According to the current Spanish Law on Retail Trade, whenever items are offered at a reduced price, the previous price must be clearly indicated on each item along with the reduced price, unless the items are being sold for the first time. The “previous price” is understood to be the lowest price applied to identical products in the preceding thirty days.
This rule arises from Directive 2019/2161 on the improvement and modernization of consumer protection rules, which was transposed into Spanish law in 2021, resulting in many changes, including those regulating the information and advertising of sales, discounts, and offers like those associated with Black Friday. The aim of the regulatory change was to combat typical and misleading practices, such as raising prices in the days leading up to the sales period or Black Friday.
The Consumer Association of the German region of Baden-Württemberg sued the chain for this practice, arguing that it was unfair and detrimental to consumer interests. The Düsseldorf Regional Court consulted the Court of Justice of the EU on how to interpret the Directive in a case like this, as the concept of “previous price” is the only one mentioned in it.
In its ruling issued on September 26 (case C 330/23), the European Court recognizes that there is a regulatory gap regarding the percentage indication of price reductions. However, it states that, for the sake of coherence and to better protect consumers, any percentage indication of a discount must be based on the “previous price,” meaning the lowest price in the last 30 days. Thus, Aldi’s practice of calculating the percentage reduction based on the last valid price is deemed unacceptable.
Ignacio Temiño
Lawyer
