Hi,
Does anyone know of the authority in Spain that acts the same as the Press Complaints Commission in the UK?
A friend is not satisfied with the small apology (which read as a complaint) regarding inaccurate reporting about her. 
(Which she had to bring to their attention in the first place!).
And they have also just gone and incorrectly reported the wrong info again!!!!

Are they just lazy or ‘out to lunch’???
😉

Most of the Spanish educated to Uni level I’ve meet are in my opinion still very dumb, I may be arrogant and not high in the IQ stakes, but I still find myself scratching my head in puzzlement.

Authority in Spain is rarely challenged by the individual in Spain, bailiffs in Spain probably have one of the easiest jobs in the EU, people still don’t challenge institutions or professionals in the same way the UK does.

If a man was to turn up to my mother in laws with papers saying they owed money, she would freak out and hand over the cash without hesitation, they have a strange opinion, which shows in itself in these kinds of situations.

Your news guy probably feels untouchable by mere mortals, they do rollover though when challenged by another authority, so good luck.

Anyway you may find these helpful.

http://www.comisiondequejas.com/Codigo/Codigo.htm

http://www.fape.es/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=100&Itemid=119

I’d like to point out here, that the Spanish were under totalitarian rule until only 1975. That’s still pretty fresh for about half the population. I think there’s also a tendency to pick battles they can actually win instead of facing authority with the kind of indignation we often get away with. Then, of course, there’s the kind of corruption that rears its ugly head when you call Telefonica to complain about your bill, only to find new random charges on the next one.

I personally believe 1975 is an excuse for incompetence.

35 yrs is even in Spanish terms a long time, so there is no reason for it.

The Spanish are just as different as any other EU or world country, they just happen too be slow in thinking.

There are plenty of Spaniards that I’ve meet that agree with that.

Are you talking specifically regarding complaints about authorities or just in general? I’m surprised you’d give such little creedence to the impact of Franco on the country’s mentality. How much did Thatcher impact the mentality of Britain and she was in power for how long?

Everybody mocks the Thatcher yrs, but we have moved on significantly since then.

I was mentioning complaints in general from my personnel experience dealing with issues before, during and after living in Spain and from media coverage.

You only have to look at land grab issues and illegal buildings in Spain, would that same issue be in the UK, not a bloody chance, the UK have a long and I’m proud of it history of standing up for our rights, something Spaniards lack.

When the Gobierno was recently confronted there response was less than professional and boarded on the ridiculous.

.

Hi Santi - interesting take on the Spanish but on this occasion one I definitely cannot agree with.

Nobody would get 1cent out of my Spanish family too which they were not entitled and that includes my 86 year old mother in law and neither would any ‘funcionario’ put one over my Spanish wife. But they all hail from Madrid perhaps that makes a difference.

I remember shopping in Dia with my brother in law who on checking the receipt after leaving a ‘Dia’ supermarket insisted on returning to claim back a few centimos they had over charged him (and he is not short, perhaps that’s why!)

Thanks Santi for links - will follow up (or get abused friend to do so!).

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Re comments/personal experience of dealing with ‘incompetance’ on a huge scale…
Sadly when I took my complaint about my motor insurer to the da.defensor (national govt Ombudsman), they just sided with the insurance co and the only advice they were able to give was to start a civil action.  ???? 

Likewise, I have come up against ‘no responsibility’ for wrong/bad advice from financial advisors, doctors, lawyers etc etc in my 10yrs here.  I have given up trying to make someone accountable, as although there are on paper the ‘authorities in place’ to deal with such complaints. I have got nowhere! (A Sp friend warned me I would get no postive outcome. I now know he is right!).

It still doesn’t stop me wanting to live here, but I do dispair!