defined costs when eligibility and merits rules are met, but applying should not be assumed to stop another deadline. Insurance, union, card or platform cover can reduce personal cost only within its scope.
The European Small Claims Procedure covers eligible cross-border EU civil or commercial disputes up to EUR 5,000 excluding expenses. The official Spain guidance states that no lawyer is mandatory and Spain charges no judicial fee, but translation, evidence, advice, hearing and enforcement costs can remain. National proceedings have their own representation and cost rules.
Compare the claim's legal value, evidence strength, trader solvency, jurisdiction, delay and enforcement country. Preserve limitation by taking the legally effective step, not merely requesting customer support. Do not buy recovery services, pay an upfront refund-release fee or send more money to unlock an alleged reimbursement.
Escalation
Protect Withdrawal, Delivery, Guarantee, Subscription, Complaint, Arbitration, Chargeback, and Court Deadlines
Calendar each clock separately and obtain a receipt for every action meant to preserve rights.
Calendar the core clocks
For eligible distance or off-premises contracts, withdrawal generally runs 14 calendar days from goods receipt or service-contract conclusion. Send an unequivocal declaration before expiry and keep its timestamp. The return of goods then has its own period. If mandatory withdrawal information was omitted, an extended period can apply, but obtain advice before relying on it.
Unless another delivery date was agreed, online goods are generally due within 30 days. Notify delay and provide a reasonable additional period before termination, except where the date was essential and communicated or the trader refuses delivery. Preserve the agreed date, extra deadline and termination notice.
New consumer goods generally have three years of conformity protection from delivery. During the first two years, a manifested defect is presumed to have existed at delivery unless incompatible with the goods or defect. Second-hand trader sales can agree no less than one year, and digital supplies have distinct proof and continuity rules. A repair handover suspends the running guarantee period, which resumes on return, and recurrence of the same issue has additional protection. The current official guarantee page should be checked for the exact product and supply model.
Move the case without losing rights
Give the trader a specific reasonable response and performance date. A business complaint response, subscription notice, card dispute, sector ombudsman, arbitration application, administrative complaint, civil limitation and appeal can each use a different deadline. Opening an OMIC file or waiting for a platform does not automatically suspend a court period. Confirm interruption and suspension under the governing law.
For CEC Spain, complain to the trader in writing first and apply before arbitration or court. For consumer arbitration, keep the prior complaint and admission decision. For a chargeback, contact the issuer immediately and preserve merchant correspondence. For court, identify the competent venue, defendant and service address before limitation.
Backward-plan from the earliest clock: capture evidence immediately; notify a defect or non-delivery promptly; send withdrawal before day 14; follow up before the trader deadline; choose mediation, arbitration or CEC while evidence is fresh; obtain legal advice well before limitation. After moving country, changing bank, closing email or ending a subscription, keep stable contact and access until refund, award or judgment is fully performed.
Enforcement Help
Resolve Seller Refusal, Marketplace Confusion, Failed Repair, Forced Voucher, Scam, Insolvency, and Cross-Border Enforcement
Use the body with power over the actual trader, sector, crime, payment, award, or judgment.
Diagnose refusal and identity problems
If a marketplace and seller each deny responsibility, use the invoice, listing disclosure, payment beneficiary, fulfilment and communications to identify the contracting trader and any separate platform duty. Send the claim to both where facts justify it, but state the legal role alleged for each. A platform dispute outcome does not extinguish statutory rights unless a valid settlement does so.
After a failed repair, delayed repair, recurring defect, refused conformity or serious failure, request the next available remedy with the intake and repair record. A trader cannot automatically force endless repairs or a store voucher. For an eligible withdrawal, demand repayment through the original payment method unless another method was expressly agreed. For unsafe products, stop use and notify the seller and market-surveillance channel; preserve the item unless authorities direct otherwise.
Choose competent help
A Spanish trader dispute can go to the OMIC or autonomous-community consumer authority for advice, mediation or enforcement review, and to consumer arbitration if the trader is bound or accepts. Regulated finance, insurance, telecom, energy, transport and data complaints use their sector sequence. An administrative fine does not necessarily compensate the consumer, so preserve the private claim.
The CEC Spain eligibility route assists residents of Spain against eligible traders in another EU state, Iceland, Norway or the United Kingdom after a written complaint. It excludes national purchases, private or business transactions, crimes and cases already in arbitration or court. Use the consumer centre in the residence country where its cross-border rule requires that instead.
For a fake shop, identity theft, payment diversion or deliberate deception, contact the bank and police promptly, preserve technical evidence and still notify the platform. Police investigate crime; they do not replace a civil refund claim. If the company is insolvent, identify the insolvency proceeding and lodge the claim rather than sending repeated customer-service messages.
A binding arbitral award or judgment can require formal enforcement if unpaid, including in another country. Assess assets and cost before escalating. Use legal aid or qualified consumer counsel for injury, substantial loss, complex jurisdiction, limitation, insolvency, collective harm or urgent injunction. Bring the indexed contract, seller identity, chronology, remedy requests, notices, losses, desired outcome and earliest deadline.