The Provincial Council of Jaén activates the Municipal Special Employment Plan 2026-2027

The Plenary of the Provincial Council of Jaén approved the Municipal Special Employment Plan 2026-2027, which finances the hiring of unemployed workers, preferably seasonal agricultural workers, for works and services in the province’s municipalities. The agreement was adopted in ordinary session number 11, held on November 5, 2026, and is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Jaén number 222, dated November 13, 2026, in the Local Administration section (reference 2026/5360). The plan incorporates 92 municipalities with an initial budget of 5,772,967.27 euros, of which 3,042,000 euros are provided by the Provincial Council in the form of grants.

The call for applications and the regulatory framework of the plan were approved by Plenary Agreement number 10, dated May 29, 2026, and were published in the Official Gazette of the Province number 111, dated June 10, 2026. The application period was 30 business days and concluded on July 23. According to Article 1 of the call, the objective is to cover the temporary hiring costs assumed by the city councils to execute the incorporated actions, with the mission of stabilizing the population and guaranteeing income in rural areas.

The legal framework for the provincial contribution, considered a grant, consists of the Plenary agreements of the plan, Law 7/1985 regulating the Bases of the Local Regime, Law 5/2010 on Local Autonomy of Andalusia and, subsidiarily, the General Grants Law 38/2003. As an activation program, it is governed by the ninth additional provision of Law 3/2023, of February 28, on Employment, and by Royal Decree 939/1997, of July 20, regarding the allocation to the agricultural employment promotion program. The allocation was agreed upon by the Provincial Monitoring Commission on October 28, 2026, in accordance with Article 22 of said regulation.

Distribution among 92 municipalities

The agreement approves the proposals from the city councils and grants the subsidies charged to budget application 2026.510.2410.46200, with payment in a single advance installment. The distribution combines the Provincial Council grant with the municipal contribution, which totals 2,730,967.27 euros. The largest actions in the approved table are:

• Torredelcampo: 928,088 euros budget, with 42,000 euros in provincial grants.
• Porcuna: 349,000 euros, with 37,000 euros in grants.
• Mengíbar: 242,000 euros, with 42,000 euros in grants.
• Beas de Segura: 234,400 euros, with 37,000 euros in grants.
• Martos: 160,000 euros, entirely from own funds.

The majority of the 92 actions are street cleaning services, building maintenance, gardening, and conservation of rural roads, with amounts that in a large part of the municipalities range between 27,000 and 42,000 euros.

Martos, the only exception to the population limit

The plan is aimed at municipalities with a population of fewer than 20,000 inhabitants, but Article 1 of the call allows larger localities to join if they provide their own funds to hire unemployed persons, preferably seasonal agricultural workers. Martos is the only municipality with more than 20,000 inhabitants that has decided to participate, with a credit of 160,000 euros. Since it is not a beneficiary of financial aid, a specific file will be opened for the control and monitoring of the supporting documentation of its actions.

Execution until 2027 and justification in 2028

The execution period for the actions and employment contracts runs from the publication of the agreement in the bulletin until December 31, 2027. An extension of six months may be granted, until June 30, 2028, and in that case, the deadline to submit the supporting documentation will be three months from the end of the new period.

City councils have six months from publication to provide the construction projects or justifying reports and the availability of land; this deadline ends on December 11, 2026, and can be extended by another three months without the need for justification. The general justification must be submitted before April 1, 2028, and include certificates of execution, expenses and payments, income, the number of contracts and man-days, and accreditation that the hired persons were registered as job seekers.

The agreement leaves the approval of deadline extensions, changes or variations of the actions, and reimbursements in the hands of the President of the Provincial Council. It also allows subsidy surpluses to be allocated to another municipal service, even if it was not incorporated into the plan, and provides for a penalty of 5% of the amount paid after the deadline.

Impact

The plan reaches all the city councils in the province and the field workers who depend on these temporary hires to supplement their income and man-days, with a volume of 5.77 million euros that the councils must execute in just over a year. The agreement ends the administrative route and may be challenged through a contentious-administrative appeal within two months; the announcement is signed by the deputy-delegate of the Municipal Infrastructure Area, José Luis Agea Martínez, in Jaén on November 11, 2026.

Source: Official Bulletin of the Province of Jaén, number 222, of November 13, 2026, Local Administration, page 16876 (official reference: 2026/5360).