Public transparency will be the protagonist this summer in the programming of the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP) by the Council of Transparency and Good Government, which organizes the course “Transparency in Spain: balance and proposals for improvement” between July 2 and 4. The registration is now open at the following link: Courses - UIMP.
The course has been designed as a space to reflect and debate on the situation of transparency in Spain when it has already been ten years since the entry into force of Law 19/2013 on transparency, access to public information and good governance, the first state law in Spain in this matter, and the implementation of the Transparency Council as an independent body guaranteeing citizens' rights in this field at the state level.
Transparency is today a term widely used; by politicians, journalists, by the general public. But is transparency really rooted in Spain? Have the administrations been able to achieve a cultural change and understand that public information does not belong exclusively to them? Do citizens understand the information published by public administrations? What strengths and weaknesses does the system have? How could it be improved?
These and many other questions will be answered during the three days of the meeting in the Palacio de la Magdalena de Santander, based on the interventions of a large number of speakers specialized in the subject. Together with professionals from the Transparency Council, representatives of high State institutions, such as the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, the university, the administration, civil society organizations that are very active in defending the right of citizens to public information and the media will participate.
Issues of fundamental importance for the successful consolidation of public transparency in our country will be addressed, devoting special attention to the two pillars on which it is legally configured, active advertising and the right of access to public information, analyzing the limits and nature of this right, the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, the interaction between citizenship and administration, the principles of good governance, the necessary pending legal reforms…. All this from a practical perspective, oriented to the problems and their solutions from the most relevant cases.
The course is aimed mainly at people who are professionally engaged in the field of transparency, within public administrations, guarantor bodies, civil society, etc., but the variety of topics raised and the profile of the speakers make this course an event of great interest also for teachers and students of the degrees of law, management and public administration, journalism, etc.
The course is equivalent to 1.5 ECTS credits and until April 25, scholarships can be applied for this and other UIMP courses in this link.
Program of the meeting:
Wednesday, 2 July 2025
9:30 Opening
José Luis Rodríguez Álvarez, President of the Transparency Council
Isabel Urrutia de los Mozos, Minister of Presidency, Justice, Security and Administrative Simplification of the Government of Cantabria
10.00 Lights and shadows of the implementation of public transparency in Spain
José Luis Rodríguez Álvarez, President of the Transparency Council
11.00 Active Advertising and Accountability
Gonzalo Gómez de Villalobos, Deputy General Director of Transparency and Good Governance, Transparency Council
12:00 The evaluation of active advertising
Ana María Ruiz Martínez, vocal asesora de la Presidencia del Consejo de Transparencia
12:45 Document management as an instrument of public transparency
Julián Antonio Prior Cabanillas, Deputy Assistant Director of Transparency and Good Governance, Transparency Council
15:30 Round table: transparency and access to information as a link of trust between the Administration and the citizens
Modera: Isabel Lombardero, Secretary General of the Transparency Council
Participants:
Olga Agüero Oláiz, dean of the College of Journalists of Cantabria
David Cabo Calderón, co-director of the Civio Foundation
Safira Cantos Salah, General Director of the Hay Derecho Foundation
Eloye Paredes Bordegé, Deputy Director-General for Transparency and Citizen Care, Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service
Thursday, 3 July 2025
09:30 Access to public information: contours and scope of the law
Marta Timón Herrero, Deputy Director General of State Level Complaints of the Transparency Council
10:30 The justification of the causes of inadmissibility and the legal limits
Isabel Jiménez Plaza, Advisory Member of the Chair of the Transparency Council
11:30 Problems, difficulties and good practices in the processing of proceedings
José Santiago Fernández del Valle, Deputy Assistant Director of State Level Complaints of the Transparency Council
12.30 Ensuring access to public information at regional and local level
José Manuel Jover Lorente, Deputy General Director of Regional and Local Complaints of the Transparency Council
15:30 The jurisprudence of the Supreme Court: main milestones
Eduardo Calvo Rojas, Justice of the Supreme Court
Friday, 4 July 2025
9:30 Transparency and good governance policies
Manuel Villoria Mendieta, President of the Independent Authority for the Protection of the Informant.
10:30 The pending legal reforms
Joaquín Meseguer Yebra, coordinator of the working group on transparency and access to public information of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP)
11:30 The nature of the right of access to public information
Laura Díez Bueso, Judge of the Constitutional Court
12:45 Closing
Clara Mapelli Marchena, Secretary of State for Civil Service
Link to the UIMP for enrol in the course.