The journal El País has published the main axes of the draft for the reform of the law. Among other things, the Government would have the right to oblige all older citizens to provide “personal benefits” and to temporarily require their property. Citizens would be entitled to compensation in the event of economic damage resulting from the requisition, but not from the “personal benefit”. These obligations would also affect companies and legal entities. The preliminary draft does not specify what kind of obligations could be raised, which would only be “gradual and proportionate”, and which would remain in force “for the strictly necessary time”, according to the Spanish language. The article does not refer to the penalties provided for against breaches of orders.

Forced media cooperation

“The preliminary draft includes the obligation of the media to collaborate with the competent authorities in the dissemination of preventive or operational information,” says the article of El País. It advocates the self-sufficiency of strategic or basic resources to address crisis situations, taking into account what happened with masks or respirators at the beginning of COVID-19.

Authoritarian tool for new crises

The Spanish Government has taken advantage of the state of alarm in the COVID-19 crisis, and not the National Security Act. However, if the reform materializes, the legal reform would be a more effective tool to deal with “situations of this kind”, according to El País, among other reasons because the preliminary draft gathers “what has been learned” in the last year and a half. The competence for the entry into force of the National Security Act lies with the President of the Government of Spain, without the need for anyone else. To this end, the President should declare “a situation of interest to the National Security”. Once the law has been in force, the criteria would be applied by the National Security Council (NSC). The preliminary draft is based on Article 30 of the Spanish Constitution (“All Spaniards have the right and the duty to defend Spain”), in the same regulation as the Compulsory Military Service.

The Council of Ministers studied the preliminary draft in June and needs its final approval for subsequent submission to the Congress of Deputies, although it has already communicated its content to "the autonomous communities and certain parliamentary groups", according to the medium.