The Spanish Competition Commission imposes a €50,000 fine on an individual, for collective price recommendations (CEOE and Mr. Joan Gaspart)

The CNC’s [1] Directorate of Investigations learned through several press reports of the statements that Mr. Joan Gaspart, chairman of the Tourism Board of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations of the CEOE, made on January 19, 2011, at the 2011 Spanish International Tourism Fair (“FITUR”), which could constitute a collective price recommendation prohibited by article 1.1 of the Spanish Competition Act. The CNC Decision of September 26, 2012, held that these statements constituted a collective price recommendation, which could have led to a common course of conduct among competitors (hoteliers), and imposed a €50,000 fine on Mr. Gaspart and a €150,000 fine on the CEOE. This is the first time the CNC has applied article 63.2 of the LDC, which allows it to impose fines of up to