KOLDO SCHEME // FACE MASKS CASE // UPDATE

A public information access request is asking Puertos del Estado (Spain's state ports authority) for the formal objections, audit reports and financial control documents relating to file E/019/20, awarded to Soluciones de Gestión y Apoyo a Empresas, S. L. The request relies on Spain's Law 19/2013 on transparency and seeks to find out whether there were internal observations about that contract.

Law 19/2013, of 9 December, on transparency, access to public information and good governance, allows any citizen to request documents that already exist in the possession of a public body. On that basis, a request has been submitted to Puertos del Estado to review file **E/019/20**, awarded to **Soluciones de Gestión y Apoyo a Empresas, S. L.**, the company linked to the face masks scheme.

## What exactly is being requested

The request seeks copies of any formal objections that may have been raised against that file, along with the documents proving their resolution, withdrawal or correction. It also asks for the observations, audit reports, inspection reports and financial control documents held by the body that refer specifically to the file.

If no objection is on record, the request asks that the decision state this expressly and specify which documents or records were consulted. If a pre-existing certificate or report proves that circumstance, a copy is requested. And if any document is not held by Puertos del Estado, the request asks that this be stated and, if known, which body holds it.

## Why the objections matter

A formal objection is the challenge raised by an economic control body to a piece of spending before or after it is carried out. Its presence, or absence, marks the difference between a contract with caveats and one that passed the filter without anyone raising a hand. File **E/019/20** was awarded to **Soluciones de Gestión**, the company that later appeared in the face masks case.

The request refers only to pre-existing documentation and does not require new reports to be produced. It asks for electronic access and, where applicable, partial access to documents containing protected information, with concrete justification for any total or partial denial. In other words, it is not asking for an investigation: it is asking to see what has already been written.

## Deadlines and limits of the law

Law 19/2013 sets a general deadline of one month for deciding access requests, extendable by another month when volume or complexity justifies it. Silence does not amount to a favourable response in all cases, so the requester will have to keep an eye out for an express decision.

The law allows access to be denied or limited on grounds of data protection, commercial secrets or harm to an investigation. That is why the request insists on partial access: sensitive data should be redacted and the rest handed over. The key question is whether Puertos del Estado holds those reports and whether it decides to show them.

Everything related to public contracts and possible liabilities is at the investigation or review stage, and no conclusion about the file can be considered final until a firm decision exists.