Equality transfers 21.6 million to municipalities for sexist and LGBTI violence

The Department of Equality and Feminism has approved the first transfer of the 2026 annual budget destined for local entities, for a total amount of 21,603,518.79 euros, to finance the promotion of public policies regarding gender-based violence, LGBTI policies, equality in the workplace, and the fight against hate speech. The decision is formalized by Resolution IFE/4000/2026, dated November 2, signed by the Minister Eva Menor Cantador and published in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat de Catalunya (DOGC) no. 9788, dated November 5, 2026, in the section of other provisions, with the reference CVE-DOGC-A-26307042-2026. The publication replaces individual notification and has the same effects.

The resolution is framed within the 2026-2029 Framework Agreement for coordination, cooperation, and collaboration between the Generalitat —through the Department of Equality and Feminism—, the Catalan Association of Municipalities and Counties and the Federation of Municipalities of Catalonia, signed on February 5, 2026, and published by Resolution IFE/343/2026 for 93,133,350.80 euros. On October 14, 2026, the modification addendum was published, approved by Resolution IFE/3637/2026, dated October 9, which increased the amount of the agreement to 102,703,095.12 euros to regularize changes in clauses and annexes.

The legal framework invoked includes Law 12/2007, of October 11, on social services, which in article 41.5 provides for four-year agreements with supra-municipal local entities, counties, and municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants, and Decree 274/2025, of December 23, on the restructuring of the Department, which assigns the coordination and financing of service networks to the Directorate General for the Eradication of Gender-Based Violence and the Directorate General for LGBTI+ Public Policies.

Five lines of financing with specific budget items

The transfer is distributed across five annexes, each linked to a budget item of the Department of Equality and Feminism:

• Annex 1: comprehensive care and support system for women and their children in emergency and urgent situations due to gender-based violence (item D/460000101/316E/0000).
• Annex 2: deployment of the Comprehensive Care Service (SAI) Network within the LGBTI+ framework (D/460000101/316D/0000).
• Annex 3: network of equality professionals in the workplace (D/460000101/316F/0000).
• Annex 4: deployment of information and care services for women (SIAD) (D/460000101/316E/0000).
• Annex 5: local projects for the fight against discrimination and hate speech (D/460000101/316G/0000).

The approval entails the authorization for administrative units to record the credit allocation in favor of the beneficiaries in the GECAT corporate system and to process the recognition of the economic obligations as they fall due.

Recipients: large municipalities, county councils, and consortia

The beneficiaries are local entities, county councils, associations of municipalities, consortia, and other supra-municipal entities with more than 20,000 inhabitants, according to the details in the annex. Among the most prominent allocations are:

• Hospitalet de Llobregat City Council: 150,000 euros in the line for assistance to women in emergency situations.
• Anoia County Council: 84,273 euros in the same line.
• Terrassa City Council: 79,905 euros in the same line.
• Badalona City Council: 45,000 euros in the emergency line, plus 104,846.59 euros in the local projects line.
• County councils of Vallès Oriental, Maresme, and Selva: 152,776.45 euros each in the local projects line.

Other entities appear with smaller amounts, such as the Vilanova del Camí City Council, the Masquefa City Council, or the Castelló d’Empúries City Council, with contributions of 5,000, 5,000, and 3,500 euros respectively in the last line of the annex.

Justification until February 28, 2027

The resolution establishes that the justification will be verified with a certificate from the local auditor (interventor/a) or from the auditing office of the local entity, certifying the proper application of the total cost corresponding to the transfer approved in the previous financial year. A certificate from the person coordinating the service will also be required to certify that the funds have been applied to the intended purposes, according to the standardized models provided by the department.

The deadline to present the justification for the 2026 annual actions ends on February 28, 2027, and the actions of each line can be distributed by annexes with the corresponding budget item, as detailed in the same resolution.

Against the resolution, which exhausts the administrative route, a prior request may be filed within a period of two months before the Minister of Equality and Feminism or, directly, a contentious-administrative appeal before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia, in accordance with articles 44 and 46 of Law 29/1998, of July 13.

With this first transfer, the deployment of the 2026-2029 Framework Agreement enters the phase of effective payments and reaches local budgets before the end of the year. The main impact is that the city councils, county councils, and consortia that provide services for assistance to victims of gender-based violence, assistance to LGBTI people, and the fight against discrimination will know what resources they have to close the 2026 financial year and what margin the justification calendar has, which extends past February 2027.

Source: Official Gazette of the Generalitat de Catalunya, no. 9788, November 5, 2026, Other provisions section, p. 1 (official reference: CVE-DOGC-A-26307042-2026).