The Provincial Council of Cáceres finances cybersecurity audits in 23 local entities

The Provincial Council of Cáceres has approved the call for direct grant subsidies intended for comprehensive associations of municipalities (mancomunidades integrales) and smaller local entities in the province to finance cybersecurity audits and vulnerability analyses in 2026. The guidelines were approved on October 7, 2026, by resolution of the Second Vice-Presidency of Finance and General Administration, signed by Isabel Ruiz Correyero, and are published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Cáceres on Friday, October 9, 2026 (No. 0194), with references BOP-2026-4743 and BOP-2026-4745.

The call is processed as a direct grant under an open call regime, pursuant to Article 22 of the General Grants Law 38/2003 of November 17, and Base 41 of the 2026 Budget Execution Guidelines. The total amount amounts to 44,528.00 euros, charged to two budget applications: 2026.07.4910.46320, endowed with 30,976.00 euros for associations of municipalities, and 2026.07.4910.46820, with 13,552.00 euros for smaller local entities.

The distribution is uniform: each beneficiary entity will receive 1,936.00 euros, according to the annex of the call, which lists 23 possible beneficiaries. The grants are included in the Provincial Council’s Strategic Grant Plan and originate from budget modification file No. 60/2026 for extraordinary credits, initially approved by the Plenary on May 28, 2026 (BOP No. 101, June 1) and definitively on June 24, 2026 (BOP No. 0118). The announcement of the regulatory rules is signed by the secretary José Álvaro Casas Avilés.

Target entities

• Comprehensive associations of municipalities: Mancomunidad Trasierra-Tierras de Granadilla, Mancomunidad Intermunicipal de la Vera, Mancomunidad Integral Sierra de Gata, Mancomunidad Integral de Municipios Sierra San Pedro, Mancomunidad Integral de Municipios Valle Alagón, Mancomunidad Integral Villuercas-Ibores-Jara, Mancomunidad Riberos del Tajo, Mancomunidad Municipios Tajo Salor, Mancomunidad Comarca de las Hurdes, Mancomunidad Rivera de Fresnedosa, Mancomunidad Integral de Municipios Sierra de Montánchez, Mancomunidad Valle del Ambroz, Mancomunidad Integral de Municipios Campo Arañuelo, Mancomunidad Zona Centro, Mancomunidad Integral de Municipios Valle Jerte, and Mancomunidad de Municipios Comarca de Trujillo.
• Smaller local entities: Azabal, La Moheda de Gata, Navatrasierra, Pradochano, San Gil, Valdeiñigos, and Valdesalor.

Entities that do not have the audit as of the date of publication of the call and are not subject to any cause of prohibition according to Article 13 of the General Grants Law may be beneficiaries.

What the audit must analyze

The aid finances an audit of infrastructure, systems, and IT security, including the creation of a global risk map. The specifications establish eight components:

• Network infrastructure: routers, switches, firewalls, and other devices.
• Systems and servers: configuration, security patches, and access policies.
• User equipment: laptops and desktops.
• Security measures: antivirus, advanced protection, and intrusion detection and prevention.
• Email protection against spam, phishing, and other attacks.
• Regulatory compliance, including the GDPR.
• Actions of the Local Entities Modernization Decree (cybersecurity, virtual workstation, and backups).
• Local Entities Cybersecurity Operations Center project, with the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Civil Service through the General Secretariat for Digital Administration (SGAD) and under the technical direction of the CCN-CERT.

Entities must execute the mitigation measures and remediation plans resulting from the audit. Outsourcing may reach 100% of the activity.

Deadlines and processing

• Applications: 10 business days from the opening of the electronic office, the day after the publication of the summary in the BOP.
• Correction of errors: 10 business days.
• Resolution and notification: maximum 6 months from the publication of the summary.
• Execution: 6 months from the day following the final resolution.
• Justification: 3 months from the completion of execution.
• Appeals: reconsideration within one month or contentious-administrative within two months.

Processing is entirely electronic via https://sede.dip-caceres.es. The grants are prepayable and do not require a guarantee. The summary is published with the identifier 934152 of the National Grants Database.

Background

Since 2021, the Provincial Council has been developing a cybersecurity strategy to reach all local entities in the province. Using its own funds, it executed a first phase in 2021 aimed at 91 local entities with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants and, within the Telecommunications contract, a line of cybersecurity services that monitors the provincial fiber optic network. With Next-Gen funds, it closed a second phase that reached all local entities and established the Ciber Seguro-EELL Operations Center, actions that expressly excluded smaller local entities and comprehensive associations of municipalities, who are now the targets of this call.

For small town councils and associations of municipalities, the call covers the full cost of an audit that would otherwise be beyond their budgets and requires them to correct the detected vulnerabilities. The announcement comes in a context of increasing threats and the requirement to adapt to the National Security Framework.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Cáceres, no. 0194, of October 9, 2026, Section I - Local Administration, pp. 23071-23086 (official reference: BOP-2026-4743 and BOP-2026-4745).