Spain's rules
My subscription or gym raised the price
The official steps, and a place to count your complaint.
Who this covers
A price rise on an ongoing subscription or recurring membership (streaming, software, apps, gyms). Not telecom operators (es-telecom-contract-change) or trials becoming paid (es-subscription-free-trial).
Add your complaint
Rantr counts your complaint and shows you others who have it.
No promise of a fix or refund. Do not name private people or include private details. This does not send a complaint to the company.
Your official route
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Check what your terms say about price changes
A clause letting the company change the contract on its own is abusive unless the contract states valid reasons. A clause letting it raise the price without objective reasons, and without letting you end the contract if the price ends up much higher, is abusive; linking the price to a legal index is allowed if the contract explains how.
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If you don't accept the new price, cancel
You can end the subscription the same way you signed up, with no penalty.
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Write to the company and keep proof
Deadline: The consumer law, as amended with effect from 28 December 2025, sets a maximum of 15 days from your complaint for the company to answer.
Say you do not accept the increase, ask which contract clause and valid reason it relies on, and ask them to keep your price or refund the difference already charged. Since 28 December 2025 the consumer law requires the ways a company offers for complaints to include at least the channel you signed up with, post, phone and one electronic means. Ask for the complaint's reference code and a written receipt.
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Paid by direct debit? Ask your bank for a refund
Deadline: Within eight weeks from the date the money left your account.
For a SEPA direct debit you authorised, the payments law gives you an unconditional right to a refund from your bank, and the bank cannot refuse it. The only exception is if your contract with the bank says so for a payment you consented to directly with your bank and, where applicable, were told about at least four weeks before. The bank must refund within ten working days of your request.
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No answer or no fix: go to a consumer office
File a complaint with your town's consumer office (OMIC) or your region's consumer authority. If the company is based in another EU country, Iceland or Norway, the European Consumer Centre in Spain can help, provided you complained to the company in writing first and have not gone to court or consumer arbitration.
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Consumer arbitration, if the company accepts it
A Junta Arbitral de Consumo can decide the dispute for free, with a decision as binding as a court ruling. Both sides must agree to it: check whether the company is adhered to the system.
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Last resort: court
Before suing you must have tried to negotiate, and you need written proof of that attempt: for example, proof that the company received your request to negotiate or your proposal. If it does not reply within 30 calendar days of receiving it, the attempt counts as ended without agreement.
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Your written complaint
To: The company's customer service (the channel you signed up with, or post, phone or email)
Must include
- Your name and the email, username or membership number
- Your plan, the old price and the new price
- When and how you were told about the increase (or that you were not told)
- That you do not accept the increase
- Which contract clause they rely on (ask them to identify it)
- What you ask for: keep your price, or cancel without cost, and refund any difference charged
Keep
- The complaint's reference code and written receipt
- A copy of everything you sent, with the date
- Screenshots of the sign-up and cancellation pages and of your account
- Emails, confirmations and the terms you accepted
- Bank or card statements showing each charge
Your rights
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Clauses reserving to the company the power to change the contract unilaterally are abusive, unless there are valid reasons specified in the contract.
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Clauses allowing a price rise without objective reasons and without your right to end the contract if the final price is much higher are abusive; price indexation is allowed if the index is legal and the contract explains how the price varies.
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You can end a subscription the same way you signed up, with no penalty or disproportionate burden such as losing prepaid amounts or paying for services not actually provided.
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For a subscription, the price you are given before signing must include the total cost per billing period.
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Since 28 December 2025 the consumer law says businesses must answer complaints as soon as possible and in any case within 15 days of receiving them.
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In court claims of up to 2,000 euros you can act yourself, without a lawyer or a procurador.
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