Under Law 33/2021, of 02 December, on transparency, open access to public information and open government, public information means any content or documents available to the entities specified in Article 3.1, including the Tribunal de Comptes, which are prepared or received in the exercise of their public functions, irrespective of the physical media or format in which they are recorded or filed.

Equally, Article 8 of the same Law establishes that any individual over the age of 16 has a right of access to public information, subject to the principles, conditions and limitations stipulated in the Law, these being:

General access principles (Article 9 of Law 33/2021)

The public authorities must adopt appropriate measures to ensure compliance with the right of access to public information, establishing an integrated system for the management of documents, information and data that enables interoperability between the public authorities, localisation of any document or information, and automatic linking of each document or series of data to their access and publication system.

Limitations to the right of access (Article 11 of Law 33/2021)

  1. 1. The right of access established in this chapter can be denied if disclosure of the requested information undermines:
    • a) National defence and security.
    • b) International relations and the duty of confidentiality assumed under agreements with international bodies.
    • c) Public security.
    • d) Relations with the Co-Princes and their services.
    • e) Economic, financial and monetary policy.
    • f) Environmental protection.
    • g) The prevention, investigation and punishment of criminal, administrative or disciplinary offences.
    • h) Administrative monitoring, inspection, control, oversight and audit functions.
    • i) Equality between parties in judicial proceedings and access to justice.
    • j) Deliberations within or by the public authorities on consideration of a matter, and the protection of confidentiality or secrecy in decision-making processes.
    • k) Privacy and other legitimate private interests, such as the rights of minors and victims of gender violence, in accordance with the personal data protection regulations.
    • l) Economic or commercial interests of a natural or legal person, including intellectual and industrial property and strategic business information.
    • m) Professional secrecy.
  2. Application of the limitations established in section 1 must be justified and proportionate to the object and purpose of protection and must consider the specific circumstances of the case and, in particular, concurrence of a greater public or private interest that justifies access to the information. Limitations on the right of access to public information are temporary if specified in the regulations, and continue for as long as the reasons for application prevail.
  3. If the limitations established in section 1 only apply to specific parts of the requested public information, access is partially allowed, by omitting the part concerned, unless the information becomes distorted or meaningless. The entity concerned must separate the restricted information from the accessible information and indicate to the applicant where information has been omitted.
  4. The personal data protection regulations apply to the subsequent processing of data obtained from exercising the right of access to public information.