What I wish British tourists knew about the complaints books in Portugal and Spain

From restaurants to hotels, taxis to shops — the Livro de Reclamaçoẽs is my secret trick as a resident. 

Recently, I found myself at a total impasse while complaining about a pair of faulty prescription glasses at a Portuguese optician chain. Bought within the past year with an expensive prescription, they’d fallen apart while still in their case — seemingly due to a manufacturing defect.

But the manager of the shop denied the fault and refused to help further, either by organising an inspection of the glasses and potential repair or replacement. Instead, with a shrug, she told us to buy a new pair.

The situation had reached a frustrating and expensive dead end. That is, until I remembered the Livro de Reclamaçoẽs (which translates to ‘complaints book’.)

If you’ve visited Portugal, you’ll likely have already seen this little red book displayed in restaurants, bars, shops and hotels you’ve visited. It contains fill-out forms for customers to add their complaint, along with their contact details — and it is a legal requirement for most businesses to have one readily available for customers.

Failing to have one, refusing to hand it over or falsely claiming it is only available at a company headquarters could result in heavy fines for the business.

Once I asked for the Livro de Reclamaçoẽs and filled out my complaint, the shop manager suddenly changed her approach. Within fifteen minutes, she’d repaired the glasses for free, fitted them with brand new replacement parts, polished them up, and bid us farewell with a friendly smile.

You can use the complaints book to assert your consumer rights in most businesses, whether you’re in a hotel or a gift shop, a restaurant or even an Uber or taxi — and in my experience, knowing when to ask for it can make a big difference if you’ve received shoddy service, been ripped off, or bought a faulty item.

How does the Livro de Reclamacoẽs work?

When you fill out a complaint form in Livro de Reclamaçoẽs, businesses have 15 working days to respond to the complaint, and must forward that response to the regulator.

Spain has something similar, but it isn’t a nationally standardised system. Instead, businesses are required to provide complaint forms called the ‘Hojas de Reclamaciones’, administered by regional authorities.

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Does filing a complaint really work?

In my experience, yes — though results can vary according to the business you’re dealing with. 

When you use the Livro de Reclamaçoẽs in Portugal, it means your complaint is automatically escalated to the relevant regulator — something businesses are keen to avoid.  But the power isn’t necessarily in the fact that the complaint is immediately escalated; rather, the fact that businesses would usually rather resolve the issue and prevent an official complaint. 

That means sometimes even a customer just asking for the book can encourage a business to change its mind and do the right thing, whether that’s offering a refund, or in my case, agreeing to fix a faulty item.

How do I use the Livro de Reclamacoẽs?

If you don’t speak enough Portuguese or Spanish to ask for these items, there’s usually a display near the till, either with the book/forms, or a picture of it. That means it’s relatively easy to request, even if you only know the words ‘please’ and ‘thank you’

In Spain, you’ll see posters saying ‘existen hojas de reclamaciones a disposición del consumidor o usuario’, which means ‘complaint forms are available for consumers.’ 

The Portuguese complaint book contains forms in Portuguese and English, meaning they’re easy enough to complete — you’ll need to give your address and passport number, along with the address of the business (find this on Google Maps if you need it).

Spanish complaint forms may not be in English, but you can use Google Lens to understand what to write, and you may write your complaint in English. 

In both cases, the business should give you a copy to keep, but you could take a quick photograph on your phone for proof, too.

You can also access the Livro de Reclamaçoẽs online in English.

How to complain elsewhere

Portugal and Spain are rare in the fact that they automatically escalate consumer complaints to the relevant regulator — and the fact businesses are aware of it, and will be more likely to comply once you mention them. 

In France, you could submit your complaint to SignalConso, which is operated by the French consumer authority. It could help to mention to a business you plan to do this, particularly in written correspondence, but it’s less likely to help in person. 

In Greece, where you can submit a complaint to the Hellenic consumer ombudsman, and in Belgium, there’s the federal consumer mediation service ConsumerConnect.

In the UK, we have many of the same protections and regulators. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the retailer is legally responsible for providing a repair, replacement, or refund if an item is faulty. But we do not have a centralised, automatic system equivalent to the Portuguese Livro de Reclamacoẽs that escalates complaints. That means that there’s more legwork for consumers. 

You can use our consumer rights guide to learn more about your rights and how to assert them. If you’re complaining to a company, you can also download our letter templates for free. They were created by legal experts, and include particular legal phrases that can prompt companies to take your complaint seriously, and to find a fair resolution.