unfair Archives - usatoday24

Justice condemns Meta to pay 479 million euros to Spanish media for unfair competition

November 20, 2025 by usatoday24

Meta has been condemned by the Commercial Court No. 15 of Madrid to pay 479 million euros to 87 media and news agencies integrated into the Information Media Association. According to the ruling, picked up by AMIthe company is considered to have gained an unfair competitive advantage by illicitly using personal data on Facebook and Instagram for “behavioral advertising.” The resolution, dated November 19, 2025, is not final and can be appealed. We have requested comments from Meta and are awaiting a response. The origin of the case dates back to May 2018, when The General Data Protection Regulation came into force and Meta modified the legal basis for processing the personal data of its users, moving from consent to the supposed need for a contract. On December 1, 2023, the News Media Association filed the lawsuit in court. The preliminary hearing was held on November 27, 2024 and the oral hearing took place on October 1 and 2, 2025, after an economic claim of between 551 million euros. GDPR violation, not advertising violation. The resolution focuses on the way in which personal data was obtained and processed, rather than on the advertising activity itself. According to the ruling, the processing lacked a valid legal basis under the GDPR, because the contract formula does not replace informed consent. This violation is considered sufficient reason to activate article 15.1 of the Unfair Competition Law, which penalizes obtaining advantages in the market through regulatory non-compliance. The 5,281 million under analysis. During the procedure, the court notes, Meta Ireland did not provide its operating accounts in Spain, despite having been requested. Given this absence, the judge applied the rules of the burden of proof and validated the data presented by the plaintiff. Based on these elements, it estimated that, between May 25, 2018 and August 1, 2023, Meta would have earned more than 5,281 million euros with its advertising business in Spain. How compensation is calculated. To set the amount of compensation, the court used the Study on the conditions of competition in the online advertising sector in Spain prepared by the CNMC. Based on the market shares of the affected period, it was established that the income obtained by Meta through a practice contrary to the RGPD should be redistributed among competitors. The ruling considers it proven, with “reasonable plausibility,” that the digital press suffered lost profits. The ruling does not end the matter. The sentence itself admits of appeal and it will be the Provincial Court that will evaluate the arguments of both parties if the procedure continues. Until then, the case serves to place at the center the question of how privacy, commercial exploitation of data and competition should be related in the digital environment. The company has not yet expressed its position. We have requested your evaluation and are waiting to receive official comments. Images | Mark Zuckerberg | Dima Solomin In Xataka | Circular AI funding was not over: NVIDIA, Microsoft and Anthropic have signed a new billion-dollar deal

For years summer is synonymous with gastronomic parties. In Galicia, hoteliers believe they are unfair competition

