Madrid, 10 December 2015 – It is with huge reluctance that Access Info Europe and Civio today announce the closure of the request website “Tu Derecho a Saber” (Your Right to Know) because the need to have an electronic ID and the refusal to respond to emails is making it impossible to help the public send requests. In the first year of implementation of Spain’s much-criticised transparency law, we processed requests manually, using Civio’s electronic ID to send them via the central Transparency Portal’s complex verification systems, something that was taking up to a few hours per day. On 10

Madrid, 12 November 2015 – In an important ruling from Spain’s Transparency Council, Access Info Europe has won access to the names of participants in meetings held to discuss the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Welcoming this standard-setting ruling Access Info Europe noted that it should contribute to genuine accountability of decision-making processes. Helen Darbishire of Access Info, who presented the complaint, said “it is essential to know who precisely gets to participate in meetings inside government, be they public officials, experts, lobbyists, or others.” Importantly the Transparency Council confirmed that Spain’s 2013 Transparency Law anticipates provision of information which “merely