AN UNNAMED ‘major’ music festival promoter’ in Spain could be fined up to €1 million for not allowing people to bring in their own food and drink to a venue.
The action is being brought by the Consumer Affairs ministry.
It says that article 47.1 of the General Law for the Defence of Consumers and Users has been broken.
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Consumer Affairs claims that three types of ‘possible abusive practices’ have taken place.
If the infringements are proven and regarded as ‘very serious’, fines could range from €100,001 to €1 million.
Their first gripe against the promoter is for ‘expressly and generally prohibiting access to the festival site with food and drink from outside, registering attendees, and denying the right of access in a potentially arbitrary way’.
The second, is a ban ‘prohibiting festival-goers from leaving and accessing the venue again freely- forcing them to pay an additional amount’.
The third issue was the compulsory setting up of ‘a payment system via cashless wristbands to use within the venue, but not refunding any unused credits below a minimum amount’.
The ministry has taken action following a complaint from the Facua consumers group who last year filed several complaints against the organisers of 28 festivals and concerts.
That included three claims against Live Nation for alleged irregularities in AC-DC concerts in 2024, Lady Gaga this year, and Bad Bunny’s forthcoming gigs in Madrid and Barcelona.
Nevertheless, the Consumer Affairs ministry has not confirmed that Live Nation is the promoter that faces sanctions.
However, the Ministry has not revealed whether this has been the sanctioned developer.
In May, the government launched a probe into ‘illicit’ surcharges for online purchases via Ticketmaster in regard to ticket resales.
Two months later, it announced the implementation of a draft law to prohibit the resale of tickets to make a profit for live events.
The legal text says a seller can only raise a ticket price by the same amount as the inflation rate.
This measure is complementary to the current ban on companies using ‘bot’ systems to make mass ticket purchases so that they can be resold at a profit.
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