Royal Decree-law 21/2026 of 25 August 2026 on transparency and integrity in the activities of lobby groups (Official State Gazette: 26 August 2026)
The purpose of this new piece of legislation is to regulate the relationship between lobby groups and public office holders who are susceptible to influence.

Broadly speaking, the key aspects regulated are:

• The definition of the concepts of ‘lobby group’, ‘public official and/or public office holder susceptible to influence’, and ‘lobbying activity’. Lobby groups are defined as natural and legal persons, as well as entities without legal personality, whether acting on their own behalf or on behalf of third parties, which carry out lobbying activities aimed at public officials and/or public office holders.
  
  
• The creation of the Register of Lobby Groups for the General State Administration and its institutional public sector, which is public, free of charge and subject to compulsory registration; it will be managed by the Council for Transparency and Good Governance, will contain information on persons carrying out lobbying activities and must be updated annually.
  
  
• The rules of conduct to which lobby groups are subject in their dealings with public officials.
  
  
• The obligation to include a ‘regulatory footprint report’, which will reflect the changes a regulation has undergone as a result of the influence exerted by each lobby group and will include the identity of the public officials susceptible to influence who have been in contact with such groups.
  
  
• The specific sanction regime applicable to lobby groups.
  
  
• The development of criteria to ensure interconnection between existing registers, in particular with the EU Transparency Register.
  
  
• The obligations regarding the protection of personal data included in the Register of Lobby Groups, in accordance with applicable data protection legislation.