Spanish Parliament Grants Universities More Autonomy

Last month Spanish Parliament amended the Ley Orgánica de las Universidades de 2001 (the Organic Law of Universities 2001), which ultimately means that Spanish universities will have greater control over the selection of lecturers to fill roles.

The original Ley Orgánica de las Universidades de 2001 demanded that applicants for tenured posts had to pass a nationally controlled examination in their specific subject area before a given role could be offered. Also these accreditations were only given according to the number of university teaching positions available.

Now universities themselves can give permanent teaching roles to any teacher who has been accredited by new nationally recognised commissions made up of university professors. Also the number of positions available is no longer a consideration: accreditation is based upon a prospective candidate’s C.V. and not the number of permanent posts that need to be filled.

Some critics of this change in law believe that this will create an environment of academic nepotism or “inbreeding”: a practice that has blighted the Spanish university system for some time.