ADVANCING THE RIGHT OF
ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN SPAIN
WE CAMPAIGN FOR GREATER TRANSPARENCY, IN LAW AND IN PRACTICE
ACT! Project: 5 solutions for local governments to prevent and fight corruption
Madrid, 24 March 2021– Access Info together with its partners in the pan-European project ACT! have presented a range of technical solutions for local governments to increase their levels of transparency and prevent any risk of corruption, covering the following areas: whistleblowing, access to information, open data in public procurement, transparency of meetings involving public officials and risk analysis.
Spain: Local Authorities need Training and Transparency Tools
Madrid, 17 March 2021– Spanish local authorities need more training (85%) and specific transparency tools (75%) in order better to fight corruption, according to a survey conducted by Access Info Europe in collaboration with the Federación Española de Municipios y Provincias (FEMP) and the Red de Entidades Locales por la Transparencia y la Participación Ciudadana.
Spain: Access Info and Transparency Council meet to discuss the independent oversight of the right to information
Madrid, 12 February 2021– Access Info’s Helen Darbishire yesterday met with the new director of Spain’s Transparency Council, José Luis Rodríguez Álvarez, to discuss reform of the Transparency Law and also recent concerns about the manner by which the new appointments to the Council had been made.
Concern re Independence of Spain’s Transparency Council
Access Info Europe is seriously concerned about recent changes to key personnel in Spain’s Transparency Council, which raise the spectre of an attack on the independence of the Council, and points to the urgent need to reform the process by which its directors are appointed.
Spain’s Ambitious four-year OGP Action Plan Adopted
Spain has adopted an ambitious four-year Open Government Action Plan, replete with measures called for by Access Info, including reform of the 2013 Transparency Law, ratification of the Convention on Access to Official Documents, new laws on lobby regulation and whistleblower protection, and the opening of key data, including the company register and some health service data.
What’s going on in Spain? Ratification of the Council of Europe Convention, a New 4-year OGP Action Plan, and a new Director for the Transparency Council
Madrid, 2 October 2020- The global news headlines might be talking about the worrying rise in coronavirus infections in Madrid - and the new lockdown - but there is also a lot of good news for transparency activists coming out of Spain this week, beautifully timed to coincide with International Access to Information Day on 28 September.
Cover photo: randomix via Flick (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)