Freedom of information appeals

📨 Freedom of information appeals

Transparency Law 19/2013 recognises the right of any person to request public information without having to justify why they are asking. When a ministry or public body denies access or fails to reply within the legal deadline, the applicant can file an appeal before the Council for Transparency and Good Governance (CTBG). Its annual reports reveal how often the regulator must step in to order the Administration to release public records.

1. In two out of three substantive rulings, the citizen was right

Since the Transparency Council began operating in 2015, the number of appeals filed against the central government has more than tripled (from 513 in 2015 to 1,740 in 2024). When the Council rules on the merits of the case (excluding appeals declared inadmissible for late filing or non-public scope), it rules wholly or partially in favour of the citizen in 68.6 % of cases, ordering the Administration to release the information it had denied or ignored.

2. Which ministries accumulate the most appeals

The ministries of the Interior, Finance and Civil Service and Transport account for the largest volume of appeals before the Transparency Council, due both to the high number of requests they receive and to the frequent use of administrative silence or inadmissibility grounds subsequently overturned by the CTBG.

Sources and methodology:

• Council for Transparency and Good Governance (CTBG) — Annual Activity Reports and central government appeal statistics (Article 24 of Law 19/2013).
• For compliance with proactive disclosure obligations on public portals, see Transparency portals.