What is the difference between administrative contract and private contract in the public sector?

Let's see, when the public sector wants to buy things, hire services or set up a work, it has two letters under the sleeve: the administrative contract and the private contract. At first glance they seem the same - at the end it is the state signing a company - but eye, because the legal roll behind it changes a lot and if you do not catch it, you can end up in a good mess when you want to catch a tender.

The administrative contract, to begin with, is like the Government's star contract. Everything is regulated by administrative law and the Law of Public Sector Contracts (yes, that Royal Long Decree of 2011 that no one has read whole). Here, the public sector plays with advantage because it has special powers, as if it were the supreme boss, and can put clauses that in a normal or coña contract would accept. Basically, you can change the contract for your pretty face or cancel it if you want "for the public interest." Flipa.

The private contract goes on the other hand. Here, the State gets off the pedestal and plays on equal terms with the company, as if it were any neighbor's son. Same rules as any company: Civil Code, Commercial Code and little else. No magical powers. This type of contract uses it when they do not need to remove their super clauses from the sleeve.

The fat difference is in the rules of the game. If you sign an administrative contract, get ready to change the rules in the middle of the party and, if there is a anger, you have to fight in the contentious-administrative jurisdiction (come on, the courts that they understand of messes with the administration, and believe me, that can last centuries and cost a paste). In private contracts, the thing goes civilly, more to walk around the house, and everything is more "fair", so to speak.

So, if you are going to get into a public tender, you better be clear about what the contract is going before throwing yourself into the pool. If it is administrative, beware of surprises; If it is private, breathe a little quieter, but you don't trust too much. At the end of the day, knowing what you face can save you from a good brown.

In summary: they seem the same, but they are not. The public sector always keeps an ace in the sleeve, and if you do not know how to distinguish between an administrative and private contract, you can end up playing a party in which the referee and the rival are the same. Ojito with that.