The Barcelona Provincial Council allocates 40 million to the local autonomy of municipalities

The Governing Board of the Barcelona Provincial Council approved on September 22, 2026, the Specific Local Autonomy Program 5.0, as a benefit fund, with a total allocation of 40 million euros. Agreement number 554/2026 is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Barcelona on September 25, 2026 (CVE 202610143921) and doubles the 20 million from edition 4.0. The recipients are the city councils and decentralized municipal entities of the province, with the exception of the Barcelona City Council.

The program is part of the Local Government Network Cooperation Plan 2024-2027 and is processed under file number 2026/0032060. Competence corresponds to the Governing Board by delegation of the Presidency, in accordance with section 2.5.a) of the Recast no. 1/2024, approved by Presidency decree number 16308/2023, of December 19. The distribution among the entities is carried out using a formula of objective criteria detailed in the technical report of the Directorate of Local Cooperation Services dated July 31, 2026.

Edition 5.0 continues a series of programs that have been adapted to each situation: the first two editions responded to price increases and the pandemic, edition 3.0 incorporated individualized support for rural municipalities following Law 8/2025, of July 30, on the Statute of Rural Municipalities, and edition 4.0 absorbed the impact of the energy crisis. The evaluation of the closed editions records an execution rate of 99% for 2.0 and 100% for 3.0, with an average rating exceeding nine points out of ten.

Two support lines and 314 recipient entities

The program is divided into two funding lines:

• Line 1, “Current Expenditure Support”: supplies and services, energy bills, repairs and maintenance, personnel remuneration, negative treasury surplus, employment and labor insertion, social services, culture, education, sports, local commerce, and strategic rural projects, among others.
• Line 2, “Capital and Financial Expenditure Support”: investments in public space, sustainable facilities, renaturalization, technological modernization, architectural heritage, sustainable mobility, water networks, acquisition of assets, and early debt amortization.

The expenditure is authorized against the 2026 fiscal year and is initially distributed between two budget applications: 35,000,000.00 euros to G/13200/94210/46267 and 5,000,000.00 euros to G/13200/94210/76267. The individualized list of pre-assigned amounts includes 310 city councils and 4 decentralized municipal entities, 314 entities in total.

Distribution criteria: population, income, and fiscal effort

The 39,880,000.00 euros destined for the city councils are distributed according to these criteria:

• Minimum guaranteed allocation of 16,000 euros per municipality: 4,960,000.00 euros, 12.44% of the total.
• Population: 50.06%, 19,965,000.00 euros, with a cap of 800,000.00 euros per municipality.
• Three socioeconomic indicators, of 2,991,000.00 euros each (7.5%): gross available family income per inhabitant, unemployment, and percentage of the population with incomes below 7,500 euros annually per consumption unit.
• Two municipal characteristics, also of 2,991,000.00 euros each (7.5%): area of the municipality and own income adjusted by a tax effort index.

Decentralized municipal entities receive 120,000.00 euros: 38,400.00 euros as a minimum allocation of 9,600 euros per entity (32%) and 81,600.00 euros in proportion to the population (68%). Individual amounts range from 10,865.92 euros for the Decentralized Municipal Entity of Sant Martí de Torroella to 1,091,791.05 euros for the City Council of Terrassa; Badalona receives 1,083,977.18 euros, l’Hospitalet de Llobregat 1,058,784.02 euros, and Sabadell 1,051,272.55 euros.

Deadlines, advance payment, and justification

Recipient entities have from the day after publication until October 30, 2026, to accept the pre-assigned amount and distribute it between the two lines; if they do not, the aid is understood to be tacitly accepted for Line 1. The Provincial Council of Barcelona must approve the grants within a maximum period of three months and will pay 100% of the aid in advance.

• Execution period: from January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2027.
• Voluntary justification: until November 30, 2027.
• Final justification: from January 2, 2028, to April 30, 2028.
• Standardized certificates of acceptance P3-006-24 and of expenditure justification P4-017-24.

The grants are compatible with other funding as long as the cost of the activity is not exceeded, and the Directorate of Local Cooperation Services will issue a results evaluation report within three months following the final settlement. The act is signed by Denia Lazaro Ardila, delegated secretary, on September 23, 2026.

With this edition, the Provincial Council of Barcelona doubles the direct support to municipal finances in a consolidation phase of local policies, when the pressure on current expenditure and the maintenance of facilities is most intense. For local governments, the program represents a pre-assigned income, with advance payment and simplified management, which they can direct according to their own priorities.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Barcelona, no. 202610143921, September 25, 2026, Local Administration, pp. 1-50 (official reference: CVE 202610143921).