What it does not mean
These are not one shared Iberian or EU procedure, and a label alone does not show that the legal conditions are met.
In practice in Portugal
For procedures started from 1 October 2026 (Decreto-Lei n.º 177/2026), a consulta prévia may be used for goods and services contracts below €130,000 and an ajuste direto below €75,000 (CCP, Article 20(1)(c) and (d)); the same limits apply to other contracts (Article 21(1)). Other legal grounds can also justify a direct award (Article 24).
A consulta prévia invites at least three entities; an ajuste direto invites one (Article 112). A buyer may not invite a company to which it has already awarded, by consulta prévia or ajuste direto in the current economic year and the two previous ones, contracts whose accumulated price reaches the limit (Article 113(2)).
The ajuste direto simplificado is the lightest route: up to €5,000 for goods and services, or €10,000 for works, the buyer may award against an invoice (Article 128(1)). A contract from that route lasts at most three years, cannot be extended and has a fixed price (Article 129).
Since 1 October 2026 a consulta prévia especial invites at least five entities. It may be used below the EU thresholds and below €2 million, for listed purposes such as projects funded by EU funds and digital-transformation purchases (software licences, cloud services, IT equipment) (Articles 127-A and 127-B).
In practice in Spain
A contrato menor has an estimated value below €40,000 for works, or below €15,000 for supplies and services (LCSP, Article 118(1)). The file needs a report on the need and on not splitting the contract, the approval of the expense and the invoice (Article 118(2) and (3)).
Minor contracts are published at least quarterly, with their object, duration, award amount including VAT and the awardee, except those below €5,000 paid by fixed-advance payment (Article 63(4)).
What you see on the notice
- PLACSP: the procedure field reads “Contrato menor” (shown as “Procurement procedure” in the English interface), next to the award result and the winner.
- BASE: a contract record has “Tipo de procedimento”, “Fundamentação para recurso ao ajuste direto (se aplicável)” and “Entidades convidadas”.
How Sinal shows it
Procedure labels can appear on award records; check the national source and do not infer a threshold from the label.
- These procedures carry the chip “Low value”, with the note that the buyer usually invites a few suppliers directly.
- A label does not tell you the threshold. The buyer's law and the original notice decide.
Questions people ask
What is the threshold for a direct award?
In Portugal, for procedures started from 1 October 2026, an ajuste direto may be used for goods and services contracts below €75,000 and a consulta prévia below €130,000 (CCP, Article 20(1)(c) and (d)). In Spain, a contrato menor is below €40,000 for works and below €15,000 for supplies and services (LCSP, Article 118(1)).