PREAMBLE I Transparency, access to public information and the rules of good governance must be the basic pillars of every political action. Only when the action of public authorities is subjected to scrutiny, when citizens can know how decisions affecting them are made, how public funds are managed, and under what criteria our institutions act, will we be able to speak of the outset of a process in which the public authorities begin to respond to a society that is critical, exacting and demands that public authorities enable participation. Countries with higher levels of transparency and rules of good governance have stronger institutions, which foster economic growth and social development. In these countries, citizens can judge, more accurately and using better criteria, the capacity of their public authorities and decide accordingly. Better supervision of public activity contributes to the necessary democratic regeneration, promotes the State’s efficiency and effectiveness and fosters economic growth. The present Act has a three-fold purpose: it increases and strengthens transparency in public activity—which is formulated through obligations involving active publicity for all public administrations and entities; it recognizes and guarantees access to information—which is regulated as a right with a far-reaching subjective and objective scope; and it sets forth the good governance obligations to be met by public authorities, as well as the legal consequences of non-compliance—which becomes a requirement of responsibility for all those carrying out activities of public relevance. In these three aspects, the Act is a significant step forward in this field, and sets forth standards comparable to those of other consolidated democracies. Ultimately, it constitutes a fundamental and necessary step forward, which shall be accompanied in the future by the State’s promotion and support of multilateral initiatives in this sphere, and by the signing of international instruments already in place in this area. II Spain’s legal system already has sector-based regulations containing specific obligations involving active publicity for certain parties. Thus, for example, with regard to contracts, grants, budgets or activities involving senior officials, our country has an outstanding degree of transparency. However, this regulation is currently insufficient and does not meet the social and political demands of our day. Therefore, this Act moves forward and intensifies the configuration of active publicity obligations which, it is understood, must be binding on a great many parties, including all the Public Administrations, the Legislative and Judiciary bodies as 4