They are providing customers with misleading information. I have reports showing that, on social media, Iberia often claims that the cancellation fee is due to a handling fee. They either share screenshots to justify the charge without providing the source or refer to this link: https://www.iberia.com/es/service-fees/

Other times, Iberia calls it a "management fee".

The fact is the following: as you mentioned in late September 2025, they changed the cancellation policy and are now applying the new policy to old tickets, which is against EU law. If you point out that the ticket is 100% refundable with no fee according to the fare conditions, Iberia starts referring to a management or handling fee.

However, they ignore the fact that customers cannot cancel Iberia Avios tickets online and that cancellations must be made through the call center. As a result, customers are forced to pay a fee via the call center that is not listed here: https://www.iberia.com/es/service-fees/

In reality, the €25 fee (charged by the call center) corresponds to the cancellation fee introduced under the new fare conditions.

They are aware of the confusion, but they appear to be trained to give inconsistent answers in order to discourage customers from requesting the €25 refund.

I repeat again the Authorities that can handle this situation (free of charge) are:
https://competition-policy.ec.europa...authorities_en
https://sede.cnmc.gob.es/tramites/co...ucta-prohibida

and

https://www.seguridadaerea.gob.es/en/consultas (they could inform passengers how to handle this situation).