Mass litigation in Spain: between joinder of claims and class actions

We are continuing to monitor global trends in class actions that are likely to be of interest to financial institutions, particularly in light of the growing trend of so-called class action tourism.

Having covered updates in France, Germany, and Italy we now share an article from our Madrid team, considering the landscape of mass litigation in Spain which (as in many other European jurisdictions) is far from being clear and easy to manage.

There could be a good opportunity to improve the current system under EU Directive 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers and repealing Directive 2009/22/EC (the “Collective Redress Directive”). However, although we will have to wait and see how the Collective Redress Directive is finally implemented, adapting to the Directive will not require too many changes to the existing Spanish system and so it is unlikely to force significant changes in the Spanish landscape of mass litigation.

Please see our class actions hub for further insights.