I spent the day going through the PLOC party statutes article by article against Spain's Organic Law on Political Parties (LOPP). The version sitting in Odoo is a valid political draft, but it is not a text ready to file in Spain. Four things block registration outright, and one clause directly breaks the law.
PLOC is the Partido Liberal Ortodoxo Cubano, a Cuban liberal party that wants to register and operate in Spain. The statutes were drafted with the party's Cuban and international orientation in mind. That orientation is fine. The problem is the structure the LOPP forces on any party that wants to exist here.
I reviewed the fifteen articles in the Odoo project, checked them against the consolidated text of the LOPP, the financing law (LOFPP), the 2015 control law, and the GDPR. I did not modify anything in Odoo. This is a review, not an edit.
The scale I used
Every article got a rating. Critical means the gap can stop registration, invalidate the internal regime, or create a direct breach. High means it must be fixed before filing or before operating as a registered party. Medium is ambiguous or incomplete wording that leaves real legal or operational risk. Low is a precision or coherence tweak. None means compatible, with optional wording improvements.
The four blockers
Four articles are critical. These are the ones that stop the party from registering as written.
Registered address: still a placeholder
The statutes say "TRÁMITE AÚN" — still pending. The LOPP requires a locality, province, street, and postal code. There is no way around this one. The party needs a full address in Spain, plus a rule for who can move it within the same locality and which body approves a change of locality or province, with notice to the Registry.
Disciplinary regime: no procedure
The current text lists generic infractions, three sanctions, and a right to be heard. That is not enough. The law requires a typified scale of minor, serious, and very serious infractions, the sanctions attached to each, limitation periods, an instructing body and a deciding body, recusal, deadlines, evidence, a reasoned decision, and an appeal. The clause about "damage to morals" is too vague and has to go or be made concrete.
The regime also has to include a contradictory procedure: a statement of the facts, a prior hearing, a reasoned decision, and a claim before an independent body that defends the member. And it has to allow precautionary suspension and, where the law demands it, expulsion for corruption cases once a trial has been opened.
Organs: named but not defined
The statutes name the Assembly, the Executive Committee, and the Presidency. They do not say how these bodies are composed, how many members they have, what they actually do, how long they serve, how they are convened, what quorum applies, how the agenda works, what majorities decide things, who has legal representation, who is the financial officer, what books the party keeps, or which body defends members.
This article needs to become several chapters. The General Assembly is the supreme body. The governing organs are elected by free and secret ballot. Convening requires a minimum notice period. The agenda has to include the items members ask for. There has to be quorum, majorities, democratic control, a motion of censure, legal representation, an independent financial officer, and a guarantees body.
Economic regime: incomplete
The current text covers dues, legal donations, subsidies, accounting, and a treasurer. It says accounts are rendered "when appropriate." That is not a regime. The law requires a named financial officer and a designation procedure, the founding assets, the accounting books, the membership file, the minutes book, annual account approval, and submission to the Court of Auditors within the legal deadline.
The financing law is specific about donations. Anonymous, earmarked, or revocable donations are banned. Legal entities and entities without legal personality cannot donate. One individual cannot give more than 50,000 euros a year. Donations over 25,000 euros and real-estate donations have to be reported to the Court of Auditors within three months. Donations have to land in a dedicated bank account, with identification and traceability. The party cannot run commercial activity or have third parties absorb the cost of its goods and services.
I rated this critical even though the party does not yet receive public funds, because the statutory financial regime is incomplete on its face.
The direct legal break
Article 11 sets five-year mandates, renewable "as long as members want." The LOPP caps mandates at four years. Five years is a direct incompatibility. And "renewable whenever members wish" is not a democratic procedure — it does not fix how elections are called, how candidates are put forward, who is on the electoral roll, how challenges work, or how control is exercised.
The fix is a four-year maximum, periodic elections, free and secret ballot for every member with voting rights, and clear rules for candidacies, electoral guarantees, proclamation, challenges, term limits, renewal, and a motion of censure.
High-risk articles
Beyond the blockers, several articles need real work before filing.
