Consumer Rights: Package Travel and Timeshare Contracts
Article 162: Liability of Organizers and Retailers
1. Package organizers and retailers shall be liable to the consumer or user, depending on the obligations of their respective areas of responsibility for managing the package, for correct compliance with obligations deriving from the contract, independently of whether these must be performed by themselves or by other service providers, and without prejudice to the organizer or retailer’s right to bring proceedings against said service providers. All entrepreneurs parties to the contract, whether organizers or retailers, regardless of type and relations between them, shall be jointly and severally liable to the consumer, without prejudice to the right of recovery of the party liable to the consumer or user and to whom the non-performance or defective performance of the contract may be attributed according to their area of responsibility for managing the package.
2. Package organizers and retailers shall also be liable for damages suffered by consumers and users as a consequence of failure to execute or unsatisfactory execution of the contract. This liability shall cease in the event of any of the following circumstances:
- a) Where the defects observed in the execution of the contract are attributable to the consumer or user.
- b) Where said defects are attributable to a third party not involved in providing the services envisaged in the contract and are of an unforeseeable or insurmountable nature.
- c) Where said defects are due to reasons of force majeure, these being understood as abnormal and unforeseeable circumstances beyond the control of the party citing them, the consequences of which could not have been avoided despite having acted with all due diligence.
- d) Where the defects are due to an event that the retailer or organizer, if any, could neither foresee nor overcome, despite having acted with all due diligence.
In the event of release from liability due to the occurrence of one of the circumstances set forth under paragraphs b), c) and d), organizers and retailers party to the contract shall still be obliged to provide the necessary assistance to consumers and users who find themselves in difficulties.
3. Compensation for damages, where these are the result of failure to execute or unsatisfactory execution of the services/features included in the package, shall be limited in keeping with the provisions of international agreements governing such services/features.
4. Exceptions to the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article shall not be established in contractual terms.
Timeshare Contracts
EU Directive
- DIRECTIVE 2008/122/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 14 January 2009 on the protection of consumers in respect of certain aspects of timeshare, long-term holiday product, resale and exchange contracts
Spain Law
- Ley 4/2012, de 6 de julio, de contratos de aprovechamiento por turno de bienes de uso turístico, de adquisición de productos vacacionales de larga duración, de reventa y de intercambio y normas tributarias.
Definition of ‘Timeshare Contract’
‘Timeshare contract’ means a contract of a duration of more than one year under which a consumer, for consideration, acquires the right to use one or more overnight accommodations for more than one period of occupation.
Other Contract Definitions
- ‘Long-term holiday product contract’ means a contract of a duration of more than one year under which a consumer, for consideration, acquires primarily the right to obtain discounts or other benefits in respect of accommodation, in isolation or together with travel or other services.
- ‘Resale contract’ means a contract under which a trader, for consideration, assists a consumer to sell or buy a timeshare or a long-term holiday product.
- ‘Exchange contract’ means a contract under which a consumer, for consideration, joins an exchange system which allows that consumer access to overnight accommodation or other services in exchange for granting to other persons temporary access to the benefits of the rights deriving from that consumer’s timeshare contract.
Timeshare Contract: Rights and Obligations
- Foundation: Property Registry Rights
- Before the contract: Pre-contractual information (articles 7-9 Ley 4/2012)
- The contract must be in writing, on paper or on another durable medium, and drawn up in the language or one of the languages of the Member State in which the consumer is resident or a national (articles 11, 29 and 30 Ley 4/2012).
- After the contract:
- Right of withdrawal (article 12): The consumer has a period of 14 calendar days to withdraw from the timeshare contract, without giving any reason.
- Advance payment before the end of the withdrawal period is prohibited (article 13).