Private enforcement of Spanish competition law is one of the most notable novelties of the Competition Act 15/2007 of 3 July 2007. Before its enactment, Spanish competition authorities had a monopoly on enforcing competition rules. Companies and consumers who felt they were harmed by infringements of competition laws had to wait for the proceedings conducted by those authorities to be completed before they could raise their own claims.
The new provisions, however, open the door to private prosecution of the conducts prohibited under articles 1 and 2 of the Act. This means that consumers and businesses can go directly before commercial courts when they believe the said articles of the Act have been violated and request cessation of such conducts, along with the compensation they deem appropriate.