October 3, 2025 by usatoday24

If you travel to Galicia in summer it is likely that in addition to beaches, seafood and tourists In search of the best cove in which to plant your umbrella, find something else: Gastronomic parties. There are tens. To hundreds. From entrance spring to Autumn well advanced It is possible to meet throughout of the region quotes dedicated to percebe, Carneiro Ao spongrazors, Albariño or hamburgers, between a long long etc. They are so many and so many people move in Ribadeo (In the province of Lugo) local hoteliers and merchants They have said enough. The reason: where others see a mass celebration they have detected something else, one “unfair competition”. In a place in Galicia … Ribadeo is a small town of the Eastern Mariña (Lugo Province) of somewhat less than 10,000 inhabitants. However, in summer thousands of tourists attracted for their heritage, landscape, gastronomy, environment and especially their great jewel: The beach of the cathedralsone of the great natural monument of the Peninsular North. The INE calculates that only between June and August were housed in the hotels of the municipality 28,200 travelersthousands of potential clients for shops, coffee shops and restaurants in the town. Local trade … and something else. The fact is that in Ribadeo (as in many other villas in Spain) there are not only stores and bars. Throughout the year and especially in summer, fairs, markets, gastronomic parties are held … events organized in the most central streets and squares and that capture the interest of neighbors and visitors. The large dating calendar serves for the people to be more attractive, but the local merchant association (Acisa Ribadeo) He just lifes his voice to alert that not everything is positive. In his opinion also represents a “unfair competition” For businesses that work throughout the year, not only in summer. “Without Control” celebrations. The matter is serious enough for the organization to have been treated as a great point of the day in a Extraordinary Assembly held this week. Has even dedicated A reportunanimously ratified and in which he exposes why (in his opinion) the celebration “without control” of this kind of quotes undermines its profitability. “It includes the arguments for which Acis emphasize. “Acisa is not against the celebration of these markets and events, what we reject is that they be held without control, on the poorly appropriate dates and with excessive durations,” claims The Association Manager, Jesús Pérez. “In recent months, events with little planning have been held, without transparency with respect to the promoters or the purposes to which the benefits are dedicated, becoming scheduled every little time and in the middle of high season. This implies direct and unfair competition for local trade and hospitality and a deterioration of the ribadeo image.” Why’s that? Acisa complaint That kind of specific quotes “take advantage of the work that takes place throughout the year” to boost the people and capture visits. And they also do so by taking advantage of the high season and “the best locations” of the town in exchange for “minimum or null taxes for the benefits they get.” “The rates that pay for occupying public roads are in many cases symbolic, ridiculous or non -existent,” Crows. In summary, merchants and hoteliers feel that the fairs stand up during the high season while they are responsible for serving, paying rent and taxes and generating employment in the town throughout the year. “In addition they do not always comply with the basic regulations, such as the issuance of purchase tickets, nor are they subject to health, labor or fiscal controls. They do not generate employment in the municipality and use municipal services such as works, hooks of light or cleanliness, which we pay all ribadenses,” Pérez argueswho also clarifies that these celebrations “do not contribute anything new” to customers. “The products and services they offer can be found in local businesses with higher quality.” The debate, served. That in general (not only in ribadeo) the markets, festivals and gastronomic parties They attract people It is difficult to discuss. The key to Acisa is when and how they are celebrated. And especially the impact they have on small businesses entrenched in the town. Hence they speak of a “direct unfair competition” for entrepreneurs who do assume fixed expenses, taxes and “normative obligations” that, denounce, “are not always assumed by the organizers” of that kind of appointments. “They seek to place themselves in the moments of greater tourist influx in ribadeo, taking advantage of the previous effort and investment made by the sector to attract visitors to the town,” insists The collective. Moreover, in its report it warns that “in many cases” specific events “lack clear planning” and transparency, which can compromise “the tourist image” of Ribadeo. “Prioritize improvised and very poor quality activities compared to the value of trade and local hospitality.” What do they suggest then? In Your report Acisa demands “order, regulate and compatible” these events with the “legitimate interests” of the merchants and hoteliers of the town. They even speak directly of limiting authorizations to “protect the local economic fabric”, restricting permits for those appointments that enter direct competition with local businesses or extend for too many days or repeatedly in the same year. Aware that fairs, festivals and markets help to boost the town, even suggests rethink the calendar of the celebrations. What in practice translates into organizing them “preferably” outside the high season or dates in which the flow of customers, such as Holy Week, summer or Christmas months, “when local trade and hospitality already make an extraordinary effort to meet the demand.” “We don’t need them”. “Ribadeo does not need this type of event in high season. We consider that they can be held promptly in low season following the premises collected by the report prepared by Acisa,” its president concludesCarmen Cruzado. The group leaves out the bag, yes, the events of a solidarity and non -profit nature and those with a limited duration, a … Read more

Europe has insisted that Spain must change its laws for unfair dismissal: it is too cheap

