The law applies to every large organisation serving Spanish consumers. Whether you operate from Madrid or Rotterdam. Whether you run your customer service in-house or through a BPO. The law also applies to foreign companies active in the Spanish market. The responsibility always stays with you.
Spain has made customer service a legal obligation. With concrete requirements, measurable KPIs and a hard deadline: 28 December 2026.
The law is called Ley 10/2025, but everyone refers to it as the Three-Minute Law. That nickname says it all. At least 95% of all incoming calls must be answered within an average of three minutes. Not a best-effort obligation. Not "we'll do our best." A results obligation, demonstrable and documented.
One Europe, but not one rulebook
We live in one Europe, but that doesn’t mean we operate under one set of rules. Countries determine their own consumer protection standards, and those standards can differ significantly. The Spanish law is a clear example. It didn’t come out of nowhere. It grew out of years of consumer frustration: endless waiting times, bots sending you round in circles, complaints disappearing into a black hole. At some point, a government says: enough.
The impact on businesses is substantial. Particularly for organisations serving multiple countries from a single centralised contact centre. And it would be naive to think Spain is alone in this. Consumer organisations across Europe, including the Dutch Consumentenbond, are closely watching these developments. There is a real chance that similar legislation will follow in other countries. Organisations that get their customer service in order now won’t be scrambling to catch up later.
Who does the law apply to?
The law targets two groups. First, large companies: organisations with more than 250 employees and an annual turnover above 50 million euros. Second, providers of essential services, such as telecoms, utilities, financial services, transport and large-scale retail. For the latter group, the obligations apply regardless of company size.
Do you sell products or services to Spanish consumers and fall into one of these categories? Then you are in scope.
What the law means in practice
Fully automated customer service is no longer permitted. Anyone using AI or bots must keep a human agent reachable from the very first contact. No exceptions, no workarounds.
Complaints must be resolved within 15 days. For billing issues, that drops to 5 days. Every complaint receives a unique reference number, and the customer is entitled to written confirmation. That means no more loose notes, no more informal handling over the phone. Traceable, documented, demonstrable.
Organisations operating in regions with a co-official language are required to serve customers in that language too. In practice: routing, staffing and training in Catalan, Basque and Galician, alongside Spanish. To bring it closer to home: imagine the Netherlands introduced a similar law. As a large company operating in Friesland, you would be legally required to have Frisian-speaking customer service agents available. Not as a nice-to-have, but as a legal requirement. That is exactly what this feels like for a Spanish or international contact centre.
On top of that: an annual external audit. The results must be published on your website and remain available to regulators for five years. Demonstrating compliance is not optional, it is part of the law.
What about the telecoms side?
Limited, but not zero. Numbering and routing change very little. Inbound customer service numbers fall outside the new requirements. The only change on the telecoms side involves outbound commercial calls, which must use the new +34 400 prefix. Organisations that do not make outbound commercial calls to Spain do not need to change anything on the telecoms side.
The real impact sits in operations. In your staffing models, escalation procedures, reporting systems and governance agreements with BPO partners. Organisations that simply buy seats and headcount from a BPO need to think carefully about who demonstrates compliance when the regulator comes calling. Because legally, that is you.
Not a burden, but a choice
It sounds like an added burden. And honestly, for many organisations it is. But those who take the implementation period seriously can turn it into something. Better staffing, sharper SLAs, clearer governance. Customer contact that demonstrably works. That is not a compliance exercise. That is a contact centre built for the future.
The transition period runs until 28 December 2026. Setting up language routing, building reporting systems, planning audit cycles: it all takes time. More time than most organisations currently expect.