Suddenly your Google listing receives several one-star reviews within a few days. The accounts are new, the texts look alike and none of the names appear in your customer records. You suspect a competitor is behind it. It happens more often than people think, to restaurants, holiday lets, estate agencies and clinics alike, and the law gives you tools to defend yourself.
What EU law says
Directive (EU) 2019/2161, known as the Omnibus Directive, strengthened consumer protection against fake reviews. Among other things, it treats as an unfair commercial practice posting or commissioning fake consumer reviews, or misrepresenting reviews, in order to promote products. It also requires traders who display reviews to say whether, and how, they check that they come from real consumers.
In Spain, the directive was brought into national law by Royal Decree-law 24/2021, which amended consumer protection and unfair competition legislation.
In addition, the Digital Services Act requires platforms to process notices of illegal content and to give reasons for their decisions.
What the Spanish Unfair Competition Act says
Spain's Unfair Competition Act (Ley 3/1991, de Competencia Desleal) treats denigration as unfair (Article 9): making or spreading statements about a third party's activity, products or services that may damage its standing in the market, unless they are accurate, true and relevant.
A competitor who posts or commissions fake negative reviews about your business may be committing denigration. The law allows you to bring proceedings to have the conduct declared unfair, stopped and its effects removed and, where there is loss, compensated.
The hard part: proving it
Knowing it is a competitor and being able to prove it are two different things. Some signs that help:
- Timing: several reviews in a few days, often after a specific event such as a competitor opening nearby.
- Writing patterns: repeated phrases, similar mistakes, the same tone.
- Profiles with no history: newly created accounts, or accounts that have only reviewed your business and your competitor, giving the competitor five stars.
- No trace in your records: no customer with those names, no booking or invoice connected to them.
- A direct link: the author works for the competitor or is connected to it, something that sometimes shows up on their social media.
Tip
Document each review as soon as it appears: screenshot, link, date and the author's profile. If the platform removes it or the author deletes it, you will have lost the evidence. If you are thinking of going to court, a forensic report can give those signs real weight.
What routes you have
Report it on the platform
This is the first and fastest step. Google prohibits fake reviews and reviews written with a conflict of interest, such as those by competitors. TripAdvisor and Booking.com also have their own rules against reviews that do not reflect a genuine experience, each with its own reporting channel. Choose the right reason when you report and add context if you are given the option.
Reply calmly
While the review is being looked at, reply to each one calmly: say that you cannot find any record of that visit and offer direct contact. Never publicly accuse a competitor without proof: you could end up being the one committing denigration.
Send the competitor a formal demand
If you have solid evidence, a formal letter, normally through a lawyer, may be enough to make the conduct stop.
Legal action
When the harm is significant and the evidence allows it, unfair competition proceedings can be brought. In especially serious cases there may also be a criminal route.
When it is not a competitor
Before assuming a competitor is behind it, consider other possibilities: an unhappy former employee, a customer with whom there was a real dispute, or simply a bad patch. Accusing someone without proof, even privately, can backfire. Investigate calmly, document and act on what you can prove.
What not to do
Do not retaliate with fake reviews of the competitor or buy positive reviews to compensate. Apart from being prohibited, it exposes you to the same legal action and to penalties from the platforms. The best long-term defence is having plenty of genuine reviews from satisfied customers.
We help you defend yourself
We analyse the suspicious reviews for free, tell you which ones have a realistic chance of removal and prepare the reports to the platform. If needed, we secure the evidence with a forensic report and work alongside a law firm. The final decision lies with the platform or the judge, and we give you a fixed quote. More information on removing Google reviews and in the review checker (in Spanish). We work in English, remotely, wherever your business is in Spain.
