Spain reopens Apple, Amazon case, says they dragged feet on 2023 order

Spain's competition watchdog isn't letting Apple and Amazon off the hook. The CNMC has opened fresh sanction proceedings against both companies, accusing them of dragging their feet on a 2023 order to stop anti-competitive practices around Apple products sold on Amazon's Spanish site.

According to the regulator, the companies didn't strip out the disputed contractual clauses until May 2025 — nearly two years after being told to cut it out in July 2023. The CNMC's council concluded in October 2025 that the pair had failed to comply, and handed the case to its competition directorate to launch the new proceedings.

The backstory is pricey. In 2023, the CNMC fined Apple and Amazon a combined €194M, roughly $224M, over deals that limited how many Apple resellers could sell on Amazon's Spanish website, squeezed advertising space for competing brands, and blocked Amazon from pitching rival products to Apple customers.

This round is still in its early days. The investigation could run up to three months, and the regulator says opening proceedings doesn't prejudge how it ends. That leaves room for anything from a clean bill of health to another round of penalties.

Neither company is staying quiet. Both have appealed the original 2023 fine and the 2025 non-compliance decision to Spain's National Court, where the cases are still pending — setting up a parallel fight in the courtroom while the regulator builds its new case.

For two of the world's biggest tech names, Spain has become an unexpectedly stubborn battleground over how their marketplace deal shaped who gets to sell what to whom. The clock is now ticking on the CNMC's latest look.