Barcelona unifies the functional plans for local facilities

The Government Commission of the Barcelona City Council, in its session on July 30, 2026, has approved the Instruction that unifies the criteria for the functional plan models and the cost structure of the network of proximity facilities. The agreement, with file number 2026_EXP_7745374, is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Barcelona on September 1, 2026, with reference CVE 202610134547, and was signed by the general secretary, Jordi Cases i Pallarès, on August 11, 2026.

The management of proximity facilities had historically been based on a fragmented set of plans approved at different times (1984, 2007, and 2010), which had generated significant heterogeneity in operational criteria and organizational models. The age of these models had left them in a state of obsolescence in the face of current challenges such as the digital divide, unwanted loneliness, new realities of childhood, and the need to move away from ageist perspectives.

Five networks, one unified framework

The instruction establishes the new quality standards, the functional plan, professional categories, and the economic model for the provision of services. The functional plan models set the guiding criteria for the five networks of proximity facilities:

• Children’s Centers and Toy Libraries (Annex 1.a)
• Spaces for Older People (Espais PG) (Annex 2.a)
• Youth Spaces (Annex 3.a)
• Civic Centers (Annex 4.a)
• Community Neighborhood Centers (Annex 5.a)

The regulation also changes the nomenclature of some facilities: the new designations “Spaces for Older People (Espais PG)” and “Community Neighborhood Centers” must be used in all administrative documentation, with a progressive update of physical signage and digital communication products.

Economic model and cost guide

To ensure the financial viability of the management and to fulfill the duty of diligence in determining the price of contracts —according to article 100.2 of Law 9/2017, of November 8, on Public Sector Contracts (LCSP)— the instruction incorporates the Guide for the preparation and calculation of the cost structure. This document is configured as the technical reference instrument for setting the base tender budgets and the financial allocations of civic management agreements.

The guide is dynamic in nature and must be reviewed and approved at least every four years. Personnel costs must be calculated strictly in accordance with the Collective Agreement for the educational and sociocultural leisure sector of Catalonia in force at the time of processing, and the approval of updates corresponds to the Municipal Management, upon the proposal of the Commission for the Improvement Plan of Proximity Facilities.

Obligations, accessibility, and gender

This instruction is mandatory for the services of the City Council and its districts, municipal autonomous bodies, public business entities, and commercial companies with majority municipal capital, as well as for companies awarded contracts and non-profit entities benefiting from civic management. The new functional criteria, staffing ratios, and cost structures will be the binding basis for new procurement specifications and agreements processed from the date the regulation comes into effect.

The models incorporate the accessibility requirements of Law 13/2014, of October 30, and Decree 209/2023, of November 28, which approves the Accessibility Code of Catalonia, with the advice of the Barcelona Universal Accessibility Technical Office. The obligation to incorporate municipal gender criteria in the design and management of facilities is also established, with gender clauses in contracts and agreements.

This instruction repeals the Community Center and Toy Library Model (2010) and the Improvement Plan for Senior Community Centers (2007), and takes effect the day after its publication in the Gaseta Municipal. An optional appeal for reversal may be filed against the agreement within one month, or a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed before the Contentious-Administrative Section of the Barcelona Court of First Instance within two months.

With this unification, the City Council provides legal certainty to the districts and managing areas for the planning and tendering of future service contracts and civic management agreements, and guarantees the homogenization of the network, the modernization of services, and territorial equity. For the residents of Barcelona, the regulation represents a step toward civic centers, children’s centers, and senior spaces operating with common criteria, updated quality standards, and more transparent economic management aligned with the market.

Fuente: Official Gazette of the Province of Barcelona, issue of September 1, 2026, local administration section, pp. 1-515 (official reference: CVE 202610134547, file 2026_EXP_7745374).