Briefing
The Spanish government has provided more detail on the creation of a total of 700 new posts in the justice system: 500 posts for judges and 200 for prosecutors. The decision to draw up two Real Decrees was taken at the Council of Ministers ; the decrees were published on 9 July 2026 in the Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE), thereby formally bringing them into force. According to the Ministry of Justice, the measure will increase judicial capacity by around 7.8 per cent and expand the public prosecution service by about 6.6 to 7.1 per cent, depending on the source.
Of the 500 judicial posts, 172 are earmarked for civil courts, 109 for social courts and 69 for criminal courts. A further 87 posts are for mixed benches and 42 for posts with territorial assignment; 11 posts are also planned for specialist benches dealing with violence against women and six for proceedings to combat violence against children and young people. Four posts are assigned to the Audiencia Nacional ; several new presidencies of courts of first instance are also planned.
Regional allocations, as communicated by the Ministry, identify Andalusia and Catalonia as the biggest beneficiaries, with 94 new judicial posts each; Madrid is listed with 74 posts and the Comunidad Valenciana with 53. Of the 200 prosecution posts, 47 go to Catalonia, 31 to Andalusia and 26 to Madrid; according to the Ministry, the Canary Islands will see the largest percentage increase.
The Ministry of Justice says the measure is intended to ease the burden on courts over the medium term and speed up proceedings. The posts will be filled in stages: the first appointments are planned from December 2026, with the final phase due to be completed by November 2027. Financial and operational details on recruitment, training and specific postings will be set out in subsequent administrative steps and in the implementing texts of the Real Decrees.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).