A one-click state that keeps a counter for those who need it: a proposal for Spain

Democracia 21 asked for a digital state where everything is one click away, keeping in-person service for those who need it. It is the sixth problem in the productivity section of Miriam González's launch speech, which we mapped in our overview, and it sounds like two wishes pulling in opposite directions. Spain's own figures show they are the same project, and that the country is closer to doing both than its reputation suggests.

Spain is already good at the click

By European standards, Spain's digital administration is strong. The Commission's 2026 Digital Decade report gives it 91.9 for digital public services for citizens, against an EU average of 84.6, and 95.3 for businesses, against 88.6. It says Spain performs particularly well despite differences between regions, and asks it to close those gaps, especially in the justice system. In 2024, 82.7% of Spaniards used a government website or app. More than half used their electronic identity for private online services in 2023, against two in five across the EU. The Mi Carpeta Ciudadana app, launched in 2022, had 10 million downloads and 9.2 million distinct users by May 2026, and it now sends a notice whenever an administration consults your data through the state's data exchange platform, which is the once-only principle working in your pocket.

And still people queue outside

The other half of the picture sits in the same reports. In 2025, 66.5% of Spaniards aged 16 to 74 had at least basic digital skills, above the EU's 60.4% and far from the 80% target for 2030, and barely changed since 2023. Among people aged 65 to 74 the share was 34.3%. In rural areas it was 56.5% in 2023. In the Eurobarometer cited by the Commission, 84% of Spaniards said human support would improve their use of digital services, and 92% said public authorities should make sure people get it.

The Defensor del Pueblo has been documenting what happens when that support is missing. In 2022 it opened inquiries into Social Security and the employment service, SEPE, because saturated appointment systems, online and by phone, were keeping people from being seen in person, and it called on both to rethink how they serve the public. Its 2024 report recorded complaints in Madrid and Barcelona about the rigidity of SEPE's appointments, with some people sent to premium-rate phone lines. Its 2025 report found people unable to get a Social Security appointment through any channel, and security guards turning away those who arrived without one, including people over 65, even when the office looked empty. The Defensor's view is that an appointment system is acceptable only as long as it does not become an extra requirement the law does not provide.

The law is already on the citizen's side. Article 14 of Ley 39/2015 lets individuals choose at any time whether to deal with the administration electronically, and a 2021 royal decree requires administrations to offer assistance through channels that include in-person help at their offices. In January 2024 the government announced it would end compulsory appointments, but the state law has not changed. Catalonia did legislate: its Law 9/2025 says appointments can never be compulsory and may only be used to improve in-person service, and it requires public reporting on waiting times.

What Denmark, Portugal and Estonia add

Three European neighbours show how the two halves fit. Denmark made its Digital Post mandatory for everyone aged 15 and over, and built in an exit: anyone can ask the municipality for an exemption, on grounds such as disability, language barriers, lacking a computer at home or difficulty getting the national digital ID, and the official guidance says the citizen's declaration may not be checked. Those exempted get paper. Portugal built a network of shared counters: by October 2026 there were 84 Lojas do Cidadão and more than 1,100 smaller Espaços Cidadão, where one visit covers services from many administrations. And Estonia, famous for its digital state, finished putting divorce online in December 2024, still requiring one physical meeting with an official. Even there, the person at the counter stays part of the design.

The EU has already written the principle into law. The 2024 eIDAS regulation, which obliges every member state to offer a European digital identity wallet, says its use is voluntary, and that people who do not use it must not be restricted or disadvantaged in accessing services.

The proposal

Our proposal takes from the left the idea that in-person service is a right, above all for older people and those the digital divide leaves out, and that nobody should need an appointment to be seen. It takes from the liberal market tradition digital by default and once-only: the state already holds most of the data it asks for, so it should use it, fill in forms for people, and spend less of everyone's time and money. The piece that belongs to neither camp is how the two are joined.

First, a Danish-style opt-out written into Ley 39/2015. Digital becomes the default for notifications and procedures, and any person can switch to paper and in-person service with a simple declaration that nobody checks. Second, end compulsory appointments across the state administration, as Catalonia has done: appointments become a way to skip the queue, and walk-in service stays available. Third, shared counters on the Portuguese model, run jointly by the state, the regions and the town halls, where one trained official can process a pension query, a SEPE claim or a census registration, and help someone do it online at the same time. Jennifer Pahlka's advice in Recoding America applies here too: send unusual cases to human review instead of writing a rule for every exception, and test services with real users before launch, starting with the people over 65 who struggle most. Fourth, one public clock for every channel: waiting times for the web, the phone and the counter, published office by office, so that the state can see where people are being left outside.

Done this way, the one click and the open counter support each other. The more the digital channel works, the shorter the queue for the people who still need a person.