Thanks for your comments.

This is how it worked: I called AF, who gave me a 'case number' and told me to go to a specific shop in Barcelona that handles repairs for them.

I went to the shop yesterday, after about 2 weeks from my flight as with work, it is quite difficult to have the time.
I wish they came to me instead of me coming to them, when they broke the suitcase not me.


An employee there examined the suitcase, asked me to fill a form and told me they would repair it.

Then, the owner of the shop came around as it was about to close for lunch and offered me a new suitcase instead: I was prepared to say 'no' as I had seen the previous customers getting a not very nice suitcase in exchange (although their broken one was not nice either).

I told the them that any replace would have to be like my own suitcase: 4 wheels, cabin-size, semi-rigid, etc. and he came with a Samsonite X'ion Spinner 55, similar to what I had at the moment, only new.

I've seen that Samsonite is currently selling X'ion 2 instead of the first generation, but the offer was good enough, specially as the repair would have taken more than a month. Also, the owner of the shop had a real interest in me accepting the exchange: good customer service or business interest? I don't know.

In any case, I got the new suitcase of similar characteristics, and I am happy with the end result.