Jurídicos y Administrativos

🏖 Pensionistas have until Monday, July 22, to apply for the next tourism program season starting mid-September, with 886,269 spots across coastal, island (Canary and Balearic Islands), and inland tourism. Applications are urged to be made online via Imserso's electronic office or sent to Programa de Turismo del Imserso, P.O. Box 10.140, 28080 Madrid. Sales will be handled by Turismo Social (Ávoris) and numerous accredited travel agencies.

✈ The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approved the Airbus A321XLR, a narrow-body aircraft for long-haul flights, with CFM LEAP-1A engines. Certification for the Pratt & Whitney engine version is expected later, along with approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The A321XLR can fly about 8,000 kilometers non-stop. The first A321XLR's maiden flight was in June 2022. Over 500 orders for the aircraft have been placed, with Iberia set to receive the first eight units.

🛫 Under Regulation (EC) 261/2004, air passengers are entitled to information, care, refund, or alternative transport for flight cancellations or delays over two hours or arrivals three or more hours late. Extraordinary circumstances exempt airlines from compensation, as with the operational disruptions due to a Microsoft network failure affecting Aena's systems. Rights include meals, drinks, two phone calls or email access, hotel accommodation if necessary, and transport between the airport and the hotel. Options offered are a ticket refund within 7 days, alternative transportation to the final destination as soon as possible, or at a later date convenient to the passenger. Complaints can be filed for free through AESA.

🛫 Tribunal del distrito de Delaware, Estados Unidos, falló en favor de Ryanair contra Booking.com por violación de la Ley de Fraude y Abuso Informático, al realizar screenscraping con intención de defraudar. El jurado desestimó todas las contrademandas de Booking.com. CEO de Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, afirmó que Booking.com utilizó prácticas engañosas y cobró de más a los consumidores utilizando información rastreada ilegalmente.

✈ Ryanair won a legal battle in the United States against Booking over "screenscraping" as the District Court of Delaware ruled in the Irish airline's favor. The U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was cited, with the OTA found to have acted with intent to defraud, causing economic harm. CEO Michael O'Leary hopes this ends internet piracy and excessive OTA charges. All counterclaims by Booking, including defamation and unfair competition, were dismissed.

🛃 Hotrec, Europe's major hotel federation, accuses Booking of unfair practices, with 40% of hotels experiencing undercutting—where Booking cuts hotel prices by reducing its commission—and 75% stating no consent was given for such price reductions. More than half of affected hotels report 6-10% price cuts, and 10% experience 11-15% cuts. Additionally, 44% of hotels are subjected to unauthorized "multi-sourcing" by Booking, which controls over 70% of OTA hotel bookings. Complaints include pricing inconsistencies, booking errors, lack of guest contact, poor service, financial losses, operational strain, and reputational damage. Despite the supposed elimination of parity clauses on July 1, unfair commercial practices persist daily.

🛫 FTI Group declared insolvent in early June; travelers with packages to be reimbursed in autumn. German Travel Security Fund, set up post-Thomas Cook collapse in September 2019, to handle refunds. No exact refund date given, but the process is underway. 250,000 combined trips canceled, 60,000 clients abroad during insolvency. Fund covers combined trips, not individual services like hotel or flight bookings. TUI and DER Touristik helped stranded FTI customers complete vacations.

💰 Renfe awarded a multi-million contract in November 2022 to Juan Carlos Barrabés, associate of Begoña Gómez. Details of the contract are concealed. Innova Next, led by Barrabés, won over Telefónica to manage the TrenLab startup accelerator for four years starting 2018. Barrabés, under scrutiny for possible corruption with Begoña, secured significant public contracts in 2021-2022. The contested contract is worth 1.6 million euros (excluding VAT) with options for two one-year extensions, with subjective criteria accounting for 40 out of 100 points.

🏨 Hoteliers in the Valencian Community threaten to leave the Imserso's social tourism program unless conditions improve to prevent losses as in past seasons. Toni Mayor, president of Hosbec's Imserso Commission, demands a price increase; current reimbursement is around 25-26 euros per person, with a desired increase to 34-35 euros. Benidorm has frozen Imserso reservation quotas for 2024/2025 until new terms are set. A decision is expected by the end of the month, aiming to avoid ERTEs and maintain employment during winter.

🏦 Three octogenarian tenants with indefinite lease contracts in Valencia are holding up a luxury hotel project by Hoteles Santos for seven years. They refuse to vacate their apartments in a nine-story building and have filed a joint lawsuit alleging harassment by the landlord, a family-owned REIT (Socimi) that includes the Santos hotel chain’s real estate assets.