The Spanish Hotel Law That Gets You 70% Refunds

Short version: there is no single 70% refund law in Spain. There are predictable routes to big refunds if you use hotel cancellation ladders, package-travel rules, and clean documentation. If you book like a tourist, you beg. If you book like a local, you get paid.

First, let’s kill the myth

Americans land in Madrid convinced there is a magic national rule that forces hotels to hand back 70 percent of your money on demand. There isn’t. What Spain actually has is a mix of hotel-set terms, regional tourism rules, and EU protections when the service is not what was sold. Bold promise headlines are usually someone misreading a policy ladder.

Here’s the awkward part you need early: dated accommodation is excluded from Spain’s 14-day cooling-off right. That famous consumer window does not apply to fixed-date hotel stays. If you buy a nonrefundable rate, the default is that it is nonrefundable. Refunds come from the document you accepted, not from a national safety net.

If you stop there, you think there is no hope. That is wrong. The reason people still recover 70 percent or more is that many Spanish properties publish tiered cancellation refunds. If you cancel far enough in advance, the contract gives you back the number you saw. Screenshots beat speeches, every time.

Where the 70 percent really lives

It lives in the cancellation ladder on the booking page. Lots of Spanish hotels use a stepped schedule. Cancel 7 days out and you see 80 percent back, 6 days out shows 70 percent, then the number falls as you approach arrival. It is not law. It is better than law because it is frictionless if you can prove the cut-off. Your proof is a dated capture of the policy at the moment you booked.

People miss two details. First, policies change, so the version today might not match the version when you paid. Second, platform and hotel ladders differ. An OTA might be more generous than the direct site, or the reverse. Compare both and save both, then book the one whose ladder you are willing to live with.

If all you remember from this section is one habit, make it this: no screenshot, no booking. I changed my mind about that years ago after watching three travelers argue for “fairness” against a policy they never saved.

The one legal door most Americans ignore

If your booking is a package (hotel plus transport or other major services sold together by an organizer), you step into the EU Package Travel world. That world is simple in practice. If what was sold is materially not delivered or the trip suffers serious defects, you can demand a price reduction and, when bad enough, a full refund, even if you used part of the stay. Package gives you teeth, and Spanish agencies are used to this language.

This is where the headaches become methodical. You do not say “unfair.” You say “lack of conformity with the contract” and attach photos, videos, and staff replies. Closed spa that was a headline amenity, room category downgrade with no proper alternative, persistent construction noise, sanitation failure, unusable air conditioning during a heat wave. Serious defects get serious money.

If you booked the hotel alone, you can still argue misrepresentation for a price reduction, but packages are the cleanest lane. If an amenity is make-or-break for you, buy it inside a package.

Overbooking is their problem to solve

Spain’s tourism authorities treat overbooking as a practice with duties. If a property cannot honor a confirmed reservation, the normal sequence is to place you in equal or superior accommodation at their cost. If that is not offered or what is offered is clearly inferior, ask for a refund and keep receipts for the replacement you book. Equal or better is a phrase that lands.

At the desk, people get flustered. Keep it short. Ask for a written note that the hotel cannot provide the booked room that night. If they propose an alternative, ask for the category in writing. If it is below what you booked, say you will decline and will request a refund and any difference once you rehouse yourself. You are not being dramatic, you are building a file.

The cooling-off rule you should stop quoting

Spain’s general consumer law gives a 14-day right of withdrawal for many distance purchases. Accommodation with fixed dates is an explicit exception. This is why arguing “I changed my mind” gets you nowhere on a standard room booking. You can still ask for goodwill, but the legal hooks are elsewhere: the published ladder, misrepresentation, overbooking, or the package rules. Save your breath for the hooks that work.

There is a narrow edge case where a flexible rate carries its own free-cancellation window. That is not the consumer law talking. That is the rate plan you chose. If the cancellation window says by 18:00 two days before arrival, then cancel by 17:59 with a timestamped message and attach the policy you captured. Precision beats charm.

Build the file that gets paid

Mobile-first reality: this is a two-minute job you do on your phone the minute you book.

