MADRID, July 30 (Reuters) - Spain's anti-trust watchdog

fined the online reservation group Booking.com 413.2 million

euros ($448 million) for abusing its dominant market position in

the country for the last five years.

The regulator, CNMC, said in a statement on Tuesday it was

imposing two fines of 206.6 million euros on Booking.com, a unit

of New York-listed Booking Holdings ( BKNG ).

Booking.com had since 2019 been taking advantage of its

70%-90% market share to impose unfair conditions on hotels, and

restricted competition from other providers, CNMC said.

Booking Holdings ( BKNG ) intends to appeal the fines as it strongly

disagrees with the "outcome of CNMC's investigation", a company

spokesperson said in an email, adding it considers the issue

should be debated under the European Union's Digital Markets Act

rules.

The group can appeal the fines in Spain's high court, CNMC

said.

The proceedings stemmed from two complaints filed by the

Spanish Association of Hotel Managers (AEDH) and the Madrid

Hotel Business Association in 2021.

CNMC said the booking website bans hotels from offering

lower prices on their own sites than on Booking.com, while

unilaterally imposing price discounts on hotel rooms without

consulting the hotels.

Booking.com also forces Spanish hotels to sue in the

Netherlands in case of conflict, CNMC said.

To keep its high market share, Booking.com offers benefits

to hotels who bring it more fees, limiting the ability of

alternative service providers to convince hotels to work with

them.

($1 = 0.9232 euros)

(Reporting by Inti Landauro, editing by Sarah Young, Louise

Heavens and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)