Spain's Supreme Court Orders Release of Secret Covid Vaccine Resale Deal with Andorra

Spain's Supreme Court has ordered the Health Ministry to release the full text of its agreement with Andorra for reselling 13,650 Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine doses, along with details of similar deals with other countries. The ruling, issued on 11 March 2026, gives the ministry 10 working days to provide the documents to the journalistic group that requested them.

The decision reverses a prior National Court chamber ruling that had blocked disclosure, upholding an appeal by the Spanish Council for Transparency and Good Governance. It rejects arguments from the ministry and Spanish Agency of Medicines that the agreement contained sensitive elements from the European Commission's contracts with pharmaceutical firms, or that releasing it would harm Spain's foreign relations or international standing.

The court ruled that the pact was negotiated independently by Spanish and Andorran authorities, separate from EU deals. Terms such as donation or resale pricing stemmed from bilateral talks, not Brussels institutions, requiring no prior European consultation. Justifications for secrecy must be concrete, not generic, the judges stressed, noting no evidence showed ongoing negotiations at risk. "Once signed, there are no reasons why this agreement cannot be known in its entirety," the sentence states.

Earlier, authorities had shared only partial data: the 13,650 Pfizer doses resold to Andorra, confirmation of no other similar pacts at the time, and a link tracking Spain's overall vaccine donations or resales.

The legal process began with the transparency council backing the request. A lower National Court initially agreed to release the document, but a higher chamber overturned it. The Supreme Court has now set precedent that foreign relations limits cannot apply automatically without specific proof of harm.

The ministry must comply by delivering the Andorra agreement and a list of comparable operations, including doses, brands, recipient countries, and transaction types.