Claudia, "never" is considered as negative, so the first variant is correct.

"Never" = "not ever", so yes it's a negative. Also, watch out for "hardly", which means "almost never" - it's another negative. The rules in standard English aren't against double negatives. Oh yes we do use them! However, if two negatives are put in a sentence, they cancel each other out and the sentence becomes positive. He never says nothing. = He always says something.