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 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.
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.
Madrid, 28 September 2020- On the occasion of International Access to Information Day, the pro-transparency organisation Access Info Europe is calling on the governments of the European region to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents, which will come into force on 1 December 2020, and to commit to strengthening this fundamental right.
Madrid/Seville, 20 July 2020 – Human rights organisations Access Info Europe and Andalucía Acoge, with legal support from Gentium and research support from Profundo, today announced the submission of legal arguments to the Spanish Supreme Court in a case challenging the granting of €30 million from Spain’s Contingency Fund to the Moroccan authorities for the control of migration towards Spain.
Madrid, 8 May 2020- Access Info today presented two information requests to the Spanish government about the management of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the first request, Access Info asked for the names and professional profiles of the members of the Technical Team that is advising the government on the region-by-region winding down of Spain’s very tight lockdown. In a second request, Access Info has asked for access to all the minutes of meetings and reports from the Scientific Committee that has been advising the government on managing the pandemic since March 2020. The government yesterday refused to provide these names to
Madrid, 27 April 2020- 31 Spanish civil society organisations, all members of the Coalición Pro Acceso, have called on the Spanish Government to guarantee the right of access to information. This comes after the suspension of all administrative deadlines under the state of emergency, which was declared on 14 March due to the coronavirus. In a letter addressed to Carolina Darias, the Minister of Territorial Policy and Public Function, the organisations denounce the negative effects that the pandemic is having on transparency and on access to information in Spain, a fundamental right that must be protected especially during a crisis,
Madrid, 28 January 2020 – Access Info Europe, together with seven international and Spanish civil society organisations, today called on the Spanish Government to accept recommendations on freedom of expression and information made by other UN member states during Spain’s review at the Human Rights Council. The recommendations were made on 22 January 2020 as part of the regular Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, and reflect those presented by civil society in its report. Priorities include urgent modification of the Penal Code and abolishing the Law on Citizens’ Security (the so-called “gag law” which restricts expression on the internet) to
Madrid, 8 January 2020 – After ten months of electoral stalemate, Access Info Europe welcomed the creation of a new government in Spain, with a coalition agreement that includes important commitments on transparency, including proposed reform of Spain’s mediocre 2013 Transparency Law, as well as whistleblower protection, regulation of lobbying, abolishing laws that limit freedom of expression, and strengthening anti-corruption measures. Access Info today urged the new government to make transparency a top priority and to ensure that the promised reforms bring Spain into line with international standards for the fundamental right of access to information, something that the almost
Madrid, 10 December 2019 – Access Info presents today at the pre-session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva its report on the violations of the Right of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression that take place in Spain. Joan Barata, expert on freedom of expression and member of the Platform in Defence of Freedom of Information (PDLI), presents the report to the Council today. This report was sent to the Council in July 2019 and was prepared in collaboration with PDLI, the Federation of Journalists' Unions (FeSP), the Criminal Policy Study Group (GEPC) and the Research