Claiming a roaming charge in Spain, step by step

The four deadlines to write down

• One month to complain to your operator. The user office counts it from the event itself; for a bill you disagree with, from the day you receive it.
• One month for the operator to answer.
• Three months to go to the user office, counted from the operator's answer or from the end of its month to reply.
• Six months, at most, for the office to decide.

Note these dates the day you spot the charge. Working out what happened, which country, which network and which day, is covered in our guide to a huge roaming bill after a trip; this one is about the formal claim once you know what you are disputing. The procedure is open to individuals, the self-employed and microenterprises, which have to provide a Social Security certificate showing their number of employees.

Step one: a complaint the operator has to log

Spain's General Telecommunications Law obliges operators to accept complaints by phone and through the same channel you used to sign the contract, and the user office lists phone, internet and post as routes. Whichever you use, the operator must give you a reference number. That number is what later proves to the office that you complained first, so do not end the call or close the chat without it.

If you complain by phone, the law requires the operator to tell you that you can ask for a document, on a durable medium, proving that you complained and what you said: ask for it. In writing, be specific: the line, the bill, each roaming charge you dispute with its date and country, why it is wrong, and what you want, such as a refund or a corrected bill. Attach the itemised bill and, if you kept it, the roaming welcome SMS with the prices you were given.

Paying while you wait

A complaint does not freeze the bill. The telecom law states that complaining, whether to the operator or to the user office, does not stop or suspend the operator's collection actions. If a bill is left unpaid for more than a month after it was presented, the operator may suspend the service temporarily after warning you. After more than three months, or two suspensions for late payment, it may cut the service off for good and end the contract, again with prior notice.

So holding back the disputed amount is not a neutral move. Your usual line is often where bank and government codes arrive, and losing it in the middle of a dispute can cost you more than the charge itself. Whatever you decide, keep proof of every payment and every message: the user office stresses that documentary evidence is what a claim rests on.

Step two: filing with the user office

• Online at usuariosteleco.digital.gob.es, with a digital certificate or an electronic ID card.
• Through the General Electronic Registry, using Cl@ve, from a phone or a computer.
• On paper, with the signed form, at any public administration registry or post office, or by post to the office in Madrid.

The office settles disputes between users and operators, including disagreement with a bill over its amount or its items. It does not deal with phones or routers bought outside a bundled contract. The form asks for the operator, the phone number concerned, the reason for the claim, what you are asking for, such as a refund, and a list of the documents you attach. You prove the earlier complaint with the operator's reference number. If someone files for you, they need your signed authorisation and copies of both ID documents. Extra documents can be sent online only for claims that were filed online.

What happens after you file

The office confirms receipt and explains the procedure. It then sends your claim to the operator for a report, passes that report to you so you can reply, and decides once the file is complete. The office's own guidance says the operator must comply with the decision, and its instructions for the form describe it as binding on both sides. The maximum time to decide is six months from the day you file.

If you disagree, the decision closes the administrative route. You can lodge a recurso de reposición, a request for reconsideration, within one month of receiving it, or go instead to the contentious-administrative courts within two months. The office points out that the administrative appeal is free of charge. Claims filed online can be followed online; for the others, the office lets you check progress with your personal details and the file number.

Consumer arbitration, the other route

Spain's consumer arbitration system is free for both parties, who only pay for expert reports in some cases, and the award binds both sides with the same effect as a court judgment, according to the government's consumer affairs department. The condition is that the company takes part voluntarily. Companies that have joined the system display an adhesion badge, and the user office refers you to the consumer affairs website to check whether your operator accepts the arbitration boards.

The two routes are linked. If you go to a consumer arbitration board within the three months you have for the user office and the operator refuses arbitration, that refusal reopens the three-month period to file with the office. Trying arbitration first therefore does not cost you the official route.

Where the CNMC fits, and lines from other countries

The CNMC is Spain's telecom regulator and, as the national regulatory authority, supervises how operators apply the EU roaming rules. It is not the body that resolves individual billing claims, though: its consumer guidance sends telecom users to their operator first and then to the Ministry's user office.

Everything above applies to lines contracted in Spain. EU roaming rules require every member state to provide out-of-court procedures for unresolved roaming disputes, so a line from another EU country follows that country's route. To keep the next trip off your bill, our guide to turning off roaming on your home line shows how to stop it using data abroad, and a data eSIM such as Snoozim's comes with a VAT invoice you can check before you leave.