In December 2012, Fernández won his third national title. At the 2013 European Championships he missed some practice time due to his skates being lost at the airport, but they were found one day before the start of the competition. Second in the short program, Fernández then placed first in the free skate, landing three quads jumps with one in combination. He won the gold medal and became the first Spanish skater to win a European title. He posted a new personal best overall score of 274.87 points. He later joked, "I have to make sure I lose my skates again!" At this time, Spain had just 14 indoor rinks and 600 registered figure skaters.