Bans on spam calls in Spain comes into force

Spain has banned companies from making spam calls to users who have not given their express consent. The prohibition comes into force on Thursday, June 29. 

The new general telecommunications law provides for sanctions in the event that companies breach the right of users not to receive unwanted calls for commercial purposes. 

The new rule will see companies be forbidden to call people who have a landline or mobile number in Spain. 

Certain exceptions will be considered where the call pertains to "legitimate interests." 

However, the new ban will not cover situations where the user has had a contractual relationship with the company to make calls to offer similar products.

Companies have already had one year to adapt to the rule, which also includes the right not to receive automated calls without human intervention without prior consent.

The regulation seeks to put an end to the widespread practice of making commercial calls to randomly generated numbers and will apply to all companies and not just call centers.

Spain's Data Protection Agency will be in charge of ensuring compliance with the law, and not the Catalan Consumer Agency as the regulation is state-wide. However, the Catalan body recommends that consumers take into account that sometimes this consent to receive calls is given without the user being aware of it at the time of accepting the terms and conditions of the companies. 

For this reason, before accepting conditions, the Catalan Consumer Agency warns users to "review their content in detail."

From now, telemarketing companies will have to review their practices since the consent to receive spam calls will have to be "express and unequivocal" on the part of the consumer.

If you continue to receive these phone calls, you can request that your data be deleted and report the call to authorities.