Ombudsman institution at a local level

The city has formally adopted a public statement that it is an intercultural city, as well as forming an intercultural strategy and action plan with dedicated budgets. These go through an evaluation process and are supported by references to interculturality in official speeches and publications.

Office of the Ombudsman
By far the largest and most effective existing institution is the Office of the Ombudsmen. Whilst the role bears some comparisons to Ombudsmen elsewhere in the world, the Spanish model, and the San Sebastián specifically is in many ways far more impressive. The institution was created in 1989 and has 50 employees and an elected chief. Its role is to be an independent an unbiased defender of the rights of ordinary people against maladministration or abuse of power by the state.

There are three main blocks of work:
• Complaints and claims against public administration (from district to EU level)
• Critical assessment of public policy Promotion of human rights