public interest intended to be protected by declaraciones responsables2 compared to prior authorizations. Specifically, the Court states that the public interest protected by prior authorizations is no more intense than that defended by declaraciones responsables and other ex-post controls. In our view, this position contradicts the European framework that generalized these mechanisms across national legal systems: namely, Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market (the Services Directive), which marks its 20th anniversary this year. The core purpose of the Services Directive is precisely to deploy instruments of administrative intervention in strict proportion to the legal asset being protected. Consequently, a tourism activity capable of causing severe harm to the public interest cannot be treated the same as one posing minimal risk. Therefore, we argue—with all due respect—that the Spanish Supreme Court errs completely by adopting a flat, undifferentiated view of the public interest under prior authorizations versus declaraciones responsables. They do not possess a similar intensity; quite the contrary. II. PRIOR AUTHORIZATIONS VS. DECLARACIONES RESPONSABLES: A DISTINCT DICHOTOMY The legal nature of these two instruments of administrative intervention is fundamentally distinct, a fact the Supreme Court explicitly acknowledges within the text of the judgment. However, the conclusion reached by the Court fails to properly account for this distinction. If they constitute different legal mechanisms, the purposes for which they are deployed must also differ. This aligns with the principle of proportionality, which mandates that the intensity of administrative intervention must be commensurate with the risk. The primary distinction lies in the specific timing and the legal consequences of the administrative intervention: • Prior Authorizations (Controles Ex-Ante): Oversight occurs prior to the commencement of the economic activity. Consequently, the activity cannot legally begin without the formal approval of the compe2 Declaración responsable (Responsible Declaration): A unique instrument in Spanish administrative law (Article 69 of Law 39/2015). It is a formal document signed by an economic operator stating, under their sole responsibility, that they fulfill all legal requirements to initiate an activity, possess the documenting evidence, and pledge to maintain compliance. It displaces ex-ante licensing, enabling immediate operations prior to any administrative audit. 52 ALEJANDRO CORRAL SASTRE
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