Santander declares the municipal Legal Counsel position vacant

The Santander City Council has declared the call for the permanent appointment of a Legal Counsel position void and concluded without coverage, as no applicant passed the selection process. The decision, adopted by the Department of Human Resources, Quality, and Heritage on August 13, 2026, is published in the Official Gazette of Cantabria number 161, dated August 21, 2026, with reference CVE-2026-6613.

The position thus remains vacant and unfilled, categorized under the Special Administration scale, Technical sub-scale, Higher Technicians class, subgroup A1. The resolution is issued in accordance with the proposal to declare the call void submitted by the Qualifying Board and the report from the Internal Regime Service, exercising the powers delegated by the Agreement of the Local Government Board of June 22, 2023.

Background of the call

The call for this Legal Counsel position was initially published in the Official Gazette of Cantabria number 203, dated October 22, 2025, and its announcement was disseminated in the Official State Gazette number 268, dated November 7, 2025. The selection process, intended for the permanent filling of the post, concluded without any of the applicants passing the tests, which led to the declaration of the call as void.

Appeal options for interested parties

The resolution exhausts the administrative route, pursuant to Article 52 of Law 7/85, and interested parties may file the following appeals against it:

• Optional appeal for reversal before the Local Government Board, within a period of one month (arts. 123 and 124 of the LPAC).
• Contentious-administrative appeal before the Contentious-Administrative Section of the Santander Court of First Instance, within a period of two months (arts. 8 and 46 of the LJCA).

If no express resolution is notified regarding the appeal for reversal within one month, it shall be understood as dismissed by silence, and a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed within six months from the presumed act. Filing an appeal for reversal prevents recourse to the contentious route until the former is expressly resolved or its presumed dismissal occurs.

Signature and scope

The resolution, dated in Santander on August 17, 2026, is signed by the delegated councilor for Human Resources, Quality, and Heritage, Daniel Portilla Fariña. The document is published on page 39001 of the gazette.

The declaration of the call as void leaves a high-level legal qualification position unfilled in the city council, which will force the Santander City Council to rethink the call if it wishes to fill the position. For applicants and municipal staff, the resolution opens the door to a new future call and establishes the appeal deadlines for those who consider their rights to have been violated during the process.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, no. 161, August 21, 2026, section 2.2, page 39001 (official reference: CVE-2026-6613).