In a landmark ruling that has drawn international attention, Spain’s National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) fined Booking.com €486 million in July 2024 for breaching competition laws. The CNMC concluded that Booking.com had abused its dominant market position by imposing a series of anti-competitive clauses and commercial practices that harmed Spanish hotels and distorted the broader digital travel market.
At the heart of the CNMC’s decision are the now-infamous “parity clauses.” These are contract terms that platforms impose on hotels, limiting the pricing flexibility they have on other channels. The CNMC focused in particular on wide parity clauses, which prevent hotels from offering better rates or conditions on any other platform — including their own direct booking channels. In contrast, narrow parity clauses only prohibit hotels from undercutting a platform’s rate on their own website, but allow lower prices elsewhere.
The CNMC found that wide parity clauses significantly restricted competition. By denying hotels the ability to offer better rates on competing platforms or direct channels, Booking.com effectively ensured it remained the primary point of sale, regardless of its commission fees or value. This led to inflated prices for consumers, a stifling of rival booking channels, and reduced margins for accommodation providers — especially smaller, independent operators.
Beyond parity clauses, the CNMC also identified other problematic practices. Hotels alleged that Booking.com:
· Applied unilateral discounts to listed prices without hotel consent, sometimes misrepresenting the original price.
· Overwhelmed visibility rankings, penalising hotels that offered better deals elsewhere by pushing them lower in search results.
· Charged commission rates that could exceed 20–25%, particularly for those unable to negotiate bespoke terms or join preferred partner programs.
· Restricted access to valuable guest data, even when the booking originated through the hotel’s own efforts.
Together, these tactics created an ecosystem where hotels felt locked into agreements that offered limited room for manoeuvre and little transparency.
The CNMC’s final decision stated:
“Booking.com imposed a series of commercial obligations that restricted hotels from freely offering better prices or conditions on other channels, including their own websites, which severely limited competition and consumer choice.”
While the CNMC’s jurisdiction is confined to Spain, its findings are drawing wider attention.
In the UK, which is no longer bound by EU competition law but maintains its own equivalent, legal experts are exploring the feasibility of similar claims.
Craig Cooper, Managing Director of Barings Law, adds:
“Legal action in the UK could become a natural next step if the courts determine these practices caused financial harm here as well. The number of enquiries we’re receiving reflects a growing appetite for accountability.”
For now, the appeal process is underway (see our October article), but for many hotels, this decision has already unlocked new possibilities.
