Parents to sue over alleged price fixing on school textbooks in Spain

THE Parent-Teachers Association of Spain is set to sue makers of school textbooks over high prices amidst price fixing allegations.

Last May, the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de la Competencia (CNMC) fined more than 30 publishers and the Asociación Nacional de Editores de Libros de Texto (ANALE) for limiting competition and agreeing prices, costing parents an estimated total of €214 million per year since 2012.

The CNMC fined manufacturers €34 million as parents associations claim the mal practises have meant they have shelled out around 32% more than if companies had regulated pricing.

The Federación de Asociaciones de Padres de Alumnos (FAPA) has announced that associations representing around 200,000 parents have filed a lawsuit against publishers to recoup the missing costs.

The Federation also encourages any family can join the collective lawsuit, and he estimates that an average family with an average expenditure of textbooks of €250 per year could reclaim around €850 to help cover backdated costs.

“For years we have been denouncing the onerous process of these publishing houses, which change the text of a page and that forces us to have to buy the book again. We are obliged to buy textbooks that are not necessary. They are pulling our leg,” denounced Camilo Jené, president of FAPA.

ANALE claims that they have measures in place that have prevented the malpractice amongst publishers, and argues that between 2006 and 2012 before they were put into place, price increases were calculated at around 15%

Between 2012 and 2018 they have noted an increase of less than 1%, which have led them to appeal the court case and defend the legality of their practices.