Spain: Coalición Pro Acceso
The Coalición Pro Acceso is a platform of Spanish civil society organizations to promote access to information in Spain.
The Coalición Pro Acceso has defined nine essential principles that should be included in a future law on access to information in Spain. Sign the principles here and find out more information at www.proacceso.org
Analysis of the 9 principles and the Spanish legislation on access to information (document in Spanish) 
The Right of Access to information: basic principles (in Spanish)
Questions and Answers (in Spanish)
Guide on how to use the Right of access to information in Spain (in Spanish)
From Secrecy to Transparency: ¿What is the right to know?
To celebrate International Right to Know Day on 28 September, Access Info Europe and the Coalición Pro Acceso are holding a public seminar on the right of access to information at the Complutense University in Madrid.
Government transparency is a burning issue in Spain, which is the last country in Europe with a population of more than one million not to have an access to information law. On 16tAugust this year, the daily newspaper El País reported leaked information that the draft “Law on Transparency and Citizen Access to Public Information” will soon be passed to the parliament.
The urgent need for a law will be discussed by representatives from leading NGOs, professors, and national and international experts.
Below is the draft agenda of the seminar:
Request to Spain's Zapatero re Secret Transparency Law
Madrid, 25th August 2010 — Access Info today wrote to the Spanish government asking for information about the draft “Law on Transparency and Citizen Access to Public Information”. On Monday 16th of August the press carried news that the law would soon be approved by the Council of Ministers; nothing has been heard since about the progress of the draft law.
Meeting agendas of the Council of Ministers are secret in Spain until after the meeting has taken place. Access Info provided the government with comparative examples of other countries in which Cabinet meeting agendas are made public and asked to be informed when the Council of Ministers will consider the draft law. The letter also asks for a full consultation on the draft with members of the public and civil society groups.
Comparative information on openness of Cabinet Meetings (English)
Letter to the Spanish Government (Spanish)
Transparency Law begins Legislative Process Behind Closed Doors
Madrid, 16 August 2010 - Spanish Daily El País today announced that this Friday (20 August 2010) the Spanish Council of Ministers will consider for approval the draft “Transparency and Access of Citizens to Information Law”, thereby initiating the legislative process with leaked information. Access Info Europe condemns the leaking of the draft law to the media rather than a formal public release of the text, and has renewed its call for full debate and structured public consultation around the draft law.
“To date, the only information that we have about this law has come from leaks in the media. This is precisely the culture that must change to allow citizens to hold their governments accountable and participate in the decision-making processes which met the standards of a modern democracy,” commented Helen Darbishire from Access Info Europe.
Access to Information in Spain: Analysis and Guides
Access Info presents four key documents which review the current Spanish legal system for access to information. As well as detailed analysis Access Info presents a guide to accessing information in Spain.
In Spain there does not exist adequate regulation to recognise the right to access information. After in depth analysis it is clear that the only regulation dedicated to access to information is insufficient and does not uphold the basic principles and guarantees for access to information established at the international level.
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