The CGPJ promotes 49 judges to magistrate and opens the application process for postings

The Permanent Commission of the General Council of the Judiciary has ordered the promotion to the category of magistrate of 49 judges by seniority and has announced the competition to fill the resulting 49 vacancies. The agreement was adopted on October 13, 2026, and is signed by the president of the body, María Isabel Perelló Doménech. It is published in the Official State Gazette of this Monday, October 26, 2026 (no. 265, Sec. II.B, page 142899, reference BOE-A-2026-22337).

The promotion covers seniority numbers 138 to 186 of the seniority list closed as of March 31, 2026, approved by the Permanent Commission on April 27, 2026, and published in the BOE on May 8, 2026. The legal framework is article 311.1 of the Organic Law 6/1985, of July 1, of the Judiciary, as amended by Organic Law 1/2009, of November 3, which allows promoted magistrates to choose between remaining in the position they occupied or accepting the offered vacancy, with the consequences regarding permanence in the destination established by that same provision.

The competition is governed by articles 602.1, 311, and 329 of the LOPJ and by Regulation 2/2011, of April 28, of the Judicial Career. The procedure follows the Plenary of the CGPJ upholding administrative appeal 34/2026 in February and overturning the proceedings of the agreement of January 20, 2026, which was rendered null and void; in that previous process, 60 positions had been announced, and in the February one, 61.

From seniority number 138 to 186: forty-nine promotions

The criterion is strict seniority, without selective tests or additional merits:

• Turn: promotion by seniority to the category of magistrate.
• Affected seniority numbers: from 138 to 186, both inclusive.
• Reference seniority list: closed as of March 31, 2026, and published in the BOE on May 8, 2026.
• Positions to be filled: 49, “until the 49 vacant positions, the filling of which is necessary, are completed,” according to the agreement.

Fifteen days to choose destination

Those promoted must request a destination within fifteen calendar days starting from the day following the publication of the competition in the BOE. Submission is electronic, through the extranet of the General Council of the Judiciary portal (www.poderjudicial.es), using an assisted form with electronic acknowledgment of receipt.

The rules also establish these conditions:

• Obligation to request positions in order of priority, without the need to list them all.
• Those who neither compete nor expressly waive the transfer will be assigned according to their strict seniority on the scale, in the order of announcement in the BOE.
• Judges under definitive suspension or those sanctioned with forced transfer may not participate while the sanction period lasts.
• Voluntary surplus staff who have requested reinstatement and obtained a declaration of aptitude, as well as rehabilitated staff, must participate.
• Applicants must declare the number of judgments and orders pending issuance, in accordance with article 327.3 of the LOPJ.

The vacancy map

The annex of the agreement distributes the 49 positions among twelve autonomous communities. Most correspond to sections of the new Courts of First Instance, along with positions for judges of territorial assignment and one for a magistrate of the Provincial Court of Tarragona:

• Catalonia: 18 positions (Barcelona, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona, Granollers, Mataró, Sabadell, Terrassa, Lleida, Figueres, Gavá, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, and Tarragona).
• Madrid: 8 positions (Alcalá de Henares, Alcobendas, Arganda del Rey, Coslada, Parla, Valdemoro, and two of territorial assignment).
• Andalusia: 7 positions (Marbella, Melilla, San Fernando, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and two of assignment in Almería).
• Canary Islands and Castile and León: 3 positions each.
• Castile-La Mancha, Extremadura, and the Basque Country: 2 positions each.
• Aragon, Cantabria, Galicia, and Murcia: 1 position each.

Five positions are offered while their holders are in the administrative status of special services: those of the Criminal Section of the Court of First Instance of Mataró occupied by Lucía Avilés Palacios and Gabriela Pallín Ibáñez, that of the Provincial Court of Tarragona held by Jerónimo García San Martín, that of violence against women in Alcalá de Henares held by Ester Río Gómez, and one of assignment in Madrid held by Ana Laita García-Luzón.

Waivers, mandatory training, and appeals

Those who choose to remain in their current position must notify the CGPJ within fifteen calendar days and may not participate in ordinary transfer competitions for three years if the position is of judge category, or for one year if it is of magistrate category. Furthermore, those assigned to courts of violence against women, specialized sections in gender violence, or administrative, social, commercial, or juvenile courts must complete specialization activities before taking office, according to article 329.7 of the LOPJ. An administrative appeal (recurso de alzada) may be filed against the agreement before the Plenary of the CGPJ within one month.

The movement has a direct effect on the territory: each of the 49 positions represents a new holder in a specific judicial body and, in many cases, the departure of a judge from their current assignment, which reorganizes the workload of the affected judicial districts and opens a new round of transfers within the judicial career.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 265, October 26, 2026, Sec. II.B (Authorities and personnel. Competitive examinations and contests), p. 142899 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-22337).