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2 clusters · 23 sources · 6 days · First seen · Last updated

Spain lobbying and official transparency regulation

Overview

The Spanish Government has approved a Royal Decree-law to regulate interest groups and increase transparency regarding the activities of former high-ranking officials. The regulation establishes a mandatory, public state registry of lobbies, which will be managed and supervised by the Transparency and Good Governance Council.

To prevent conflicts of interest, the law imposes a two-year ban on former high-ranking officials of the General State Administration (AGE) from performing professional influence activities for private entities in matters related to their former departments or competencies. Furthermore, high-ranking officials are legally required to publish all meetings and contacts with interest groups on the Transparency Portal within one month of occurrence.

Failure to comply with these requirements or meeting with unregistered interest groups is classified as a serious infraction. Exceptions for unregistered groups are narrow, allowing meetings only if the group commits to registering within three business days. Data from the Office of Conflicts of Interest indicates that in the first four months of 2026, 12 private sector activities were authorized for nine former officials, following a trend where 644 such activities have been authorized since 2014.

Entities

Spanish Government · Consejo de Transparencia y Buen Gobierno · Office of Conflicts of Interest · Council of Ministers · Elma Saiz

Timeline

  1. 12 days ago

    [POLITICS] 2 sources
    Spain enacts new law to regulate former officials and lobbying

    Spain has enacted a new law restricting former high-ranking officials from lobbying for private entities for two years to prevent conflicts of interest and enhance public integrity.

  2. 17 days ago

    [POLITICS] 22 sources
    Spain approves new lobby registry and revolving door restrictions

    Spain has approved a new Royal Decree-law establishing a mandatory lobby registry and a two-year ban on former high-ranking officials working for interest groups related to their previous roles.

Sources

atlantico.net · capital.es · cronicadecantabria.com · diariodealmeria.es · diariodecadiz.es · diariodejerez.es · economiadigital.es · elderecho.com · eldiadecordoba.es · elplural.com · esdiario.com · europasur.es · granadahoy.com · lacronicadebadajoz.elperiodicoextremadura.com · laopinioncoruna.es · larazon.es · laregion.es · malagahoy.es · moncloa.com · noticiastrabajo.es · ocio.farodevigo.es · startup.mandiner.hu · web.icam.es