Spain Opens New Proceedings Against Apple and Amazon Over 2023 Competition Order
Key Facts
Spain’s National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) opened disciplinary proceedings on November 3 against Apple and Amazon over suspected non-compliance with an order to halt conduct covered by the authority’s 2023 decision. The proceedings concern the timing of compliance and do not constitute a final ruling or a new fine against the companies. The CNMC said they did not remove clauses that restricted the number of sellers of Apple products and advertising space until May 2025. In October 2025, the authority had concluded that the sanctioned conduct had not ceased by that date. Its board then asked the Competition Directorate to open disciplinary proceedings, after finding the companies had failed to comply with its earlier decision.
The case dates back to a CNMC decision in July 2023, when it imposed fines totaling 194.15 million euros on the companies. Apple Group companies were fined 143.64 million euros, compared with 50.51 million euros for Amazon Group companies. The decision included an order to halt practices the authority said restricted competition on the Amazon Spain platform. The current proceedings examine compliance with that order, putting implementation at the center of the new case. The authority says the investigation and decision in the proceedings will take place within a maximum period of 3 months from their start.
According to the CNMC, the clauses restricted the number of Apple product sellers allowed to sell on Amazon’s platform in Spain and limited advertising space available to competing brands. The authority said the terms prevented Amazon from directing marketing campaigns promoting competing products to Apple customers. In its original decision, the authority described the clauses’ effect as restricting intra-brand and inter-brand competition. It said the conduct began when the clauses were adopted in October 2018. The scope of the investigation means the authority is examining compliance with the order to halt these restrictions, rather than simply a commercial dispute between the companies.
The CNMC says the clauses on the number of sellers and advertising space remained in force until May 2025, when they were removed, according to the authority. On October 1, 2025, the authority’s board decided that Apple and Amazon had not stopped the conduct for which they were fined in the July 2023 decision before that date. The board referred the matter to the Competition Directorate to open disciplinary proceedings. The authority then opened the new proceedings after courts rejected a request to suspend their implementation as a precaution. This process remains separate from a final ruling on the underlying case, as the CNMC has not yet issued an outcome in the new disciplinary proceedings.
Two legal challenges remain pending before Spain’s National Court: the companies appealed both the 2023 fine decision and the 2025 non-compliance decision, and both are awaiting rulings. Opening the new disciplinary proceedings does not halt the wait for decisions on those appeals, according to the authority. The record for the new Apple case also describes it as under review, with the last update recorded on October 19, 2026. The CNMC classifies the potential infringement in this case as very serious under Article 62.4.c of Spain’s Competition Act, which concerns non-compliance with a decision. The outcome of the new proceedings and the court challenges remains pending.
In the session before news broke that the proceedings had begun, Apple shares closed at 344.17 dollars a share, while Amazon shares ended trading at 260.21 dollars on November 5, 2026, according to EL7 data. These are closing prices for the cited session, and the data does not attribute any movement in either share to the Spanish investigation. In the Spanish economy, gross domestic product grew 2.7% year over year in the third quarter of 2026, up a tenth of a point from the previous quarter, while domestic demand contributed 2.6 points to annual growth. The services activity index also fell to 57.2 points in October from 58.3 points in September, as growth in new business cooled and export sales declined, according to a Reuters survey. Business confidence in services rose to its highest level since February, while the report said the general election scheduled for November 29 could bring positive change.