Snacking and movies have always gone hand in hand. Both when the film is savored at home or in a private room (despite the fact that viewers visit these leisure spaces less and less). What is not so obvious is whether this snack can be brought from home or from any business outside the theaters, because it is common for many companies to paper their walls with messages that prohibit this gesture and force them to invest in some popcorn that for its price they look more like caviar than corn.
This topic has once again generated a great deal of controversy after the Twitter user El HematocrÃtico doubted the legality of a warning that Yelmo gives to his clients when they come to his facilities. The poster shared by the tweeter reads as follows: “The company does not allow access to its facilities with food and/or drinks purchased outside of Yelmo, therefore reserving the right of admission.”
The cinemas in question report on this prohibition after referring to article 13.3 of Law 10/2017, of December 27, on public shows and recreational activities in Galicia, and for viewers it may seem that they are right. But this is not the case, say organizations like FACUA.
This body has been denouncing several companies for years for preventing spectators from bringing food from outside. Just last June, FACUA denounced Emeneuno SL, the company that owns the MN4 cinemas in Alfafar, in Valencia, for carrying out this ban. Given that the company’s main activity is not hospitality, the organization said at the time, “it can be considered abusive to prohibit access to rooms with food and drink from outside its facilities.”
The organization led by the activist Rubén Sánchez is based on the General Law for the Defense of Consumers and Users, which establishes as abusive those practices that cause “a significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of the parties that derive from the contract.”
The Consumer Cooperation Commission, also explained from FACUA, established in its consultation number 5 of the year 2000 that “the clauses in which limitations are imposed on the consumer in order to purchase products without being based on objective circumstances, must be considered abusive”.
In 2017, the AESAN (Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition) also gave its opinion on this matter due to a consultation formulated by the Community of Madrid. The body under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs concluded that “prohibiting the entry of food and drink purchased outside the movie theater is illegal and abusive.”
If it were illegal to enter the cinema with some popcorn and a drink purchased outside, consumer defense organizations would never have managed to get a Spanish cinema to pay a fine for this reason. However, it did happen in 2019 in Melilla, when Multicines España had to pay a penalty of 3,005 euros for prohibiting this gesture. That said, take advantage of the popcorn (whether it’s from the movies or if it comes bagged and warm from home).
