The Court of Justice of the European Union (TJUE) today, April 14, 2026, issued a significant judgment in case C-418/24, known as Obadal, reaffirming that Spain's measures to address the abuse of temporary employment in its public sector remain insufficient. This ruling intensifies scrutiny on the Spanish administration's employment practices and the precarious status of many public workers. Entrepreneur and critic Martin Varsavsky promptly reacted on social media, stating, > "Hoy el TJUE, en el asunto C-418/24, dijo que España sigue sin sancionar de verdad el abuso de temporalidad pública. Llamar ‘indefinido no fijo’ a un interino sigue siendo precariedad. El peor empleador de España no es una pyme, es la propia Administración."
This latest decision builds upon a series of prior TJUE rulings, including a notable judgment on June 13, 2024, concerning cases C-331/22 and C-332/22, which similarly found Spain in breach of the EU Framework Agreement on fixed-term work (Directive 1999/70/CE). The European Court has consistently highlighted the necessity for effective and dissuasive measures to prevent the abusive use of successive temporary contracts within public administration. These earlier cases established that existing Spanish legislation and judicial interpretations did not provide adequate protection against prolonged temporary employment.
In the Obadal case, the TJUE specifically criticized Spain's current stabilization processes and compensation mechanisms, such as those introduced by Ley 20/2021, as inadequate to rectify the harm caused by years of temporary contracts. The Court found that compensation of 20 days' salary per year of service, capped at 12 months, or even 30 days capped at 24 months, does not constitute "adequate and integral reparation" for extended periods of abuse. Furthermore, the ruling implies that relying solely on competitive examinations, which are open to all candidates, fails to properly address the specific abuses suffered by long-term temporary staff.
The controversial "indefinido no fijo" status, which grants indefinite employment without permanent ownership of the position, is a central point of contention, identified as a form of precariousness by critics. The TJUE has previously suggested that, in the absence of effective national remedies, converting abusive temporary contracts into indefinite ones could serve as a legitimate sanction, provided it does not involve an interpretation "contra legem" of national law. This latest ruling in C-418/24 suggests that national courts may be increasingly empowered to ensure such conversions, potentially overriding existing national jurisprudence deemed insufficient.
Adding a new layer to administrative accountability, the ruling also indicates that infringing administrations may be barred from convening selective processes for three years, a measure intended to act as a more direct deterrent against the continued misuse of temporary contracts. This ongoing legal pressure underscores the urgent need for the Spanish government to align its public employment practices with European Union law, ensuring genuine stability and fair treatment for its temporary workforce.
