Shopping in Spain is changing and you could notice it from Monday

Anyone popping into a shop in Spain to buy a television, phone or washing machine could notice something different from Monday September 28. A new EU rule on guarantees becomes compulsory from September 27, and it means an old trick, a sticker boasting ‘3 years guarantee’ with nothing to back it up, won’t wash any more.

A three-year sticker on its own won’t cut it any more 

For years, shops and manufacturers across Spain have been free to slap a “2 year guarantee” or “3 year guarantee” sticker on a product, and shoppers have had little choice but to take it at its word. From Monday, that changes.

Every shop selling consumer goods in the European Union, in person or online, now has to display a standardised notice confirming that products including televisions, phones, washing machines and other appliances come with at least two years of legal guarantee cover, at no extra cost. In physical shops, it has to be printed at A4 size and placed somewhere shoppers will actually see it, such as near the till.

Online, a coloured version has to appear before checkout, along with a QR code linking through to more detailed guidance on a shopper’s rights.

The real guarantee will carry an official GARAN mark

A second, entirely different label is also being introduced alongside it, called GARAN. Unlike the notice, GARAN isn’t compulsory for every shop or product. It only appears when a manufacturer chooses to offer a commercial guarantee lasting longer than the legal two-year minimum, covering the whole product for free rather than just certain parts.

So if a product carries the official GARAN label, showing the EU’s logo, a tick and a small calendar icon, shoppers can trust that the extra years promised are genuine and won’t cost anything extra to claim. If it doesn’t, any “extended guarantee” sticker or in-store claim is simply marketing, not a guarantee backed by EU rules.

Spain’s shoppers already have more protection than most

Spain doesn’t actually need the EU’s two-year floor. Anyone buying new goods in Spain has been entitled to a legal guarantee of three years since January 2022, longer than almost anywhere else in the Union, and that protection applies whether or not a GARAN label is anywhere in sight.

However, that’s exactly what these changes are trying to fix. Shoppers often work on the assumption that ‘if it says three years, it must mean three years’, when in many cases Spain’s own legal guarantee already covers just as much, or more, without any sticker at all.

What to check before buying

Anyone buying an appliance or gadget in Spain from Monday September 28 should treat the new notice as a reminder of their existing rights, then look specifically for the GARAN label before trusting any “extra years” claim. If it isn’t there, it’s worth asking the shop to explain exactly what, if anything, that promise is actually backed by.