Spain moves to end annoying telemarketing calls

Spain's government has won support for a proposal to require telemarketing and customer service calls to use distinct prefixes to protect consumers from unwanted interruptions.

Comisión nacional de los mercados y la competencia (cnmc) endorses plan

The move aims to give users better control over their phone interactions, making it clearer when a call is commercial or relates to a service. Under the proposed system, customer service calls would be routed through three numbers: 800 and 900 freephones, provincial prefixes, and short operator numbers.

Any call not meeting these criteria would be barred from contacting customers, ensuring they can identify a call's purpose before answering. The CNMC also recommends these numbers be entirely free for consumers, with improved legislation to specify which firms must comply. The regulator would oversee enforcement.

New prefix for commercial calls

The second part of the plan is to introduce a new prefix, 400, for all commercial calls. Businesses would have to use this number for any telemarketing, while operators would ensure correct identification on caller ID.

The CNMC has endorsed the 400 prefix, which would be fully free for consumers when returning a call. The regulator suggests the full 400 range be used to avoid confusion. While not yet in force, this development marks a significant step towards safer, less interruptive phone interactions for Spanish citizens.