June 30, 2025 by usatoday24

It is not the first time that from Europe There is a pull of ears to the Spanish regulations that apply to those cases in which it is incurred in an inadmissible dismissal and, therefore, that companies must compensate or readmit to workers. In your opinion, the Bars that applies Spain in these cases are insufficient and workers are not protected. The European Social Rights Committee He has just answered to the complaint filed in November 2022 by CCOO. The resolution of this body is not binding or sanctioning, so it must be read more as a recommendation than as a reprimand from Europe. What has Europe said. The European Social Rights Committee, an organ dependent on the Council of Europe, considers in its resolution that “there is a violation of article 24.b of the letter”, in reference to article 24 of the European Social Charter than Spain ratified in 2021 and whose objective was to harmonize the labor legislation of the EU member countries. In this article 24, the Council of Europe recommended, “the right of dismissed workers for no valid reason (inadmissible dismissal) to adequate compensation or other appropriate reparation.” Therefore, the Council’s decision follows the path of the first resolution with which he responded to the UGT demand in 2022insisting that the dismissal compensation system is not repair. At CCOO, the Council He has spoken on the compensation of the TEMPORARY PERSONNEL OF ADMINISTRATIONS in fraud of law that, as in the case of inadmissible dismissals, They are considered insufficient. On the other hand, the demand for CCOO also puts the focus on which Spanish legislation does not offer sufficient guarantees so that employees dismissed in the improper way must be readmitted in your position. The EU establishes that this is a point that Spain must reinforce in its labor regulations. Why are compensation insufficient? The Committee considers to establish A universal scale Like the one applied in Spain, with fixed compensation of 33 days per year worked with a maximum of 24 monthly payments, it does not serve to “repair the damage suffered by the victim in all cases and be deterrent to the employer.” In its resolution it is explained that in the calculation of these compensation the specific circumstances of each case are not taken into account (a dismissal is not the same to a 60 -year -old person than someone of 20 years, members of a single -parent family, etc.). In the brief, it is considered that a fixed allocation system allows companies calculate the convenience of dismissalthus eliminating the deterrence for the employer when the dismissal is not done due to justified objective causes, and is unfair for workers with Minor contracts. In addition, the little weight of the readmission and the fact that this is an option that is only offered to companies, and not to the employee who has lost its job for no justified reason. What do they say in Spain? In a Union statementUnai Sordo, general secretary of CCOO, insisted that this writing “what is at stake is the compatibility of the dismissal model in Spain with the European Social Charter. From now on there are only two paths: not do anything and let the jurisprudence resolve case by case, or open a tripartite, mature and responsible negotiation, that adapts our dismissal regime to the European social standards.” For its part, Yolanda Díaz has shared From your profile In Bluesky your disposition “to open social dialogue table” to adapt legislation on dismissal in Spain and comply with what is recorded by Spain. “The inadmissible dismissal has to comply with the European Social Charter. Without excuses. It is in the Government Agreement and will be a reality,” said the head of the Ministry of Labor. It should be remembered that, in a parliamentary response of 2024, the current government assured that Article 56 of the Workers’ Statute “It is already consistent with article 24 of the European Social Charter, providing adequate reparation to dismissed workers without valid reason (inadmissible dismissal), so a modification of the regulation in this regard is not expected and, therefore, particular effects on vulnerable groups or on small and medium enterprises are not estimated.” How is it being managed now. At present, if an employee considers that his dismissal is inadmissible he must go to the judicial means, and it will be the court who establishes the regulations to be applied. In this context, employees cannot claim Additional compensation to the one already marked by the legislation in relation to the years worked, as CCOO denounces in its demand and supports article 24 of the European Social Charter. On very few occasions, the courts have preferred to opt for the prerogative of admitting international legislation over the state, so it is expected that, as of July 16, the Supreme Court will rule on this situation and establish a doctrine. Until now, the High Court considered that it was not possible increase this compensation by judicial means. In addition, although it is true that the courts always offer readmission alternatives or Payment of the assigned compensationthis decision remains in the hands of the company, which in the vast majority of cases chooses to pay compensation. What the Council recommends in this case is that the election falls on the employee and choose if you want to return to an employee from which it has been fired without objective reasons. In Xataka | 55,245 euros for eating a sandwich and a beer: Mercadona must compensate an employee for unfair dismissal Image | Unspash (Antoine Schibler, Manuel)

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