Badajoz reorganizes its Municipal Government and redistributes delegated powers

The mayor-president of Badajoz, Ignacio Gragera Barrera, has signed the organization decree of the Municipal Government, which establishes the government areas, maintains the deputy mayors and the Local Government Board, and orders the delegation of powers in the provincial capital. The text is published in full in the Official Gazette of the Province of Badajoz No. 191, corresponding to Tuesday, October 6, 2026, with official reference 3894/2026, within the Local Administration section.

The decree is issued under the organization regime for large-population municipalities regulated in Title X of Law 7/1985, of April 2, Regulating the Bases of the Local Regime, and articles 21, 23, 124, 125, 126, and 127 of the same regulation, as well as Royal Decree 2568/1986, of November 28, which approves the Regulation of Organization, Operation, and Legal Regime of Local Entities, and the Organic Regulation of the Municipal Government and Administration of the Badajoz City Council. The decree itself justifies the measure based on the need to adapt the municipal political-administrative organization to the government structure designed for the current corporate mandate.

Six government areas

The Municipal Administration is structured into six government areas, each with its assigned services:

• Presidency Area, headed by Ignacio Gragera Barrera, including the Mayor’s Office, Mayor’s Cabinet, Institutional Relations, Protocol, Communication, Transparency, Open Government, Citizen Services, General Registry, Statistics, and General Administrative Coordination.
• Interior and Security Area, including Human Resources, Internal Regime, Administrative Organization, Occupational Risk Prevention, Local Police, Urban Police, Firefighting Service, Civil Protection, and Public Safety.
• People, Culture, and Social Cohesion Area, including Social Services, Culture, Museums, Libraries, Tourism, Fairs and Festivals, Sports, Youth, Education, Citizen Participation, Health, and Animal Protection.
• Urban Planning, Housing, and Heritage Area, including Urban Planning, Urban Management, Urban Discipline, Housing, Municipal Heritage, and Environmental Protection.
• Sustainability and Urban Services Area, including Roads and Works, Technical Cabinet, Public Lighting, Urban Transport, Mobility, Vehicle Fleet, Integrated Water Cycle, Street Cleaning, Parks and Gardens, Cemeteries, and Ornamental Fountains.
• Economy, Finance, Digital Transformation, and European Funds Area, including Finance, Budgets, Tax Management, Tax Inspection, Collection, Contracting, Procurement, European Funds, Training and Employment, Commerce, Markets, Popular University, IFEBA, IT, Electronic Administration, and Digital Transformation.

For coordination purposes, the General Secretariat, the General Secretariat of the Plenary, the Support Body for the Local Government Board, and the Legal Advisory are assigned to the Presidency; the Municipal General Audit, the Municipal Treasury, and the Economic Management, Budget, and Accounting Body are assigned to the economic area.

Deputy Mayors and Local Government Board

The decree maintains as deputy mayors and members of the Local Government Board, in the same order, the members of the Corporation who already held said designations, who shall substitute for the Mayor-Presidency in cases of vacancy, absence, or illness. The Board shall hold ordinary sessions every Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., unless otherwise resolved, and cannot be constituted without the attendance of the mayor or their legal substitute and the councilor-secretary.

• Carlos Urueña Fernández is appointed councilor-secretary of the Local Government Board.
• Gema Cortés Luna is appointed substitute councilor-secretary.
• Mario Hermida Ferrer shall act as the head of the support body for the Board until the reclassification and filling of the General Secretariat position.

Special Delegations and Sanctioning Power

The competencies delegated to the councilors do not vary from those already established by Mayoral decrees throughout the legislature, except for the special delegations detailed in the text. The awarding of contracts not subject to harmonized regulation, as well as extensions, modifications, deadline extensions, stockpiling of materials, assignment of contracts, penalties, and termination of contracts, are delegated to the mayor-president; as well as the bases for selection and provision of positions calls and the sanctioning power, unless legally attributed to another body. Urban planning, municipal housing, and ordinary management of municipal land heritage competencies fall to the first deputy mayor and delegated councilor for Urban Planning; concessions and authorizations regarding municipal heritage fall to the eighth deputy mayor and delegated councilor for Heritage. The initiation and resolution of sanctioning procedures are delegated to the delegated councilors when the competence corresponds to the Mayor’s Office.

Reserved Competencies and Entry into Force

Reserved for the Local Government Board, among other matters, are the approval of draft ordinances and regulations, the draft budget, urban planning instruments, the list of job positions, personnel remuneration, the public employment offer, the appointment and dismissal of management bodies, major works urban licenses, the acquisition, disposal, and transfer of assets, declarations of harmfulness, the resolution of patrimonial liability proceedings, and contracts subject to harmonized regulation. The Mayor’s Office may reclaim delegated powers at any time through a reasoned resolution, and delegated powers may not be sub-delegated unless expressly authorized by law. Furthermore, the authorization of civil marriages is delegated to all councilors upon express designation by the Mayor’s Office.

The decree shall be reported to the Plenary in its first session, repeals any resolutions that oppose it, and takes effect from the day following its signature, without prejudice to its official publication.

The distribution establishes who decides in the provincial capital for the remainder of the term: it concentrates contracting and personnel in the Mayor’s Office, reserves decisions of greater economic and urban impact for the Local Government Board, and leaves the ordinary management of services affecting the daily lives of residents in the hands of the delegated councilors.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Badajoz, No. 191, October 6, 2026, Local Administration, pp. 2-8 (official reference: 3894/2026).