Hoja de reclamaciones in Spain: what it is and what to write

What the hoja de reclamaciones is

It is the official consumer complaint form regulated by each autonomous community in Spain. Shops, bars, garages, clinics, gyms, online sellers with a physical presence and most businesses serving the public are required to have the forms and a visible sign saying they exist.

Write my hoja now

The paper version comes in three copies: one stays with the consumer authority, one for the business, one for you. Increasingly you can file the same complaint through your region’s online portal, which has the same legal value.

Filing it does two things at once: it puts your complaint on the record with a date, and it sends it to the public consumer body (Consumo / OMIC), which can contact the business, propose mediation and open a sanctioning file if the law was broken.

When to use it (and when something else is faster)

• Use it when a business refuses, ignores you or gives a vague answer and you want an official, dated record — for a refund, a repair, a cancelled service, a misleading price or poor treatment.
• It is the natural step after a first written complaint to the company goes unanswered.
• If your issue is a bank, an insurer or a public benefit (SEPE, INSS, IMV), those have their own specific channels — the hoja is for consumer goods and services.
• For a defective product or an online return, you also have specific rights (legal guarantee, 14-day withdrawal); the hoja reinforces them when the seller stalls.

Your rights: the business must provide it

• Almost every business open to the public must hand you the form on request, immediately and free of charge; the duty and its exceptions are set by each autonomous community. Madrid, for example, exempts three groups, each on its own condition: liberal professionals, only for activities where membership of a professional college is compulsory and that college has an ethics committee (comisión deontológica); schools, only for their officially regulated teaching (enseñanza reglada); and public services provided directly by the administration, when they have a complaints procedure of their own.
• It must be available in Spanish at least; you can write your complaint in your own words.
• Refusing to provide it is an administrative infringement that can be fined.
• You always keep your stamped or submitted copy — it is your proof that you complained and when.

What to write — the part that decides your case

• Your data and ID (name, DNI/NIE, address, phone/email) and the business data (commercial name, CIF if you have it, address of the establishment).
• The facts in clear chronological order with dates: what you bought or contracted, what went wrong, and every step you already took (when you complained, what they answered).
• What you ask for, concretely: refund of X €, repair, replacement, cancellation without penalty, or compensation — name the exact outcome.
• The legal basis if you know it (e.g. legal guarantee, right of withdrawal) and the receipt/order number — but plain, factual language is enough; avoid insults and keep it to the point.
• A short closing line asking the consumer authority to mediate and, if applicable, to open a sanctioning file.

Evidence to attach

• Receipt, invoice or bank/card statement and the order or reference number.
• Photos, screenshots or video of the problem and of any advertised price or promise.
• All prior communications: emails, chat, WhatsApp, with the date you first complained.
• The contract, terms or warranty card if the dispute is about conditions.

How to file it, step by step

• Ask for the hoja in the establishment, or open your region’s (CCAA) online consumer-complaint form.
• Fill in all sections: your data, the business data, the facts, your request and the evidence list.
• Hand the business its copy (or submit online) and keep your stamped copy as proof.
• File your copy with the consumer office (OMIC or regional Consumo) following your region’s procedure: some communities take it straight away, others expect you to have claimed from the business first and given it time to answer (Catalonia: up to 30 days) before you turn to them.
• If there is no acceptable answer, escalate to OMIC mediation, then consumer arbitration (arbitraje de consumo), and finally a small-claims court for low amounts.

Common mistakes that weaken a complaint

• Writing emotions instead of facts and dates — the office works with concrete, verifiable facts.
• Not stating a concrete request, so nobody knows what would resolve it.
• Never filing your copy with the consumer office — then it never enters the official channel. And where your region requires you to claim from the business first and wait for its reply, filing before that period has run: the office may then send you back to that step first.
• Not keeping proof of purchase or of the date you complained.
• Letting deadlines pass on the underlying right (legal guarantee, 14-day withdrawal) while only relying on the hoja.

If the business refuses to give it

• A verbal “we don’t have it” is not valid — note the refusal, the time and any witnesses.
• You can call the local police (Policía Local) to put the refusal on record.
• Report the refusal to your regional consumer authority: not providing the form is itself a sanctionable infringement.
• You can still file your complaint directly online or at the OMIC even without the shop’s form.

Related guides

Frequently asked questions

Official sources