Spain

The institution of class action appeared in Spanish law with the entry into force in 2001 of the new Civil Procedure Act (Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil, LEC) and was intended to protect consumer interests (the term consumer was understood broadly).
Two types of actions were distinguished for the protection of the interests of many consumers:

lawsuit to protect collective interests– filed when it is known who has suffered damage as a result of an event, or when it is easy to determine ((un grupo de consumidores o usuarios cuyos componentes estén perfectamente determinados o sean facilmente determinables – Article 11(2) LEC);
action for the protection of diffuse interests (intereses difusos)– brought when it is not possible to identify the consumers who have suffered damage as a result of an event or when such identification is very difficult (una pluralidad de consumidores o usuarios indeterminadao de difícil determinación – 11(3) LEC).

The most common actions are brought by consumer organizations against telecommunications and financial companies, as well as actions related to the use of prohibited contractual clauses.

Implementation of Directive 2020/1828

Implementing act

On 20^th December 2022 draft regulations implementing Directive 2020/1828 were adopted (on 9^th January 2023 it was made available to the public for consultation), which proved to be detailed and comprehensive in scope, and most importantly, introduces significant modifications to the existing procedural solutions. The draft provides for the addition of a new Title IV, consisting of 58 articles, to Book IV of the Spanish Code of Civil Procedure. According to the draft, the scope of the regulation is to be broader than that provided for in Annex 1 to the Directive.
At present, the above-mentioned provisions have not yet been implemented into Spanish law.

Type of procedure and model

Qualified entity to bring an action

Third-party funding

Facilities for consumers

Other comments

Spanish law did not differ significantly from the requirements of Directive 2020/1828.

Update: February/March 2025