Anyone buying a smartphone, laptop or television from a retailer in Spain gets a legal guarantee running three years from delivery — far beyond the twelve months most shoppers still assume. The framework sits in articles 114 to 127 bis of Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2007, as amended by Real Decreto-ley 7/2021 and applicable since 1 January 2022. That reform deliberately overshoots the EU minimum of two years of cover plus one year of presumption, and it pulls software support into the definition of conformity.
- Three years, two of them reversed: defects are presumed factory-origin for the first 24 months.
- The seller answers: the manufacturer is only a fallback when the retailer cannot realistically be pursued.
- Year three flips the burden: the buyer must prove the fault existed at delivery.
- Parts for a decade: producers must keep service and spares for at least ten years.
What the legal guarantee covers
Coverage extends to any lack of conformity present at delivery that surfaces during the three-year window: the device must match its advertising, work as products of its kind should, and offer the durability a buyer can reasonably expect. Article 115 ter adds a detail with outsized weight for electronics — conformity includes the updates, security patches among them, needed to keep the hardware functioning. Even if a handset ships with a shorter update commitment, the seller stays liable for the full three years. Skip an update the seller offered and explained, though, and the law frees them from answering for the resulting defect. Botched installation by the seller, or installation following bad instructions, is covered too.
Excluded: drops, impacts and misuse, plus any sale between private individuals. Second-hand goods bought from a professional may carry a shorter term but never less than one year, so check refurbished units sold as used. One-off digital purchases such as a paid app or a downloadable game are covered for two years, not three.
Who to claim against, and what to demand
The claim belongs with the retailer. Article 117 places the duty on the business that made the sale, and a simple declaration is enough to set it in motion; article 125 allows going straight to the manufacturer only where the seller is impossible or disproportionately burdensome to pursue, for example after a shop closure. A store may route the device through the brand’s service network, but the obligation stays with the store.
- Repair or replacement, at the buyer’s choice unless one is impossible or disproportionate. Both are free — shipping, labour and parts — and must be completed within a reasonable time.
- The clock stops while the device is in the workshop. Afterwards the seller answers for that same fault for a further year, and a repeat failure is presumed to be the original problem.
- Price reduction or termination if repair fails or the defect returns, with the refund paid within 14 days and by the same payment method.
Ask for a written receipt noting the date and the fault: article 123 obliges the seller to issue one, and it proves the guarantee was suspended.
The third-year burden and the decade-long parts rule
Article 121 presumes for two years that the defect existed at delivery; in year three the guarantee survives, but the buyer must show the fault was original rather than wear. Regional consumer authorities warn that a company may agree to repair while refusing to cover labour or call-out costs unless origin is proven. Separately, article 127 bis forces producers to maintain technical service and spare parts for at least ten years after they stop making a product, and forbids inflating parts prices on repairs. Commercial guarantees stack on top of the legal one and must state that it stays intact — anyone sold an “extension” should check what it genuinely adds.
If a retailer stonewalls, the escalation path runs through the complaint form, the municipal consumer office or the regional consumer body, and — where the company has signed up — the Sistema Arbitral de Consumo: free, binding and enforceable for both sides, with an award due within 90 calendar days of a complete file. Claims can be brought for five years from the moment the fault appears (article 124).
The 2022 reform’s real contribution was less the extra year than the decision to treat software support as part of what was sold: a phone that stops receiving security patches does not break overnight, it simply stops being the product on the invoice. The soft spot is year three, where the burden lands on the buyer and few will fund an expert report over a 600-euro laptop. Keep the invoice, insist on the service-centre receipt, and never let a fault that appeared in month 20 slide until month 25.