Symbols
The statutes leave the symbol pending, with proposals to be presented and voted on. The LOPP requires a symbol, a description, and a graphic representation. Leaving it pending in the statutes you file is not enough. The party has to attach a verbal description, the graphic representation, the colors, and the usage rules as an annex. The Assembly can change it later through the statutory procedure, respecting the law.
Scope of action
The current text talks about activity in Spain, international projection, relations with communities abroad, executive functions after a democratic transition in Cuba, and "branches" in other countries. The registered scope has to be state, regional, provincial, or local. Foreign "branches" can be confused with the party's territorial organs or with independent parties. And the text has to state clearly that all current activity happens through peaceful, democratic, and legal means.
Membership
The statutes limit membership to adult Cubans with legal capacity. The law's general requirement is natural persons of age without limited or restricted capacity. Cuban nationality is not the general legal requirement for membership. The exclusivity has to be justified, and it cannot unlawfully strip people of rights. The text also lacks express rights to challenge decisions and to go to the member-defense body, and it does not regulate membership types, joining, leaving, the file, dues, or complaints.
The confidentiality duty has to be limited to legitimately protected information and has to coexist with transparency, internal free expression, and data protection.
Loss of membership
The current grounds are resignation, joining another diaspora group or party, non-payment, a final sanction, and death. "Joining another group" is too broad and can punish lawful civic participation. Non-payment needs a procedure, a warning, and proportionality. A disciplinary removal has to be reasoned and appealable. Voluntary resignation has to be exercisable clearly and effectively.
Statute reform
The current text says the Assembly can reform the statutes by absolute majority. It does not say who can propose a reform, how it is convened, what quorum applies, what the proposal text looks like, what majorities apply in first and second call, what material limits exist, or how the change is communicated to the Registry and published. The law requires the reform to be communicated to the Registry within three months and, in any case, during the first quarter of each year, and published on the website.
Dissolution
The current text lets the Assembly dissolve the party, lists legal causes and court rulings, and sends the assets to diaspora civil-society organizations "after consultation." The Assembly has to be the supreme body that decides dissolution. The text needs a liquidation procedure, a liquidator, payment of debts, a final balance, and a concrete destination for the assets. "After consultation" cannot leave the destination open, and the assets cannot be distributed to members. The net assets have to go to a non-profit or general-interest entity, never to members, respecting the applicable rules and any oversight by the Court of Auditors.
Medium and low
Three articles sit in the middle. The name and acronym need a clause clarifying that the party acquires legal personality on registration, not on constitution, and that the name is subject to registry availability. The activities article needs an express peaceful, democratic, non-violent clause plus an internal prevention and supervision system, a code of conduct, a reporting channel, and a responsible body — without turning lawful political activity into commercial activity, which the financing law bans. Coalitions and federations need to distinguish a temporary electoral coalition from a stable political federation, and define the competent body, the majority, the delegation mandate, and the effects on personality, assets, representation, accounts, and exit.
Only the aims article is basically aligned. The law does not ban ideas by themselves, and ambitious political aims are allowed. The text just needs to add pluralism, equality, non-discrimination, popular sovereignty, the rule of law, and respect for the Spanish Constitution and laws, and to replace "liberating cause" with a formula that rules out violence or coercion.
What the next version needs
Ten clauses are non-negotiable additions: a preamble on democratic legality; the official website and email; a full General Assembly and collegiate-organs regime; a member-rights defense body with a complaint procedure; a contradictory and reasoned disciplinary regime; a financial officer with books, accounts, controls, and Court of Auditors submission; founding assets and the destination of assets on liquidation; an internal equality plan and a protocol against gender violence; a prevention and supervision system; and data protection for the membership file under the GDPR.
The verdict
The Odoo version is a valid political draft and a decent starting point. It is not ready to file in Spain. The overall distortion is high, with four registration or internal-validity blockers: the missing address, the symbol without a graphic representation, the under-regulated organs and procedures, and the incomplete economic regime. The five-year mandate is a direct incompatibility with the four-year legal maximum.
The next version should keep the PLOC's political aims and translate them into the structure the LOPP requires, without giving up the party's Cuban and international orientation. That is the whole trick: keep the politics, fix the form.
The official sources I worked from: the consolidated LOPP text, the consolidated LOFPP text, the 2015 control law, and article 6 of the Spanish Constitution.