Spain’s competition authority, the CNMC, fined Booking.com €413.24 million in July 2024 over its dealings with hotels in Spain and its effect on rival hotel-booking agencies. Booking.com appealed. Its parent company said in a filing for the quarter ended 31 March 2026 that the decision and payment of the fine had been suspended while the appeal proceeds; the filing does not establish that a court has ruled on the merits.
What Spain’s CNMC decided
The CNMC adopted its decision in case S/0005/21 on 29 July 2024 and announced the sanction the following day. It imposed two penalties of €206.62 million each, for a total of €413.24 million. The authority characterized one infringement as exploitative abuse of dominance and the other as exclusionary abuse. These are the regulator’s findings; Booking.com appealed the decision.
The CNMC said Booking.com imposed unfair trading conditions on hotels located in Spain and restricted competition from other online travel agencies (OTAs) that arrange hotel bookings. It cited Article 2 of Spain’s Competition Act and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The CNMC’s case record identifies the proceeding as S/0005/21.
Why the regulator said the practices harmed competition
The CNMC’s reasoning focused on contract terms and incentives that, in its view, could steer hotel sales toward Booking.com or make it harder for rival booking agencies to compete. Its decision summary discusses the following practices:
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- Parity terms for hotel prices: The CNMC described a narrow parity clause that prevented hotels from offering lower prices on their own sales channels than on Booking.com, while Booking.com reserved the right to undercut prices displayed on its platform.
- Ranking and booking volume: The authority said Booking.com used a hotel’s booking volume through its platform as a factor in ranking, which could encourage hotels to direct more business through Booking.com.
- Preferred-program conditions: The decision also addressed profitability-based requirements tied to preferred programs, which the CNMC said could disadvantage competing agencies.
The CNMC presented these practices as parts of its competition-law case, not as isolated consumer charges. Its concern was that hotel terms and platform incentives could both affect hotels’ commercial choices and restrict rival OTAs. The decision summary sets out the authority’s account; the appeal means those findings should not be described as a final court judgment.
How much was the fine?
| CNMC penalty | Amount | Theory identified by the CNMC |
|---|---|---|
| First infringement | €206.62 million | Exploitative abuse of dominance |
| Second infringement | €206.62 million | Exclusionary abuse |
| Total | €413.24 million | Two continuing infringements |
The CNMC’s 30 July 2024 press release gives the exact total as €413,240,000 and the two equal penalties. Headlines that describe the amount as “nearly $450 million” are using a rounded currency conversion; the official penalty is denominated in euros. The press release labels its English version an unofficial document intended for media and not binding on the CNMC.
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Is the fine still on hold?
As of its 2026 first-quarter filing, Booking Holdings said the Spanish National Court had suspended the CNMC decision, including payment of the fine, pending the outcome of Booking.com’s appeal. The company also reported that the matter remained a liability in its accounts as of 31 March 2026. That is a company disclosure about the procedural status and accounting treatment, not a ruling that decides whether the CNMC’s findings were correct.
The available status information does not establish a later final judgment on the merits. It therefore supports saying the decision and payment were suspended pending appeal as reported in the filing—not that the fine was upheld, paid, or overturned. Booking Holdings’ SEC filing describes the company’s disclosure.
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What this means for travelers and hotels
The CNMC’s decision concerns Booking.com’s business terms and competition among booking intermediaries in relation to hotels located in Spain. It is not a consumer penalty assessed against people who book stays, and the fine itself does not establish that a particular traveler paid more for a particular room. Any eventual effect on hotel pricing, platform rankings, or OTA competition would depend on the outcome and consequences of the legal process; the cited status disclosure does not establish those effects.
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