Spain: CNMC confirms travel agencies’ failure to comply with sanctions

Spanish regulators have admonished travel agencies Halcón Viajes and Viajes Barceló for failing to comply with the sanctions imposed on them and 2 others for their attempted manipulation of public contract tenders for state agency IMSERSO, and their conspiracy to enact such manipulations. The case, dating back to the late 1990’s, amount to 829,396 euros for Halcón Viajes and an equal amount for counterpart Viajes Barceló. At the time, fines were also levied on Viajes Iberia for 1.23 million euros, and on Viajes Marsans for 721,214 euros.

However, Spain’s CNMC detected that the transgressing behavior and its resulting damaging effects on competition may have persisted, replacing the original agreement for identical tenders with an artificial UTE umbrella group, which was then the only regular participant in public contests. This way, the companies may have continued to violate competition law for over nearly 20 years.

The agency’s announcement now clears the way for a new set of sanctions to be imposed, pending the appropriate investigation.

Source: CNMC

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