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The same can be said for lawyers, champions of consumer rights and freedoms and a key player in the nasty world of lawsuits. These professionals who know the Spanish legal code (including consumer protection law) can make the courts available for any person or organisation to seek damages for failure, delay or misconduct in keeping a contract.

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Basic consumer rights
Consumers should know that their inalienable rights are the following: protection of health and safety, protection of economic and social interests, information, education and training in the areas of consumption, representation, consultation and participation, protection from any situation that puts them at a disadvantage, subordinates them or leaves them defenceless, and the right to seek damages.

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We are all consumers, and there is hardly a way not to be one. From the moment the alarm clock goes off in the morning until we switch off the lights to go to sleep, we go through the day making contracts, fulfilling contracts and expecting others to fulfill theirs. From turning on the faucet, making coffee, fixing a bowl of cereal, going down in the elevator to the garage, starting the car, filling the tank with gasoline or taking the bus, every activity is subject to norms and commitments on both sides. Some people pay for goods and services with certain characteristics and quality, and others supply them under the agreed terms.

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Water, electricity and gas are supplied to the home because there are technical arrangements allowing this and because the household has paid for these services. The same applies to people who, for instance, buy a carton of milk at a supermarket. In this case, in exchange for an amount of money agreed by the two sides, the consumer can enjoy a product that supposedly meets all the necessary standards of health, expiration date, quality, etc. If some part of this is missing, the consumer can seek compensation for non-compliance with invisible contracts established in every transaction involving goods
or services.

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Current legislation
All of this leads to the conclusion that much of 21st century consumer life is governed by unwritten contracts, in other words, with no documents. This lack of material definition does not undermine the right to demand fulfilment of agreements. For example, there can be a contract without a document backing it up. But what happens when obligations are not written down? In those cases people turn to the rules on interpreting contracts. Spanish
law says that when terms are not recorded in writing, in order to judge the intentions of the parties or when there are several interpretations of the terms, the right one is that which produces the desired effect of the contract.

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The web page of the Spanish Confederation of Homemakers and Consumers (Ceaccu) features a link allowing consumers to ask questions and file complaints. The organisation's legal department will ask for the person's name, telephone number, town, country, email address and an explanation of their problem. This free service includes legal counselling on consumer rights, procedures and complaints with the government, mediation and assistance with arbitration. The confederation says its staff responds within a week. Besides getting in touch via e-mail, consumers can call 34 91 4470481 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.

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Besides the Ceaccu, there are dozens of organisations such as the Spanish Consumers Union (UCE), the Organisation of Consumers and Users (OCU.org), or the Confederation
of Associations of Neighbourhood Consumers and Users, or Cave, (asociacionesdevecinos.org). They all play an important role in defence of consumers, with initiatives that allow public complaints against irregularities. All of the above offer a link for web users to publish their complaints and demands. Consumer groups also agree that the quickest way to get a swift answer in a consumer dispute is arbitration that allows for easy resolution of disagreements that can arise between the two parties in the equation: buyer and seller, Cave says.

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