CLC World and Diamond Resorts lose again as Spanish courts declare contracts null and void

We are pleased to share this week’s Spanish court wins. M1 Legal secured seven successful awards, with total compensation of £118,844.

Below is a summary of the key outcomes from the Spanish courts, including first-instance decisions and appeal rulings where timeshare contracts were declared null and void under Law 04/2012 (primarily due to missing required information about the accommodation and/or the contract term).

First Instance Court (Juzgado de Primera Instancia)

• CLC World (Sucursal) – Fuengirola Court No. 1: the judge declared the contract null under Law 04/2012 due to a lack of required information (including details of the accommodation and contract duration). Amount awarded: £11,007.

Appeals (Courts of Appeal)

• Diamond Resorts – Málaga Court of Appeal No. 4: the first-instance judgment was upheld and the timeshare contract remains declared null and void for lack of required accommodation information under Law 04/2012. Amount awarded: £11,476.
• CLC World (Paradise Trading) – Tenerife Court of Appeal No. 3: the first-instance decision was confirmed and the contract remains null and void due to missing required accommodation information under Law 04/2012. Amount awarded: £12,222.
• CLC World (Sucursal) x 2 – Málaga Court of Appeal No. 4: both first-instance judgments were upheld, with the contracts remaining null and void for lack of required accommodation information under Law 04/2012. Amounts awarded: £9,410 and £17,356.
• CLC World (Sucursal) – On appeal, the court agreed with our arguments. Although the first-instance judge had previously rejected all but one of our client’s contracts (declaring only the most recent contract null), the Court of Appeal has now ruled that all of our client’s contracts are null and void. The judge also ordered CLC World to pay costs in both instances. Amount awarded: £52,536.

We also received a positive appeal decision against RCI Europe & SSB Marketing.

Jurisdiction (Spain confirmed as the correct forum)

4 cases valued at £108,017

In this week’s jurisdiction decisions, there were two cases against Marriott, one against Diamond Resorts and one against CLC World (Paradise Trading). In all four matters, the resorts argued the claims should not be heard in Spain. The judge ruled that the cases can proceed in Spain, and all four will now move to the next stage.