The claims made before the Council of Transparency and Good Governance by citizens who are not satisfied with the response received, or with the absence of response from the Administration to their information requests, have increased by 60% in the first six months of 2026 compared to the same period of the previous year. Almost 70% of these appeals were filed against the refusal of ministries and state agencies to provide the requested data.
According to the council itself, which communicated this Thursday, the independent authority responsible for overseeing transparency at the state level registered a total of 1,758 claims in the first half of 2026. Of these, 1,211, which represents 68.8%, were directed against ministries and public entities of the General State Administration.
The rest of the files, 547 in total, were presented against administrations, agencies, and entities of an autonomous and local nature from those communities that have delegated to the council the competence in transparency through the corresponding collaboration agreement.
Strong continued increase in claims
This upturn consolidates the growth trend in the number of files from citizens who turn to the council to guarantee their right of access to public information. According to the Activity Report of the institution, in 2025, 2,767 claims were processed, 40% more than in the previous year.
However, the agency warns that while claims continue to rise, the Council of Transparency continues to operate with the same staff and the same resources since 2023, the last year with approved General State Budgets. It currently has around thirty employees and a budget of 3.38 million euros.
For the president of the council, Concepción Campos Acuña, the sustained increase in claims reflects the consolidation of the culture of transparency among citizens, but it also highlights an "inescapable reality": that the "guarantee function performed by the Council of the right to know, key in democracy, cannot be sustained indefinitely with the current means."
More workload and complex files
In this scenario, Campos emphasizes the need to reinforce the available resources in order to take on the growing volume of files and "guarantee the right of access in a timely manner and with quality." He also underscores that "the material complexity of the files is also increasing" due to the emergence of new demands for public information associated with the development of technology and artificial intelligence and its increasingly widespread use by the Administration.
Alongside the resolution of claims to ensure the right of access to public information, the council performs other relevant tasks: it supervises compliance with the obligations of active publicity by public and private entities, develops interpretative criteria and recommendations to facilitate the application of the regulations, addresses inquiries from obligated subjects, and promotes and participates in training and awareness activities aimed at public employees, among other functions.