Juan Roig

The Supreme Court's Social Chamber, in judgment 159/2026, partially upheld CIG's challenge to Mercadona's collective agreement. The court notably invalidated a rule excluding certain periods of ordinary sickness absence from the calculation of the minimum period required to qualify for a bonus, finding discriminatory treatment related to illness. Other aspects of the challenge were rejected or only partially upheld.

Attribution

Institutional responsibility

In 2026, CIG announced a judgment by the High Court of Justice of Galicia finding Mercadona liable for violating the right to trade union freedom, ordering the contested conduct to cease and awarding compensation. The event is retained because, according to the trade union source, it concerns a judicial decision rather than a mere allegation.

Attribution

Institutional responsibility

In 2026, Spain's Ministry of Consumer Affairs fined Mercadona 30,000 euros following a FACUA complaint concerning products labelled "tortillas de avena 51%". The penalty concerned an incorrect product description, missing information and presentation liable to mislead consumers about the actual wholegrain content.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Institutional responsibility

Following the deadly DANA floods in the Valencia region, Mercadona faced criticism on social media and from some employees for not closing certain establishments earlier on the day of the disaster. The controversy concerned the management of worker safety in response to warnings and the rapidly evolving risk.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Institutional responsibility

During the presentation of the 2022 results, Juan Roig acknowledged that Mercadona had increased prices "substantially", estimating the average increase at approximately 10%, while the company reported cost increases of approximately 12%. The statements came amid political criticism of retailers' margins and high food inflation.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Direct responsibility

In proceedings PS/00267/2021, the AEPD fined Mercadona 100,000 euros. A customer injured in a store had requested access to CCTV footage to defend her rights; her request was not fulfilled and the footage was deleted despite the request.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Institutional responsibility

The AEPD fined Mercadona 2.52 million euros in proceedings PS/00120/2021 concerning a facial recognition system deployed in certain stores. The authority found several GDPR infringements, notably of Articles 6 and 9.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Institutional responsibility

Documents attributed to former PP treasurer Luis Bárcenas recorded two payments totalling 240,000 euros associated with Juan Roig's name. Testifying as a witness in 2014, Roig denied making these donations to the PP and stated that he knew neither Bárcenas nor Álvaro Lapuerta. He did, however, acknowledge lawful donations to the FAES foundation.

Juan Roig sparked strong reactions in 2012 by arguing that Spain needed to increase productivity, work harder and "get its act together" or risk external intervention. In the same series of statements, he criticised what he saw as excessive spending and advocated deep labour market reform, positions that became emblematic of the debate on the crisis.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

No legal proceedings

Attribution

Personally implicated

Mercadona withdrew and reformulated eleven Deliplus and Solcare creams after health authorities indicated that two ingredients present together should not be combined under the applicable regulations.

Attribution

Institutional responsibility