Spain imposes its first fine for telephone spam: 5,000 euros for calling someone on the Robinson List.

As of June 29, 2023, the General Telecommunications Law prohibits commercial calls without the user's prior consent, unless they have expressly authorized it or have been a customer of the company within the last year.

This regulation was intended to permanently put an end to phone spam , one of the biggest annoyances of recent years. However, until now, it seemed to be ineffective, as users continued to receive these calls. On the one hand, this happened because companies were looking for every possible way to continue calling you legally, for example, by sneaking in permission to call you in the cookies or Terms and Conditions of their website or app.

But many of them also flouted the law, making random calls or knowing they weren't supposed to , in an attempt to sell or offer a new product or service. This has put the regulations in a bad light, as they weren't effective.

However, we have learned of what is the first fine for telephone spam under this General Telecommunications Law. It was actually in 2023 , just one month after it came into force, and the sanctioned party was Adverbis Spain, SL, a small company dedicated to online marketing and advertising.

And it wasn't until 2025 that the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) imposed a €5,000 fine for calling a user registered on the Robinson List. While the amount is small due to the size of this company, some can reach up to €2 million for large corporations.

The AEPD emphasizes that more users can now file complaints if they receive unauthorized commercial calls and are registered on the Robinson List. The keys to success are:

1. Record the number and time of unsolicited commercial calls.
2. Check your registration on the Robinson List.
3. File complaints with the AEPD (Spanish Data Protection Agency) by attaching evidence such as call logs or recordings of calls in this section of the website called "I Receive Commercial Calls."