• Take a full-page screenshot of the room rate and the cancellation ladder. Save it with the booking code in the filename. Never rely on memory.
• If you cancel, cancel in writing through the platform or the hotel’s email and save the automatic acknowledgment that shows the time. Timestamps are money.
• If something is wrong on arrival, shoot video and photos before anyone touches the room. Record a quick 30-second clip narrating what is wrong and the date. Then ask the desk once for a fix in writing.
• If you accept a temporary solution, reply with “accepted for tonight” so you have room to claim later. Frozen politeness with clear wording does more than anger.
• Keep receipts for taxis and replacement nights. You are not hoarding paper. You are validating a claim.

I know this sounds tedious. It is also the fastest way to turn No into Yes.

The short message that works

You do not need legal poetry. You need two paragraphs and attachments. Keep it in Spanish and English if you can. Polite, specific, finished.

Subject: Solicitud de reembolso conforme a condiciones de cancelación / Request for refund under published policy

Hola,
Conforme a su política de cancelación publicada en [URL o captura], comunico la cancelación [fecha y hora], que corresponde a [plazo exacto] antes de la llegada. Según dicha política procede un reembolso del [porcentaje]. Adjunto la captura y el justificante de la reserva. Gracias por confirmar el abono al mismo medio de pago.

If it is a package with defects, swap the second sentence for: “Solicito reducción del precio o reembolso total por falta de conformidad con el viaje contratado. Adjunto pruebas.” The phrase “falta de conformidad” is the key.

If you are uncomfortable writing in Spanish, keep the Spanish headline and follow with the English paragraph. The keywords matter.

Force majeure and what it really means

Wildfires, airport strikes, sudden illness. Force majeure is a gray zone on a standalone hotel booking and stronger on packages. Many hotels will still offer partial refunds or date changes if you show documentation, especially outside peak weeks. Many will not. Ask once, show proof, and move on to plan B if the answer is no. The people who get paid are the ones who do not mistake a favor for a right.

If you hold a flexible rate, force majeure is irrelevant because you already own a clean exit. This is why locals sometimes pay a little more for flexibility in high-risk months. If your timeline is fragile, that small premium is cheaper than a lost stay.

Platform play versus booking direct

There is no universal winner. OTAs sometimes give you extra flexibility, faster escalations, and a dispute channel. Direct bookings sometimes give you friendlier policies, upgrades, or date shifts the platform cannot authorize. Compare the ladders and save them. If you book on a platform, keep all chat inside the platform so the case team sees context. If you book direct, move to email quickly so you are not negotiating only at the desk.

One rule of thumb helps: whoever took your money is your first escalation. If an agency charged your card, claim there before you chase the hotel. If the hotel charged you, go direct first. Straight lines speed refunds.

How to talk when a hotel fails to deliver

The worst moment is the first five minutes. You are tired, the room is wrong, the pool is closed, or the boiler is dead. Slow down. Document first, ask second. Then use small, concrete requests.

Try this: “We booked [room category] because of [specific feature]. It is not available. Could you please provide an equal or superior room or a price reduction.” If they decline and it is a package, add “I will contact the organizer for lack of conformity.” If it is a standalone, say “I will send a written request for a price reduction based on what is available.” You are not threatening. You are naming processes they already know.

A quick map of Spanish complaint channels

Every property should have hojas de reclamaciones, the official complaint forms. You can ask for one on the spot. Many regions also offer online filing with the tourism authority. If the front desk refuses a reasonable remedy, say “Quisiera una hoja de reclamaciones” and take a photo of the completed form. Hotels know this escalates scrutiny. You are simply moving the discussion to the right room.

If you booked a package, the organizer is your counterpart. They have deadlines to respond and obligations to compensate. That path is usually faster than trying to arm-wrestle a single property.

Real situations, real outcomes

A Valencia city-break, August. Nonrefundable rate, three nights. Five days before arrival, the child gets a medical diagnosis that cancels travel. The family wrote once, attached the doctor’s note, and asked for a partial gesture. The hotel declined politely, which is their right. The family then looked at their screenshot and realized the OTA had a 72-hour 70 percent ladder. They canceled at 73 hours with a timestamp. Money returned at 70 percent to the card. No drama.

