In Spain, the Law on Retail Trade dating from January 15, 1996 defines the general framework of an activity, but the actual oversight of it is up to regional authorities. So each region in Spain has its own Domestic Trade Law that regulates activities linked to sales, liquidations, special offers and all other kinds of promotions. In all of them, the term sale involves certain commitments from the merchant so as not to engage in misleading advertising or undermine the interests of consumers.

Sales: what are the merchant's obligations�
During sales, the regular price should be shown alongside the sale price. This must happen in all kinds of sales, promotions and special offers. In any case, consumers can be wary of stores that have a sale sign posted in the window permanently. This sign is not supposed to stay up more than two months, nor less than a week (within the dates chosen by each merchant, so long as these dates are on the calendar set by each regional government.) The general law also sets two seasons for sales: one at the beginning of the year and one in summer.
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In several regions, such as Madrid and Extremadura, merchants don't have to wait until January to start offering sales. Sales traditionally are offers that small and large businesses carry out to encourage sales of certain articles that remain in stock once the season is over. In other words, the summer wear that has been in shop windows throughout the summer season is condemned to disappear, either because of the change of weather or it will be obsolete the following year. In order to thin out their stocks, stores institutionalized sales. It is worth pointing out that not all products that are discounted fall into the category of sales.

Not all discounts are sales
Here we define the kinds of offers which are most often confused with sales per se:
Liquidations. Prices lower than before because the store is closing or changing its line of business. The reason for the liquidation must be specified to customers alongside the announcement of the liquidation.
Sales (saldos). Sales of articles that are out of fashion, or with slight defects, causing their price to drop. Consumers must be made aware of this.
Promotions. These aim to stimulate sales of a given product or service with the goal of making people aware of its existence. In this case the products cannot be of quality lower than those brought out later at the normal price.

Buying at a good price�
Besides these kind of sales, throughout the year there are other specific times when consumers are offered special prices, outside the sales calendar, simply getting a jump on the seasons of maximum consumption of a product or service. For example, during last year's Christmas holidays, consumers who shopped in November saw prices 50% lower than during the Christmas season itself.