The legal framework of private universities in Spain

The setting up of Universities in Spain is considered to be part of the fundamental right to establish private educational institutions. For a long time there have only existed Church Universities alongside Public Universities, and these have had their legal basis in Agreements between Spain and the Vatican. As of 1991 there has been an on-going process of setting up purely private Universities, to the point that there are now eleven besides the Church Universities. This article examines their legal framework from the point of view of their organisation, the system governing their teaching staff and their effective autonomy with regard to the Public Authorities. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.