Another case in Tenerife. Spa and rooftop pool were the reason the couple booked. On arrival, both were closed for renovation with a small printed sign. They filmed the sign, the locked doors, and the staff reply. They asked once for a price reduction. The property offered a quiet room and free breakfast. They accepted for one night with reservation of rights, wrote the organizer that evening, cited lack of conformity, and asked for a price reduction. Refund processed two weeks later for one third of the stay. Not perfect, but clean.

One more from Seville. Midnight overbooking. Desk tries to move the guest to a two-star sister property ten blocks away after a paid four-star reservation. The guest asks for a written note, declines the downgrade, and books a same-night four-star elsewhere. They email the manager the next morning with receipts. Full refund granted plus taxi cost. The words equal or superior did the work.

What to copy if you only skim

• Screenshot the ladder at booking and again before you cancel. Keep the timestamp visible.
• Write, do not call, for cancellations and defects. You need the time and the wording.
• Buy key amenities inside a package if they matter to you. That gives you a clear legal lever.
• Ask for equal or superior if overbooked. Decline inferior in writing and rehouse yourself with receipts.
• Use the complaint form if the desk stalls. Calm formality moves people.

If you like lists, that is your list. If you hate lists, it is still your list.

The money timeline that actually protects you

Sixty days before arrival: decide whether the trip is firm. If it is not, book flexible and pay a little more.

Fourteen days: check the ladder and set a calendar alert for the last refund tier that matters.

Seven days: if your rate steps from 80 to 70 here, decide today. Waiting for a friend’s answer is the most expensive habit travelers have. Decide before the step-down.

Seventy-two hours: this is the line many OTAs use for 70 percent. Cancel before this if you are not going. Do not blink through the 48-hour wall and then try to negotiate at midnight.

Day of arrival: film defects before you touch anything. Ask once for a fix. If it is overbooking, ask for equal or superior and get it in writing. If you refuse the offered downgrade, say you are refusing and will claim a refund with receipts.

You do not need ten years of experience. You need a calendar and a camera.

A note on expectations and tone

Spain is friendly and procedural at the same time. You will get further with polite precision than with volume. When you write, keep it short, attach proof, and ask for the exact remedy that exists in the rule you captured. People pay people who make their job easy.

Also, sometimes you will lose. You will miss a cut-off by an hour. You will book a nonrefundable rate for a weekend that sold out in March. You will talk yourself into a fight you did not need. Take the loss, fix your booking habits, and you will make it back next time.

If you want to push beyond hotels

Apartments and short-term rentals sit in a parallel world. Many Spanish regions classify them differently, but the logic is similar. Show the ladder, prove the defect, and file the official complaint if necessary. Where hosts cancel on you, platforms often add compensation. Keep everything inside the platform chat so there is a record. The principle is the same: terms, timestamps, then tone.

A small confession before we end

I wanted the clean headline too. I like rules that sound like secrets. After a few years of watching claims succeed or fail, I changed my mind. There is no single Spanish hotel law that hands you 70 percent. There is something better for people who book like adults: a system that rewards proof, timing, and calm writing. You can get seventy back. You can get a hundred. You can also get nothing if you ignore the ladder and try to fix it at the counter with charm.

That is the whole game. Book with evidence, cancel with timestamps, complain with restraint, and keep your screenshots like they are cash. Because in Spain, for hotels, they are.

What I’d do if I were you next weekend

Pick the hotel you want. Screenshot the rate plan and ladder. Set a reminder for the last refund tier that matters. If an amenity is critical, buy a package that names it. When something goes wrong, document first, ask second. If you need to push, use the complaint form and save the day for the card dispute as the last step. Keep messages short. Keep them bilingual if you can. You will feel strangely calm, because the outcome is no longer about mood. It is about the paper you built.

That is enough to get your money back most of the time. The rest is noise.