The State and Galicia close the jurisdictional conflict over the Sports Law

The Bilateral Cooperation Commission General State Administration-Autonomous Community of Galicia agreed on July 23, 2026, to a joint interpretation of paragraph five of the single article of Law 3/2025, of December 15, amending Law 3/2012, of April 2, on sports in Galicia, whereby both parties consider the expressed jurisdictional discrepancies resolved. The agreement is published in the Official Gazette of Galicia (DOG) no. 177, of September 17, 2026, in section III, pages 49070 and 49071, by order of the General Directorate of Institutional and Parliamentary Relations. The official reference of the announcement is CVE-DOG: nu1dowq4-6zu4-pjd0-4kv9-tvh42tpej5n8.

The publication is carried out in compliance with article 33 of Organic Law 2/1979, of October 3, of the Constitutional Court, amended by Organic Law 1/2000, of January 7. This provision regulates the prior negotiation route between the State and the autonomous communities before an autonomous regulation can be challenged before the Constitutional Court.

The controversy revolved around the single article of Law 3/2025, of December 15, which amends Law 3/2012, of April 2, on sports in Galicia. Specifically, paragraph five of that article adds a new article 128.bis to the Galician sports regulation, the jurisdictional scope of which was questioned by the State. The agreement states that the prior negotiations were held by a working group established in compliance with the provisions of a previous agreement of the same commission, with the objective of studying and proposing a solution to the expressed discrepancies.

The content of the agreement

According to the published text, both parties agree that paragraph five of the single article of Law 3/2025 must be interpreted in the sense that its application falls within the framework of the provisions of article 109.bis.3 of the Law of Criminal Procedure, approved by the Royal Decree of September 14, 1882.

Within this general regulatory framework, the exercise of popular action by the Xunta de Galicia will be possible only to the extent that such intervention is consistent with the applicable procedural regulations and with the defense of the rights of the victims recognized in the material scope in question.

Conditions for popular action

The agreement thus establishes the limits of the autonomous intervention, which is subject to several requirements:

• The requirements established in article 109.bis.3 of the Law of Criminal Procedure.
• Consistency with the applicable procedural regulations.
• The defense of the rights of the victims in the corresponding material scope.
• Prior authorization from the victim.

Conclusion of the controversy and procedures

By reason of the agreement reached, both parties consider the expressed discrepancies resolved and the stated controversy concluded. The pact thus avoids the filing of an appeal of unconstitutionality against the Galician regulation.

The agreement also establishes its communication to the Constitutional Court, for the purposes provided for in article 33.2 of Organic Law 2/1979, as well as its insertion in the Official State Gazette and the Official Gazette of Galicia.

The agreement is signed by Ángel Víctor Torres Pérez, Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, and Diego Calvo Pouso, Councilor for Presidency, Justice and Sports. The resolution ordering the publication is dated September 8, 2026, and is signed by Sandra Vázquez Domínguez, Director General of Institutional and Parliamentary Relations of the Councilorship of Presidency, Justice and Sports.

The resolution closes a jurisdictional discrepancy that threatened to bring the Galician Sports Law before the Constitutional Court and sets the limits for the exercise of popular action by the Xunta de Galicia in the criminal sphere, conditioning it upon the authorization of the victims.

Source: Official Gazette of Galicia, no. 177, September 17, 2026, section III, pp. 49070-49071 (official reference: CVE-DOG: nu1dowq4-6zu4-pjd0-4kv9-tvh42tpej5n8).