In Spain, hotels are organizing themselves to face the platform’s dominant position

Booking, the giant of hotel and holiday accommodation bookings, has been fined a record €413.2 million in Spain. This penalty, the highest that the Spanish Competition Commission has imposed so far, was taken to condemn for abuse of dominant position. Booking thus took advantage of its hegemony to impose abusive practices on its customers, the hotels, for example by prohibiting them from selling their rooms cheaper on their sites than on that of the platform.

Based on this conclusion from the Spanish Markets and Competition Commission, the hotels now want to claim damages from Booking to recover the loss of earnings. There are many companies that could be affected. “There are more than 12,000 hotels in Spain, and Booking controls around 70% of the marketexplains David Fernandez, general director of Eskariam, a law firm that advises the Spanish Association of Hotel Managers. Large hotel chains are contacting us, as well as independent hotels which are the ones that have been most affected by these practices.”

However, it is difficult to obtain testimony from a hotel owner. “Faced with a company of the size, strength and power of Booking, logically the affected hotels are afraid”says David Fernandez. Professionals fear reprisals from the person who fills most of their rooms. A fear “understandable”but “unfounded”say the lawyers, because it is precisely at this moment that the Dutch multinational is being closely monitored by the public authorities.