The Spanish Constitution, in enunciating the principles that should govern the functioning of the Public Administration, highlights those of efficiency, hierarchy, decentralization, deconcentration and coordination. The principle of territorial deconcentration is reflected in article 54.1 of Law 40/2015, of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector, stating that “The General Administration of the State acts and is organized in accordance with the principles established in article 3, as well as those of functional decentralization and functional and territorial deconcentration.” Territorial deconcentration excludes a conception of the General Administration of the State as an entity entirely located in the capital, so that the existence of a territorialized structure is necessary and, therefore, closer to the citizens.

The Spanish Constitution does not prescribe the way in which territorial distribution of the headquarters of the public sector should be established. Article 5 does not include any provision regarding the location of the public bodies, nor does it establish any reservation of law or preconfigure any specific procedure for the determination of these seats.

Accordingly, in order to put these principles into effect, it is necessary to have a territorialized structure, closer to the citizens, that enhances the structuring role of public institutions in the territory. To this end, a procedure must be established that allows the rationalization of the physical location of entities of the public institutional state sector, since it is recognized that public institutions play a beneficial role in the physical environments in which they are located, in addition to contributing to the creation of direct and indirect jobs and making possible a higher level of dialogue with the affected sectors by promoting their participation in decision-making.

These positive effects of the deconcentration of public physical offices will be reinforced by the establishment of a rationalized election procedure, which integrates criteria such as territorial cohesion, the effectiveness of public services and transparency, through a deliberative mechanism that takes advantage of the potential of all autonomous communities and cities, thus contributing to strengthening the role of the public sector as a structuring element.

Royal Decree 209/2022, of 22 Marchestablishing the procedure for the determination of the physical headquarters of the entities belonging to the State institutional public sector and establishing the Advisory Commission for the determination of the headquarters, establishing a streamlined procedure for the selection of the headquarters of the State public bodies. This objective, transparent and competitive system integrates criteria such as territorial cohesion, the effectiveness of public services and transparency, so that the public sector can play a pivotal role in the territory and public bodies can be integrated into an environment adapted to their needs.

This procedure shall be initiated, on a case-by-case basis, by agreement of the Council of Ministers. Article 6.2 of the aforementioned Royal Decree 209/2022 establishes that “the Commission, within one month of receiving the aforementioned start-up agreement, will prepare the report provided for in article 3.2.b) that will contain the list of criteria that will be taken into account to determine the physical location of the entity. Those criteria shall be in accordance with the principles set out in Article 2, as well as the specific needs that apply to the institution concerned. This report will be communicated to the Council of Ministers and published in the “Official State Gazette”, together with the Agreement to initiate the procedure.

Within one month of such publication, the autonomous communities as well as local entities may submit the candidacies of one or several municipalities to host the physical headquarters of the corresponding entity that, in turn, would have to comply with the commitments stipulated in article 6.5 of the Royal Decree. Accordingly, the determination of each seat will be carried out after an analysis of the specific case to ensure the greatest possible balance between regions and the strengthening of territorial vertebration.

In this way, the procedure encourages the legislative assemblies and the governing councils of the autonomous communities, as well as the plenary bodies of the local entities, to be able to apply for different locations to house the headquarters of the aforementioned entities, while at the same time allowing those entities to commit assignments of different nature, so that the General Administration of the State does not have to fully assume the cost of installing an entity.

It should be borne in mind that the procedure for the deconcentration of headquarters may, in accordance with the Single Transitional Provision, not apply to the determination of the physical headquarters of those entities whose creation has been authorized or provided for by a rule of legal status prior to its date of entry into force (25 March 2022). This end has been modified by Royal Decree 759/2024, of 30 July, to also provide for the exclusion of those entities that had been authorised or provided for by a previous directive whose transposition deadline had expired on that date and had not been completed.