The Provincial Council of Badajoz approves its new provincial sponsorship ordinance

The Provincial Council of Badajoz has definitively approved the new Provincial Ordinance on Sponsorships of the Provincial Council of Badajoz and its Public Sector, the full text of which is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Badajoz number 165, dated August 28, 2026, via announcement 3401/2026. The regulation, which replaces the previous ordinance, introduces for the first time a differentiated regulation of active and passive sponsorships.

The Plenary of the Provincial Corporation initially approved the text in an ordinary session held on June 30, 2026. The file was submitted for public consultation for a period of thirty business days via an announcement published in the BOP on July 7, 2026 and, in the absence of claims or suggestions, the agreement is understood to be definitively approved in accordance with articles 49 and 70.2 of Law 7/1985, of April 2, Regulating the Bases of Local Government.

A framework for active and passive sponsorships

The ordinance defines sponsorship as a private contract of a bilateral and onerous nature, in which the Administration’s contribution finds its cause in a real advertising return, differentiating it from subsidies and collaboration agreements. It aligns with the General Advertising Law and with Law 9/2017, of November 8, on Public Sector Contracts (LCSP).

• Active sponsorship: the Provincial Council or its public sector acts as the sponsoring entity, based on objective criteria of communicative impact.
• Passive sponsorship: private contributions are channeled toward the institution, guaranteeing the public interest and the absence of conflicts of interest.
• Advertising contracts, public sector agreements, and subsidies are excluded, as they are governed by their own regulations.

Prevention of conflicts of interest

Article 3 of the regulation obliges the competent bodies to adopt measures against fraud and favoritism, and to prevent, detect, and resolve conflicts of interest in selection procedures. Personnel participating in the selection must sign a declaration of absence of conflict of interest and refrain from intervening when a cause exists, applying the abstention and recusal regime of articles 23 and 24 of Law 40/2015.

Scopes and processing

Activities eligible for sponsorship are primarily oriented toward strategic areas of institutional positioning:

• Promotion of tourism and cultural activities.
• Activities of ethnographic or historical interest.
• Livestock, agri-food events, and the promotion of crafts and local products.
• Sporting events and healthy habits.
• Promotion of entrepreneurship, trade, training, and innovation.
• Activities that promote democracy, coexistence, social inclusion, equality, and cohesion.

The processing of active sponsorships is initiated ex officio or at the request of a party, with a descriptive memorandum and an evaluation of the advertising return, and is awarded in accordance with the LCSP (Public Sector Contracts Law). Passive sponsorship contracts will be published on the Provincial Council’s transparency portal. The ordinance repeals the previous one, published in BOP number 173, announcement 3786/2025, of September 11, 2025, and will enter into force once its full text is published and the period set forth in article 65.2 of the Law on the Bases of Local Government Regime has elapsed.

The new regulation reinforces legal certainty and transparency in the management of provincial resources, and directly affects the cultural, sporting, and tourist entities and events of the province seeking the institutional support of the Provincial Council. Against the agreement, which is now final, a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Extremadura within two months.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Badajoz, no. 165, August 28, 2026, Local Administration, Provincial Councils, page 2 of 23 (official reference: announcement 3401/2026).