They sell you three years of warranty you already have

At the till, washing machine already paid for, they offer to "extend the warranty to two years" for 49 euros. Spanish law gives you three, and has done since 1 January 2022. You are paying 49 euros to lose twelve months.

The change came with Royal Decree-Law 7/2021, which raised the legal guarantee on goods from two years to three. Four things worth being clear about:

1. The three years run from delivery and it is the seller who owes them, not the manufacturer. The shop cannot send you off to the brand's service centre: you claim where you bought it.

2. For the first two years, if something fails, the defect is presumed to have been there from the factory and you don't have to prove anything. In the third year the burden is on you, and that is where a well-built commercial warranty can genuinely be worth something.

3. You have five years from the moment the fault appears to claim. Keep the receipt: proof of purchase is the only thing they will ask you for.

4. A paid warranty is only lawful if it adds something to what the law already gives you: immediate replacement, accidental damage, liquid damage, repair at your home. If the leaflet repeats what the decree says, what you are buying is the leaflet.

Next time they offer it, ask what it covers that the law doesn't. It is the cheapest question there is: if the assistant has to go and fetch the paperwork to answer you, you already have your answer.